Muggle Christianity

I know some people may be weirded out at my using Harry Potter to explain a phenomenon I've noticed, but it simply has to be done in order to fully unravel something I've been thinking about...so anyone who is opposed to Harry Potter, just keep your undies out of a knot for a second.

  In Harry Potter, there are magical people and creatures and there are non-magical people and creatures.

  The non-magical people are called muggles.  Inside this world, the muggles have no idea about the things that go on in the magical realm of the world.  The muggles are completely blind and oblivious to magic. Magic folk are not allowed to show muggles any sort of magic so as to not freak them out and in so doing expose the magical world...this in the magic world is an offense worthy of punishment, so for the most part muggles are purposefully kept in the dark as to what goes on in the magic world. Most as you would find out through reading would also prefer it be that way.

  This connects to a thought I've been thinking about as of late: many people, even Christians are oblivious (and live their lives thus) to the realm of the Spirit.  I'm speaking of what Paul in the book of Ephesians talks of when he says: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:11-12 ESV)

  Most of us live our lives as if this is not going on around us.  Similar to the muggles in Harry Potter, we prefer to keep it that way too.  We choose not to think about the "spiritual" forces because it freaks us out, or is "unnatural" to be thinking about such things.  Also, similar to the magic folk in Harry Potter, those "spiritual forces" attempt to keep themselves hidden from us because if we knew about them, then we could learn to fight them off.

  I am well aware that too many Christians also "spiritualize" everything and make everything the devils fault...I'm not advocating that.  However, there are many times that the devil schemes and plots out certain outcomes and we continuously chock them up to "happenstance" or "fate", yet they were plays from Satan's playbook straight from the pit of hell to get us off track.

  I'm not necessarily worried about non-believers being deaf and blind to the realities of the spiritual world, but I am scared for us Christians who fail to realize we are in a war against Satan and his minions! 1 Peter 5:8 reminds us to be alert, because satan is prowling around us like a lion, getting ready to strike.  How many of us are being alert?  How many of us are chilling, not thinking a lick about what's going on in the spirit realm?

  I fear we have too many Muggle Christians, too many people who fail to realize that being for Christ means we now have a target on us. 

  Paul was worried about Muggle Christianity, that's why he wrote Ephesians 6...so we wouldn't become complacent, so we wouldn't forget that we are in a Spiritual battle!  Why do we waste time doing nothing about it?  Why do we try in our own physical efforts for things to happen?

  If we desire to do battle for our city and make the name of the Lord great where we live, we must first go to prayer!  We need to fight the battle with the Spirit of God within us, leading us...not behind us watching us.  We also need to put on the Armor of God:

"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak" (Ephesians 6: 13-20).

  It seems crazy to me that we can miss this whole piece of our Christianity and attempt to live our lives from a purely physical realm mentality.

  This whole idea hit me as I was sitting in a Gap Outlet store while I was on vacation.  I was sitting there watching people shop about the store.  I saw people looking at clothing and getting ready to whip their wallets out to make their outside so much more beautiful. 

 I asked myself: if they had the chance and knew the store to shop at, would they take the free opportunity to make their insides beautiful? 

  Then it struck me: they probably have no idea that right now their soul is being fought for. 

The next thought was scary: most Christians have no idea their is a spiritual battle even happening...much less engaging in the fight!

  My brain works in weird ways, I know but the more I mulled the last scary thought over in my head, the more I realized it was true.  A lot of Christians, I have found think very little if at all about the Spiritual battle and if they do think about it, it seems inconsequential to them, or they shrug their shoulders and say: well, I trust God so I'm not worried about it.  There is more to it, we can be Warriors in this battle!  We don't just get on the right team and ride the bench folks, we must get in the game! 

  Muggle Christianity scares me because it's like a football team who doesn't realize the true dangers of the game they're playing.  This team walks out onto the field with no pads or helmets and they go around playing touch football with linebackers as stacked as James Harrison!  They run around and tap the quarterback and wonder why the play still happens.  It's not fair they cry out!  I tapped him, he has to stop the play!  But the game isn't a nice backyard game of touch football, it's true gridiron, smash mouth football!

  This is why Paul goes to great lengths to explain the gear we must wear when we enter the football field, we've got to be geared up, fired up and prayed up.
 

Let's stop being Muggle Christians in this world!  Let's get our wits about us, let's go to the Lord in prayer, let's fight the fight on the grounds which it needs to be fought, with the right equipment!  No more should we be content to forget about the spiritual realm!  Let's fight on Mighty Warriors!

Sin, Flesh and Reality

Have you noticed that sometimes the culture of our world creeps into our beliefs in Jesus and creeps into our understanding of the hard lines the Bible tows?

I am not saying all aspects of culture are bad, because there is some great stuff that every culture owns.

However, I think there a parts of every culture that should never be placed in ones Biblical mindset.

American culture has a tendency towards selfish-ness, blame shifting and excuse making. This aspect of life has definitely creeped into my life with Christ in such a deep way, that when I did it, I could justify it, I would think that what I was doing was right in the eyes of God. Thank you Lord for your Word!

What am I talking about? Here's what I noticed about myself: When I sin...I don't own my junk. Why is confession so hard? Because I'm not owning up to my stuff. Why do I feel as though I'm prayed up and don't have sin in my life on a certain week? Because I've convinced myself it wasn't my fault and I make excuses for my sins so they don't feel so weighty.

I've been talking a lot about authentic living and confession of sin, yet this week after reading a Word from God I never took my sins as seriously as I should've...I never owned them as truly as I am called to.

Here's what I say when I sin (or something similar): "Satan is to blame. He is the one who tricked me. He is the one who brought about these sinful feelings. I didn't sin that bad, just thought about sinning, that's all. That tricky little devil...got me again!"

I treat my temptation as something that is purely owned by the Devil. However, here's what smacked me.

James1:13-15, God says: "13Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death."

Did you catch it? The evil desire is inside of ME, inside of YOU. There is something in us that is yet to be given to Christ, yet to have Him Lord of within our hearts. Satan finds that weak point and utilizes it, yes, but it is OUR EVIL DESIRE that lures us!

We still (at times) choose sin over Christ. We go back to those chains and say (like the Israelites) "These are better for me. I remember things were nice here...a bit of a challenge at times, but oh it felt better". When in reality those are freakin CHAINS, we desire CHAINS over FREEDOM...yet, we don't see it that way. We blame shift and selfishly make excuses so we don't look so bad.

I've read this Scripture before and understood it then, but the Holy Spirit challenged me to see it as well as FEEL it this time and man does it hurt to realize that the blame can't be shifted. Confessing sins goes deeper than simply saying: "I'm sorry Satan duped me, forgive me please". It goes down to saying: "I chose death over life. I spit on the cross that saved me. I ignored the lure of the Holy Spirit and allowed my sinful desire to help me choose sin over you. I pray that you will forgive my wrongdoing and my bad choice. I desire your Holy Spirit to fill me up and help me to turn from this desire. I choose your arms, not those chains. Amen."

Gomer, Hosea's wife chose the arms of other men over her loving, caring, enduring husband. She cheated over and over again...by choice mind you. When we sin, we are doing the very same thing...choosing the bed of the enemy over the bed of our Lord who actually loves us, who actually desires the best for us.

That is sin, the flesh and reality. Praise God He is like Hosea, loving, forgiving and accepting when we truly return to His embrace and choose Him over the chains of the enemy.

Learning to be a Better Pastor

Pastor means Shepherd. I am a Youth Pastor, which means I am called to Shepherd those crazy people who find themselves in the teen years. This encompasses many "fun" new life challenges, which include but are not limited to: puberty, Spiritual understanding, the thought of invincibility, the lack of self-assurance, the entrance of most sexual confusion, the entrance of self actualization, the start of real independence and a deeper desire to figure out the "why's" of discipline.

This is my calling...the Shepherd these teens. Not only am I called to assist them during these tough life challenges, but most importantly, I am called to direct them to The Father. I am called to bring forth Christ. I am called to lead them in Spiritual Formation, self understanding and a deeper understanding of God and His Word.

Here's what I've learned and will never let go of: I can only lead them as far as I have gone myself.

A Shepherd is foolish to take a flock down a hill, road or path that he himself has not yet traveled. He doesn't know the way. He doesn't know the terrain. He doesn't even know if there are dangers ahead.

I need to constantly follow God down new paths. Pave new avenues so I can grow in MY understanding of God, so in turn I can be used by the Holy Spirit to guide people closer to the Father. If I read the same devotional book again and again for years and NEVER venture to something new, fresh and anointed...I will not be doing myself, or my flock justice. Can I continue to read the same thing? Yes...but not to the detriment of reading, or experiencing new things.

I'm learning to go DEEPER with the Lord. I'm learning to dig into Scripture in places I've never dug. I'm understanding that this is most importantly for myself and God to connect closer, but also so I can lead these teens who have so much baggage down a deeper road with the Lord.

A shepherd can only lead their flock down roads they've already tread and no further. If I desire or expect my teens to grow...I should be growing too!

The Echo Within- Book Review

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  Hardcover: 192 pages


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  Publisher: WaterBrook Press (January 6, 2009)


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  Language: English


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  ISBN-10: 1400074347


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  ISBN-13: 978-1400074341

This was a book that took me by surprise. I was amazed at how candid, how authentic and how well done this book was. I was expecting something less and what I got was something more.

The Echo Within was Benson's way of sharing how he came upon his calling, His echo of the Word God had whispered into him from the beginning of his life. He shares his mistakes along the way, his triumphs and his surprises. His premise is that God has whispered a Word into each and everyone of us, a calling that is who we truly are and what we are made to do. Benson shares how his Word is and was to be a writer. He shares how he now, in hindsight sees the moments he felt the echo of that Word, but didn't realize it at the time.

Robert Benson takes the reader on a journey of his finding his Echo Within and shares how the reader too can enter into this deep understanding of the Echo Within that God has whispered into us.

For me, the most memorable moment in the book was Benson's discussion of his time at a Spiritual Retreat. He shares how this was a HUGE turning point in his life's journey and this resonates with me because I too went on a Spiritual Retreat and had a GREAT moment with the Lord.

I highly recommend this book to anyone. It is such an open, honest look into our souls, our callings and of course, the Echo Within in which God has whispered into all of us.

Following Benson's story will help the reader to get to know about their own Echo and their own calling.


To Purchase this book, go here: The Echo Within By Robert Benson

Life's Lessons (A Youth Pastor Confession)

I had one of those conversations yesterday that suck. It stunk because I knew what the other person was saying was true. I was given some insight into some of my failings as a Youth Pastor, and the heart of what was said was dead right.

I'm a gifted preacher/teacher, so what happens with that is I am always trying to be heard. I want my sermons to be listened to and I rarely seek interaction from my crowd. I like the sound of my own voice so much that I neglect the needs of people to interact with what I'm teaching. Now, the conversation wasn't this frank but this is what I took from it. What was said was: "You continue to have people watch you do what you think you are good at". The person wasn't trying to be mean, in fact it was quite the opposite, he was attempting to point out that I may think I'm the best Youth preacher ever...but I'm not. He was saying that I need to delegate more, get kids involved with my lessons more and have others teach so I can watch them do something they're good at.

I confess this over a blog, Facebook and the rest of the Internet because I desire to repent. I want to be the best Youth Pastor, leader, shepherd I can be...which means I have to learn to delegate and take correction. A true leader can't continue to lead without correction. I can't always be Midas with the Golden Touch...sometimes I am Icarus with the wings made of wax. He made wings so he could fly to the sun. He was successful in making the wings, and they even let him fly...but they were wax. So when he got too close to the sun, the wings melted and he fell. Sometimes our wings are wax...that means we need to learn from our "falling out of the sky" times so we can fly higher. That is true leadership. Set of wings after set of wings, constantly flying and falling so God can make us better.

This is not easy for me. I hate being told I'm wrong. I hate introspection about something I'm not doing right. Most of all, I hate being real and honest about my failures, because I like people to think of me as some super amazing Youth Pastor guy who does nothing wrong. Well, let me tell you now: if you think that, I'm sorry but I'm NOT that guy.

I want to be teachable, learn able and usable. These are the kinds of people God uses. Look at the men in the Bible: Moses, David, Paul, Peter (and TONS more). All were amazing leaders...but they had their wings melt. God used Jethro to convict Moses of his poor delegation skills, telling him he'd never be able to continue doing what he was doing at the rate in which he was doing it. David had Nathan convict him of his hidden sin and David, a man after God's own Heart had his wings melt! Paul had Jesus blind him and tell him he was wrong in His theology. Peter had Jesus smack him upside the head more than once. He told him "Get behind me Satan" once even! However, all these men corrected their mistakes, learned from the "falling out of the sky" moment, got back up and flew higher.

Ministry is tough. Ministry is challenging and we'll never be Superman. I'm learning this, I think we all should. It's OK to fall out of the sky. It's OK to have our wings melt. We all must respond how God's men did...learn, change and fly again!

A Swift Kick in the BUTT

Recently, I've been re-reading an amazing book titled: A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards. I was told I needed to re-read it by a great friend and mentor, because he noticed that I could use the lessons the books teaches yet again. In total fairness, he's 100% correct. I was in the wrong on something and he called me out on it. I both hate and love it when he does this. I hate it because my biggest fear in life has been doing the wrong thing which stems from a need to please people, which God is also calling out of me. However, I also love it, because I know the end result of being called out on your crap will always lead to a healthier me. Which translates into a better man of God, husband, youth pastor and friend. The process of working it through can definitely be an arduous and odious task...but it is all worth it in the end.

Anyways, back to the book. I am half-way through it already (only 96 pages not a feat to be recognized) and have been challenged both in what my friend was discussing with me and in many other ways.

This quote I read the other night was a swift kick in the butt for me: "What does the world need: Gifted men, outwardly empowered? OR broken men, inwardly transformed?"

This quote rocked me in two ways: the first, I've been dealing with for about 3 years now. I like to think of myself as someone who will be big someday. I think inwardly that I'm the man, a great communicator and someone important. I want everyone to like me and when someone doesn't I brush them off as stupid, because how could the not like "this" (points to self). You may say that's horrendous, you may be appalled and I say: "I am too, that's why I'm working on it". I know I am an arrogant man who probably doesn't have talent, who needs to be smacked upside the head a couple times and realize he's small-time chump-change. This reality is a difficult one for me (I am being 100% genuine and admitting this is hard for me), because I desire to be someone of importance...even if I'm not skilled enough a piece of me hopes the world won't notice, so I can have some fun in the sun of the spotlight.

This quote rocked me, because it pinpointed the SIN, and the PROBLEM within my own heart with these desires (Jim, I hope you're reading this). I had no desire for my heart to be transformed...simply my outward gifts. I wasn't asking God: "Change my heart" and if I was it came with the end tag line of "...so I can be somebody Big someday". My desires have had nothing to do with transformation of my heart to his, but simply everything to do with being somebody.

The second way it kicked my BUTT is that it made me come to the point of saying to God: I want a broken, transformed heart for the sole purpose of being inwardly transformed. I desire what YOU want for my life, not what I want for my life.

Just so you know, I am in the process of being BROKEN...so this book and this quote are timely for me. I think my friend and mentor knew that too, thus why he told me to re-read it. My life is being flipped upside down and it's hard. However, pray with me that I will allow God to use this time to call my crap out and make my heart inwardly transformed!

Lone Warrior

Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead. (2 Samuel 23:9-10)

This is an incredible story that is just plugged right into the Bible. Picture the scene: The battle lines are drawn at Pas Dammim (which means "the Border of Blood"), which is the border between Israel's land and the land of the Philistines. These are two nasty rivals, peoples who've hated each other for centuries. This very border is the scene of massacre after massacre. There has never been a winning battle for either side decided on this border. It is home to many a death for Israeli and Philistine alike.

The Israelites are taunting the Philistines from across the border. The three mighty men and David taunting the loudest. As hardened warriors, the Philistines are not about to let the Israelites insult them, nor their woman and definitely not their mothers. So they taunt back, and begin the war cry. The Israelites being their war cry, banging their shields with their swords all while screaming across the line at the Philistines. The Philistines of course answer back with their own shouts and sword banging. The noise is deafening, the battle coming is almost palpable. You can sense the tension rising. Eleazar especially feels his adrenaline pumping. He is ready to kill many man in the name of the Lord. No one will taunt his God, the God of Israel, his righteous anger begins to boil over. The hot red flashes of blood lust over take his senses. He can only see red.

King David shouts the call to rush the field, Eleazar leading the pack, in a Holy rage against the Philistine army. The Spirit of the Living God descends upon Eleazar and consumes the man whole.

The Israelite army begins to cower before the Philistine army. Sudden dread overtakes them. The ranks become confused, the men begin to fall back even King David retreats, but not Eleazar. The Spirit has taken him into the middle of the Philistine ranks alone. He pushes toward the center, men falling dead by his swords mighty blows. No foe can stand against him. One after another men die at Eleazar's bloody sandals. The Lord has overtaken him and his sword arm no longer is his own, it is the judgement of God which he is now dishing out. Not a single Philistine can stand his ground against such a foe. They begin to cower back, soon they are running away from this blood-thirsty sword which never seems to slake its thirst.

Shortly after they begin to run, they all seem to retreat. The horn sounds and all of them run away. The run in fear from Eleazar, one man with a bloody sword. Soon Eleazar comes to his senses and realizes all are gone. He looks down at his feet and there is a pile of dead bodies surrounding him. He looks at his bloody sword and puts it into its sheath. He attempts to loose his hand from the hilt but finds he can't. This soldier of the Most High finds that he's been at battle so long and so hard that his hand is now frozen to the hilt of his bloody sword.

Eleazar points the tip of his sword heavenward and praises God for this victory : "The Lord has brought about a great victory this day" he says.

The rest of the Israelite army is stunned at the power of God, that was wielded by this one man. They stay staring at the border of blood, dumbstruck. They see their mighty friend go to his knees and they rush the field to strip the dead bodies of their possessions.

This story blows my mind! I pray for the courage to be like Eleazar, I want it said of me that I went into battle and fought so hard and so long that my sword froze to my hand. You know, the Word is also called the Sword and I spoke this over a young man today, but I also own it as a word for me. The sword in this story represents the Word of God (for this young man and for me), and God is asking me to be so tenacious with the Word of God that it sticks to my hand after battle. That I will use God's Word to SLAY the enemy, taking the battle to the BORDER of His strong hold and making it a Pas-Dammim ( a border of BLOOD). God's word can slay Satan. It will slay him up, down, left right and center. The Word of God cuts the throat of the enemy. I've been like the other Israelites: tough enough to taunt him, but too cowardly to get into battle. I want the blood lust of the Spirit to come on me so I can be used by God to bring about a great victory. I don't want this for the glory of Marvin, just like Eleazar didn't want it for the Glory of Eleazar (nor do I believe this other young man wants the glory for himself), but I (we) want the Glory to go to God!

Cultural Christianity Vs. Authentic Christianity

Definitions:
Cultural Christianity: a moralistic, behavioral set of ethics that are put upon "followers of Christ" to determine whether or not they are good people that are going to heaven. More emphasis on how you look, and act than anything else

Authentic Christianity: a relational, heart-drawn call to God, His Son Jesus Christ and a willingness to be lead by the Holy Spirit. A competent understanding of your own sinfulness and a desire to change your heart above all else.

For years I have struggled with these two types of Christianity. When I was growing up, most of the people in my churches were cultural Christians, worrying themselves about how they appeared to be following Christ, rather than actually working on their hearts before the Almighty God Himself. This then trained me to do the very same thing. Not only did I succeed at doing so but I was a champion at pointing out others short-comings when it came to their appearance of following Christ. Cultural Christianity is simply a play with good characters and bad characters. A Ruse to get people to think that they are following the right path. You end up believing certain lies like: You can only be Republican if you're a Christian; Christians never get mad; Christians never fail and if you fail, keep it quiet so no one finds out; and most importantly is make sure you are "on your best behavior" at church.
When I got to college, my whole sphere of my beliefs came CRASHING down upon my head. I saw the utter flaws within my relationship to Christ, my own sin that I thought was ambition but was pride. I saw my black heart even though I thought it was as white as snow. I saw how often my finger was raised in accusation rather than admittance of my own wrong-doing. God used my college days to utterly transform how I perceived, loved and knew God. This is by no means a blog to say "how far I've come", yet a simple confession of my own personal past and present misconceptions of my Faith.
What I began to grapple with, was that to really wrestle with God was not to see all the sin in the world, but all the sin within myself. It meant that I needed to go to the mattresses with the Lord, baring my sins open to Him and trying to feebly keep some sins I enjoyed for myself. God has since been calling my junk to the forefront and will continue to do so. This has humbled me when it came to my finger pointing...mind you, I still pridefully do this but I trust I am getting better. I realized that I am just as rotten and disgusting as everyone else, I simply have a Savior that decided to graciously cover my sins because I asked Him. Without the covering of Jesus I am no better than the worst sinner whoever lived. I have within me the capacity to sin with limitless sinfulness. This understanding and the understanding that Christ has graciously given Himself for me has been a HUGE transforming truth for me.
This understanding is what I have called Authentic Christianity. No longer and I working on myself for a crowd, but giving myself over to the Lord for Him to point out the junk in me and asking Him to graciously help me pluck it out of my heart and life.
I'll be the first to admit that I live a culturally Christian life more and less of an authentic Christian life than I should. Yet I believe that if we all would grab onto this heart-changing, rather than outside changing Christian Faith, allowing Christ to purge us from within...the World will soon stand and take notice. It has nothing to do with being "culturally relevant" and all to do with how the God wants a relationship with us!

(For other post about this, check these out: Cleaning your Cups, Galatians Sermon, Authenticity)

What's so BIG about Authenticity? Pt. 4

One thing I've noticed about teenagers is that they can spot a "fake" person from a mile away. It's as if they have radar to sniff out a person posing. In the Church, this "fake" person motif is all to familiar. We say things like: "I'll pray for you brother" (and don't do it nor mean it). We see people acting different than they do at church in their homes, their jobs, and their schools. And I tell you that this fake face has become a negative pungent stench in the nostrils of today's youth. I will continuously quote UnChristian due to it's prophetic nature into today's youth and in this book, they've found that 85% of people 16-29 find the church as a whole (meaning us Christians) to be hypocritical! (By the way, I agree)
Being authentic is NOT being hypocritical. 1 John 1:5-10 says: "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives".
In bold is the call to Authenticity. We need to confess our sins, this is WALKING in the Light! We admit out junk. This means, we're honest, we're open, we're vulnerable. This type of authentic community brings fellowship with both God and men (read the italicized portion)! Also, this type of authenticity is attractive to the world, they need a place to admit their junk! The World NEEDS the church to be a place that says: "Oh, you're messed up? You're a sinner? All of us are too! We've messed up (and still do sometimes) but let us show you the LOVE of Christ, and give you the KEY to life!" A place that is willing to LOVE, take in sinners, be real with them and show the Christ (the Light) is a place that will be BOOMING with non-Christians!
Non-Christians (especially 16-29 year olds) FEAR going into a church because they will feel like everyone hates them, they will feel as if they are un-welcome because of their problems. They will feel isolated because they would be made to feel that they are the only person there with issues! Yet, if we could create an AUTHENTIC place where they will no longer feel this way, we could see this generation (and the next) come to Christ like NO OTHER generation in history!

In my next segments on authenticity, I will show how it does COST us to create this type of atmosphere, I will share more from 1 John about what this Authenticity creates and lastly, I will show how this type of Authentic living brings about the HEALING that God desires for us! Stay Tuned and PLEASE let me know your thoughts!