Tuesday, October 28, 2003

here is my third and final article in my narnia series from early 1997

The Women at the Wardrobe

Lucy, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, discovers that the wardrobe is actually a door to another world, Narnia. She has come in contact with a magical place. It is a life changing place and she wants to tell everyone she can about it. She is so excited about her discovery that she runs to tell her siblings. They, of course, don't believe her. They have never heard of such a thing nor have they seem such a place. It takes their own experience of going to Narnia for them to believe.
In the Gospel of John we meet a lady who has a similar event happen in her life. She discovered that a well was a doorway to a new life because at this well she meets Jesus. He is the life changing person. Her encounter with him is a life changing event. She also runs and tells people about who she has met. They believed what she said and had their own experience with Jesus. Many come with her to see this man and believe.


There stories are ours as well. We have had a life changing encounter with Jesus. We also should run out and tell everyone we can. Not all will believe us. Some will even make fun of us. We need to be like little Lucy and the Samaritan women. We need to bring people to meet Jesus and his forgiveness.

Thursday, October 23, 2003

The De-Dragoning of Eustace

An episode in the life Eustace Clarence Scrubb gives us an insight into forgiveness. Eustace is the obnoxious cousin of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie (The heroes from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe). We first meet him in C.S. Lewis's book The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" the third book in the Chronicles of Narnia. He starts his adventure in Narnia as an ugly natured brat, always wanting his way and thinking everyone else is against him. During the voyage he is transformed into a dragon. Inside he has been a dragon all along now he is one on the outside too. For the first time in his life he is lonely and realizes how he has acted. He wishes that he could become a boy again. Aslan, the Lion King of Narnia and the son of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea, appears to him and through the long process of scrapping the dragon skin off, Aslan transforms Eustace back into a boy. Eustace is a new person from then on and becomes the hero of later Narnian books.
As Christians, we have had our ugly, scaly and dirty outsides cleaned off. Like Eustace, it was not our power that washed us of our ugliness but God's power. It was Jesus' death on the cross that cleansed us of our sins. We are no longer self serving brats but we serve others as children of God. We have been de﷓dragoned as well.

this is one of my favorite articles i ever wrote!

Friday, October 17, 2003

here is another one of my classic youth zone articles from february 5th 1997

Confession of a Marsh﷓Wiggle
Toward the end of C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair we find the heroes(Eustace Scrubb, Jill Pole and Pubbleglum) trapped in the Underworld and under the spell of the Queen. They have been sent under Narnia by Aslan to rescue Prince Rilian. Rilian is the rightful heir to the thrown of Narnia who had been kidnapped by the evil Queen of the Under world years before. The spell that is enchanting Eustace, Jill and Pubbleglum confuses their minds and they begin to forget that Narnia and the Overworld is real. The Queen is trying to convince them that their is no Narnia and their is no Aslan. Pubbleglum the Marsh﷓Wiggle proclaims one of the greatest confessions of faith in the Chronicles of Narnia.

"Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and
moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that
case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones......We're
just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game, if your right.
But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow.
That's why I'm going to stand by the play world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any
Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live like a Narnian even if there isn't any Narnia." (SC pg. 159)

The world we live in tries to enchant us. The messages that are all around us try to convince us that their is not a Heaven and that their is not a God. We know there is a God and that there is a Heaven and a Hell. Pubbleglum's confession is our confession.

"I am going to live as a citizen of Heaven and I am going to stand on God's side no matter what the world says!"

Thursday, October 16, 2003

just discovered craig's list it is pretty kewl
i forgot to introdude the "evil is real!" article it was written last year at this time while we were all dealing with the sniper in our area. since it is the one year aniversery i thought i should publish it
Evil is Real!
Evil is real. Evil is so real. We have been reminded about this truth once again. Right now evil is easily seen as a person shooting seemingly random people in our area. Evil is easily seem as a shadowy terrorist organization that has killed thousands. Evil is easily seen as an unknown individual who has killed several by mailing anthrax. Evil seems so obvious, but this is not always the case.
It is so easy to see evil outside of our own lives, but you and I are evil as well. The letter that James writes describes how that evil works in our own lives (James1: 13-15).
First we are tempted not by God but by our own evil desires. Next we are enticed by this evil desire we have. The evil, sin-corrupted part of us has desires and pulls at us and tries to get us to act on these desires.
Once this desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. Sin is action and thought. Jesus teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount that sin starts in our heads. For example, murder is not simply physically killing someone; we can kill with our words (Matthew 5:21 -26).
Finally, when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. We start as slaves to sin. It rules our lives and in the end it kills us. We would suffer a physical as well as spiritual death.
But, we know that Jesus lives! We know that Jesus died the death of sin and conquered the final enemy, death. We know that Jesus rescues us from death and brings us into life. We also know that if we are one of God̢۪s people, the Holy Spirit lives in us and gives us the power to overcome the evil desires in our hearts (1 John 4:6)
Even though you and I see evil out in the world, we must not forget that we too are evil, but Jesus gives us the hope and power to overcome this evil.

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

RECALL

Last night the people of the state of California recalled their old governor and elected a new one. The campaign was short but it was hard fought with a lot of twists and turns. But in the end the old was thrown out and the new was welcomed.
as Christians we have also had our own recall in our lives. We had a king in our lives. This king ruled us not by love but thru sin, guilt and lies. This king sat on the throne in our hearts and made us his slaves. He made us believe that we could do things on our own and we knew the best way for us to live. We were pulled deeper and deeper into sin. We were dead under the leadership of this king

Then we met the King! We wanted this new King to rule our lives. But, our old king did everything in his power to keep his job. This new King offered us love but our king pointed out how much evil we had done. “Who could love you?” asked our king. The new King offered us forgiveness. But our king pointed out all the sin in our lives and asked, “Who could forgive you?” This new King called us to a life that was hard but full of victory. Our current king pointed out all our weaknesses. “How could you have victory? You are a loser!” Finally the new King sacrificed Himself for you. “Even if everything your old king said is true. I love you. I forgive you. I give you the power to be victorious.” So we threw out our old king and replaced him with the True King Jesus Christ.

If you are still living under the old king you need to have a recall. Your life will be so much more with Jesus as your King. He resurrects us from death and gives us life. He rescues us from sin and gives us forgiveness. He rewards us daily for our submission to him. Your recall won’t take place in an election both but in the waters of baptism

Jesus came and died for us not when we were ready for Him to be our king but because he loves us. The perfect Son of God died for us even when we were sinners. Thank the Lord for such love.
RECALL

Last night the people of the state of California recalled their old governor and elected a new one. The campaign was short but it was hard fought with a lot of twists and turns. But in the end the old was thrown out and the new was welcomed.
as Christians we have also had our own recall in our lives. We had a king in our lives. This king ruled us not by love but thru sin, guilt and lies. This king sat on the throne in our hearts and made us his slaves. He made us believe that we could do things on our own and we knew the best way for us to live. We were pulled deeper and deeper into sin. We were dead under the leadership of this king

Then we met the King! We wanted this new King to rule our lives. But, our old king did everything in his power to keep his job. This new King offered us love but our king pointed out how much evil we had done. “Who could love you?” asked our king. The new King offered us forgiveness. But our king pointed out all the sin in our lives and asked, “Who could forgive you?” This new King called us to a life that was hard but full of victory. Our current king pointed out all our weaknesses. “How could you have victory? You are a loser!” Finally the new King sacrificed Himself for you. “Even if everything your old king said is true. I love you. I forgive you. I give you the power to be victorious.” So we threw out our old king and replaced him with the True King Jesus Christ.

If you are still living under the old king you need to have a recall. Your life will be so much more with Jesus as your King. He resurrects us from death and gives us life. He rescues us from sin and gives us forgiveness. He rewards us daily for our submission to him. Your recall won’t take place in an election both but in the waters of baptism

Jesus came and died for us not when we were ready for Him to be our king but because he loves us. The perfect Son of God died for us even when we were sinners. Thank the Lord for such love.
because of yesterdays recall election in california i am going to post two bulletin articles. the first one will finish up the big fat lie series and then after lunch i'll post my "recall" youth zone for this week.


Lie #4: Teens are Selfish Me﷓First Slackers
The author of the article corrected this lie with
uncharacteristic brevity. He simply listed the youth movements and groups that are helping and serving.
New teens join these organization by the thousands every year. In the year 1996 13.3 million teenagers volunteered 2.4 billion hours ﷓ 1.8 billion of those hours were with formal organizations. Also thousands of teens work for a paycheck while going to school.
There are many differences between teenagers today and teenagers of the past. Teens today focus on helping people where they are. They are not out to "Save the Planet." Instead they want to help the homeless man on the street. This is the perspective Jesus took. He knew that by saving individuals He would save the world. He showed everyone He came in contact with that they mattered. He did this by challenging Pharisees to give up their self righteous attitudes. He challenged sinners to live righteous lives. Even though He knew the big picture, He still took time with the little brush strokes.

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

Lie #3 Teens are Less Committed to Church

In a recent Gallup Youth survey 68% of teens said that "I attend church because I decided myself I wanted to go." That is an amazing fact! It is incredible to me to see that teens across this country want to go to church. Overall church attendance has stagnated but church attendance by teens is up. Generation Xers have witnessed many broken commitments(especially family commitments.) It is no wonder that many are cautious and afraid to make commitments. Even with their attendance being up, their commitments are often "lukewarm." This should be applauded. Yes, applauded because in a world where a promise is nearly meaningless for them to commit, even a little bit, is a big step.
Most of the teens here at Falls Church have not had a family breakup, but they have seen the affects on their friends. They know the pain their friends must deal with as they try to make sense out of what happens in their lives. Our teens struggle with commitment as well. On the sign up sheets for church activities, among the “yeses” for participation there are often as many “maybes.” In the short time I have been here, I have observed that the teens are fairly committed to church but are more committed to their friends at church. This is a good sign, because the church is made up of people.

Friday, October 03, 2003

Lie #2: Teens Have Frustratingly Short Attention Spans

The problem is not that teens these days have short attention spans, instead it is the way they have been trained to receive information. "Teenagers' brains have literally been trained to think on many levels, about many things, shooting at them from many sources, all at once."("Four Big Fat Lies", Group, May/June 1997) Many have mistakenly attributed their apparent boredom to shallowness. On the contrary they are bored because teens today are "fast﷓paced info﷓eaters." In school and Sunday school classes they sometimes tune out because the information is coming at them to slowly. They learn differently than other generations.
This is a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that they can take in all this information, from various sources and are able to process it. They can take in so much and still come out with meaning to it. For instance they have access to information from a variety of sources; the T.V., the radio, CD/tape player and the computer. To people older than they are, the message is garbled by the speed and variety of sources. It is a curse because so much of life takes time and patience to understand. For example, the spiritual journey that we as Christians travel is not an information super highway. It is, instead, a slow process of transformation. Their ability to process information from various sources helps them survive in an ever changing culture but may hinder them in the slower aspects of living. As parents, mentors and ministers we need to present the Gospel to them in the way they learn without losing the truth to speed.

Thursday, October 02, 2003

here is my new series of old bulletin articles. this series deals with 4 big fat lies told about teens. i wrote this back in 1997 also but earlier than the 3 love series. i am posting the intro and first article today

BIG FAT LIES

Rick Lawerence in his article "Four Big Fat Lies About Kids" (Group, May/June 1997) exposes four lies about kids and teens these days. Replacing them with the truth. Over the next four Sundays we will be examining these lies. Yes, young people in our society deal with issues that past generations may not have. Yes, there is a lot of pressure on teenagers these days. Yes, they are not perfect but they are not all bad. The news media and even Christian authors would have us believe that kids these days are more messed up than any generation before. So they tell us the following lies not out of malice but misunderstanding.

Lie #1 Kids Don't Know Right from Wrong.
Lie #2 Kids have Frustratingly Short Attention Spans.
Lie #3 Kids are Less Committed to the Church.
Lie #4 Kids are Selfish Me-First Slackers.

Lie #1: Teens Don't Know Right from Wrong

Teens these days do struggle with what is right and what is wrong but this generation is not facing a new struggle. Jesus calls the generation He was preaching to a "wicked generation" (Matt 12:39,16:4 and Luke 11:29) At times, both young and old seem to have difficulty knowing the difference between right and wrong. The best example of this cross generational ignorance of right and wrong is the speed limit. On the Beltway and I﷓66 the speed limit is 55. (I actually think this number refers to the amount of people who actually drive the speed limit.) Young and older drivers speed down these highways at 65 plus mile per hour. So it is not only teens who struggle with knowing right from wrong, but adults as well.
In spite of this struggle young people across this country do know the difference between right and wrong. Organizations such as S.A.D.D. show that teens realize drinking and driving is wrong. Teens are looking for ways to use their talents and gifts to do right. Their are thousands of mission trips and service projects under taken by teens each year. Why? because they want to do what is right
The difference between this generations struggles and the struggle of past generations is "mass media". Everyone now sees and hears how teens struggle to figure out what is right and what is wrong. What was once covered is now revealed.(Matt 10:36) This internal struggle is splashed across movie and T.V. screens nation wide, making the problem seem larger that it is.

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

here is the forth and final installment of my 3 love theory series

Love for God

Having looked at the other two loves we are left with the final love, our love for God. This love overlaps with the other two loves. We shall see through our love for God how the Three Loves act as three over lapping circles.
First it over laps with our "love of God. In order to show the "love of God" we must obey God's commands and by obeying God's commands we show Him that we love Him. (1 John 5:3 "This is the love for God: to obey His commands") How does this show our love for Him? Because we do what He wants by choice. As Christians we know that we can never act so good that we will save ourselves. It takes faith in Jesus and accepting His grace. We obey God's commands not to be saved but because we are saved. We show our love for God by being like God wants us to. We are His children and need to obey our Father.
Our love for God over laps His love for us. Looking again at First John we discover that "We love because He first loved us." This "first love" is God continually caring for humanity (us) even when we did not love God back. We have a tendency to love those who love us. It is the same way with God.He knows that we have this tendency so He showed love first so we could love back.
Our love for God is connected with the other loves. Just as the other loves are connected with each other. Think of them as three interlocking circles.