Powlinson

Dr. David Powlinson and the gang at CCEF have influenced me greatly in the area of pastoral counseling and even applying the gospel to all of life. In these two videos Powlinson addresses some important questions.

Dr. David Powlison - Does God get upset when we disobey? Part 1 from CCEF on Vimeo.

Dr. David Powlison - Does God get upset when we disobey? Part 2 from CCEF on Vimeo.

Our Retreat

If you want to know what happened at the Wake Up O Sleeper Retreat, it looked something like this in my guys cabin...

Do Something Uncomfortable

The other day I saw a kid purposefully miss the bus. He and a young girl were both a little late. The young lady hustled to make the bus and the young man took his time so the impatient and scheduled driver would have to leave him behind. It reminded me of jumping into the weeds on our lane to hide from Esther--our driver for Shirland School. I knew that if I missed the bus I would ride comfortably with one of my parents to school-which is better by far than having to ride the bus.

I watched as the boy that missed the bus sheepishly waved from his hip to his friends as they sped off. The timid downcast face broke into a devious smile while he watched his friends get carted off in the big yellow people hauler. Through the window I could see heads bobbing in unison like cattle getting carted off to wherever cattle go. One got away today. He stalled and it worked. Now he is enjoying the comforts of either missing class or riding in style.

All too often I think we avoid the uncomfortable. We want to ride with mom. We want to control the radio, roll down the window, throw our feet up on the dash, and maybe even take a power nap. The same is true in our spiritual journey. Instead of doing something that requires faith, we purposefully go the easiest route. We want to be comfortable. We are okay with following Jesus so long as it doesn't interfere with my peaceful life.

What are you pursuing right now that requires faith? What decisions are you making that make you a little uncomfortable? Many times God is asking us to make the bus, to sit in those uncomfortable seats and chat with our class mates because that's where He wants us. That is where He may use you to change someone else's life. Don't shy away. Hustle to make the bus.

Great Vid

Darrin Patrick, a pastor from the Acts29Network, recently released a book on church planting. From what I can make of it, the book is focused more on the man than the task. And by the looks of this video, many young men are being encouraged to step up to the task.

Cultivating Humility

I want to share with you two practices that have been my safeguards in the pitfall of ministry pride. In ministry there is always an emphasis on success. Questions are constantly posed like, "how many people attended?" or, "how did it go?" In fact, we do monthly ministry reports as a way of communicating how successful particular areas of ministry were. I remember in the ministry I was in prior to Central, I wrote monthly newsletters where I paraded the very best stories in-front of the readers so they could buy in to what that ministry was up to.

Do you see the pressures that lead to ministry pride? Now I know that pride creeps in in so many different ways. Pride is not exclusive to ministry. So, I think these strategies will be helpful to anyone. There are two that I routinely use:

1. I pray what John the baptist said about his relationship to Jesus, "He must become greater; I must become less" (John 3:30). This simple little statement turned into a prayer becomes a great way to curb pride. The goal in all things is that Christ would be seen as supremely glorious... not me. It changes the way I view any ministry that I might perform. Is it glorifying me, or Christ? Is He becoming greater, or am I? The goal is that Christ would get the credit/ glory. Which leads me to the next thing I do.

2. I remind myself of my gifts and Who gave them to me. For example, I am not a public speaker. Never have been. I am the kid that froze up when he had to give a presentation at school. I am not confident of even talking in a group of 5 people. Sharing at small group makes me get all flush, my palms sweat, and I stumble through words. Now God called me to a preaching ministry. In doing this God wasn't being mean, He just knew that He would get the glory. It is His gifting placed on me. It is not mine. I get to participate but I do not create. Therefore, I want to constantly remind myself that it is a gift. It is not my skill or hard work, but it is God's Spirit working through me. He gets the credit and I get the honor of being the instrument God uses.

Pride is a dangerous sin. If you have no strategy for "putting [pride] to death", it is likely that you will get dominated by it. I hope that these little strategies will help you in your struggle with pride.

Where We Might Go From Here

It has been a busy week at Central! Joseph and I moved offices. Above you can see the final product. So for the past couple days we have been working hard at throwing away old stuff, moving office furniture, organizing our stuff, shredding documents, and all sorts of other fun stuff. Needless to say, I have had little time to think about centralstudentsministry.blogspot.com

Last week we finished up our walk through Acts and now we need some new content. I have a couple of ideas... we could either, continue in the New Testament and start Romans, or we could do an Old Testament book, or even blog a few posts on Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers by Arthur Bennett.

hmmm....

Having thought long and hard on this I choose Romans and VoV. I will attempt to regularly post on Romans and intersperse a prayer or two from "Valley of Vision" when time permits. Happy Reading!

Acts 29- What's Your Contribution to the Story?

As we have wrapped up our walk through Acts there are a couple things I want to remind you of. First, God is still at work! The book of Acts is a gnarly story of the start of the Church. It shows how the Holy Spirit empowers ordinary people to do extraordinary things. It shows the beginnings of a Church that the gates of hell cannot prevail against. And, it leaves us hanging because it is only the beginning of an ongoing story. 2000 years later the Church is still on the move. The Holy Spirit is still progressing the Kingdom through the Church. I am reminded that even as I write this great things are happening globally for the cause of Christ. The Lausanne Congress convenes this year in Capetown, South Africa to discuss the future of the Church. Furthermore, so many young people are passionate about Christ and His bride. Over the past years, many networks of young people have cropped up and banned together for their passion to create God-honoring movements.

That leads me to the second thing I want to point out. One of those movements is called Acts29 Church Planting Network. It is a network of people that are passionate about planting God-centered, Christ exalting, bible saturated, Gospel-driven Churches. I recommend checking out their site and keeping tabs on what they are up to.

Finally, what is your contribution to the story? How are you giving yourself to the cause of Christ? Are you sold out to the church? Are you passionate about the Bride of Christ and work of the Holy Spirit through the people of God?

In our day and age many people have a grudge against the Church. Many see the flaws of the Bride and poke fun or boycott organized Christianity. But let me try to help you reconsider. The Church has never been flawless. It is filled with people in need of redemption. Broken people, sinful people, people in need of a Savior. Even in the early church in Acts there were issues. There were hypocrites in the midst (Acts 5), quarrels over how leadership serve (Acts 6), and many other issues. So, in light of the flaws even in the early church, do you really want to be the person calling King Jesus' Bride a hot-mess? I'm just guessing but I don't think it will go well for people that call the Bride ugly?

We want to be a people passionate about Christ's Bride, the Church. Praying for the washing of the Word in preparation of the wedding feast (Ephesians 5). Helping to adorn Her with beauty and splendor.

God make us ready. Give us a deep love for the Church and an eye on the horizon for what you are up to in our world. Help us to recognize that the Church is growing rapidly all over the world. Let us be a part of that Kingdom expansion, for Your glory. Amen.

Stott's Take on Lausanne

"Our spirit is one of joy and hope that God will work in fresh ways as we look forward to Christ's return."

Rev. Dr. John R.W. Stott, Chief Architect, The Lausanne Covenant

Lausanne Movement Conversation

I am so excited about this Congress meeting that will gather in Capetown, South Africa in October. Tomorrow morning there is a conversation gathering at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Then, tomorrow night at youth group we will address some issues surrounding the Church. What does that have to do with jr high or high school? We need to teach our kids that they are a part of something bigger than a crew that meets in a basement in Beloit Wisco.

The world is changing but the Gospel is big enough to handle all of the changes. Please put Lausanne on your radar. Follow them on facebook and twitter.

12 Cities | 12 Conversations from ConversationGatherings on Vimeo.

The Rebelution

I wanted to remind you about an amazing site that you should cruise to. It is called TheRebelution.com

Two young men are challenging young people to do something rad with their lives. If you know me personally, I am very pumped on this idea. I think young people should be challenged to do great things with their lives and they do not need to wait until they are all grown up before they can serve Christ.

I was checking out their site in the anticipation of their second book called "Start Here" a follow up to their first top selling "Do Hard Things." The first book is definitely worth the read, and I am excited about the follow up too. But what I stumbled on, and what I wanted to bring your attention to, was the resources page on their site. It is chocked-full of phenomenal articles! Please read some of the great links that they have went to the trouble of tracking down and putting in one place for you. It is good stuff!

The Time I Wanted To Be god

I was reminded recently about the appeal of manipulation. When I was a student at Hononegah High School, I had a fascinating teacher named Mr. Muldowney. I loved him. I loved every minute of his class. He was a brilliant man. Well read. Great teacher. But, the thing that intrigued me most, was his ability to manipulate (I am sure he would not appreciate it being called this, but I have no better word). He was like the new version of Sherlock Holmes. In any moment I imagined him dissecting the entire class with keen observation of the little details that seemingly went unnoticed (Just like in the recent movie where time would seem to stop and Holmes could analyze and decide what course of action to take). Then my teacher, Mr. Muldowney, would bring these observations to light exposing his brilliance and leaving a whole class of high school seniors scratching their heads and fawning over him.

To add to my appreciation of him, he gave us all nick names based on personality traits and experiences we had. I never saw Muldowney get stumped by a question and if a student acted up you can only imagine the embarrassment that Muldowney could command. I was always a little nervous around him. But, it was a nervousness that made me adore him more. This experience set me on a trajectory.

From that point on I decided that I wanted to study psychology. The content was interesting but what I really desired was to be like Muldowney. I wanted that sort of keen observation, his people skills, his ability to command attention and manipulate a crowd.

...I never finished my degree in psychology. In the providence of God, I was called to ministry and out of the university setting for a while. Not only that, I now see the sillyness of wanting to have those skills. Really, I wanted to be a little god. Actually a big god but I say now with ironic tones 'a little god' because I know how tiny I would truly be. Now, I am not saying that psychology is inherently evil or something weird like that. I still admire my high school psychology teacher and even the character of Sherlock Holmes. However, these skills left unattended could be damaging to the soul.

This past Friday and Saturday I attended an American Camp Association Conference and there was a presenter much like Muldowney. A presenter was able to take 400 adults and literally 'manipulate' them. It was bizarre to watch the adults basically do exactly what this presenter was commanding them to do.

So the past couple of days I have wrestled with how or if these 'tricks,' as he called them, should be used in ministry. I see value in capturing the attention of camp kids or ministry students to help them settle for an announcement or large group teaching. But, I hold in tension Paul's strategy of ministry.

"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power" (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

Sometimes I think tricks can get in the way. Persuasive words and little techniques are just that, persuasive words and little techniques. As great as it may seem to have a day of camp (or a Wednesday night) go well because we manipulated the group to be quiet, pay attention, and act how we instruct them to, it is still missing a big component. What we need is for life change to occur. At the end of the day, we want our kids to have been changed by an encounter of the Spirit's power. We do not simply want to modify behavior. We are trying to do something much greater. Therefore, it is critical that we enlist much prayer, and even simplify our strategy to almost nil, because then God is the one at work. Not us. Not a bunch of little gods trying to make things happen, but truly the living God at work making real life-change happen.

I resolve to know nothing while I am with you, not techniques, not tricks, not strategy. I resolve to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Amen.

I'm Not Francis Chan

Here is my thought after last night: I'm not Francis Chan... no surprise right? I'm not Asian, I don't live in southern California, I haven't written a best selling book, and I can't talk for 45 mins without notes and make everything earth-shattering and life-changing.

One reason why this thought raced through my head is because last night I made some points that were poorly tied to the text and unclear. I remember thinking in the middle of the talk, "I don't know where I am going with this." Then I was also shot through by a thought from the book "Applying the Sermon" saying, "if the preacher doesn't understand, how in the world could the people possibly understand?" All of this compounds to make me realize, I need to do a better job in preparation.

Why did I make this observation? Because, sometimes I get spiritual envy. I wish I could do what Francis does. But, what I need to learn is that it is more important that I recognize my calling and live in it. Instead of wishing I was leading thousands of people in California, I should be leading a handful of students in Beloit well. Instead of wishing I was writing books, I should focus on writing things that make sense and apply to our students. Instead of standing up every week with a couple of notes scribbled on a weak outline, I should have written out what I am going to say. Instead of pretending I am gifted enough to 'wing it', I should be prepared.

Two lessons that I learned last night. First, it is better to be faithful. God may never see me fit to lead more than 100 people. So, I shouldn't look on other more "successful" ministries with lust filled eyed. I need to recognize that God can and is using me here. A student came up to me last night and expressed how God is at work in her life through the ministry that I am a part of here. What could possibly be better than that? I need to remain faithful. Second, I have to know myself well. I cannot pretend to be someone I am not. Although Chan can probably come up with a message backstage before speaking to thousands, I cannot. I need to do the leg work and preparation before hand. I cannot skip out on hard work and expect for miraculous things to happen. That is presumptuous. For me to deliver a God honoring message probably means that I need to write out in full and prayerfully re-work and edit the message a couple times.

Faithfulness sometimes calls us to do the hard work. Sometimes Jesus gives us the strength but also essentially says, "you do it."

This is a reminder to all of us that we need to live the lives that God calls us to. You are uniquely you. God has wired and gifted you to do what only you can. So live in it. Be faithful to Jesus and carry out your task today.

Criticism pt. 2

When it comes to critiquing, I am not saying that tolerance should be king. I do not believe that we should lay down convictions in order to pursue unity.That is a dangerous strategy. Jesus was realistically intolerant. He did not pursue unity with religious leaders, He pursued truth in love. When rightly understood, Jesus is very divisive and very judgmental. He says things like, "Do not suppose I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). He will not let us grow comfortable with sin. He does not leave room for half-hearted commitment or fuzzy beliefs. He calls us to full-out submission to a real and specific truth. This eventually results in unity. Unity, however, is not the first step... submission is. And that submission rests in an reality we call truth. We do not jettison truth for unity. Sometimes it is appropriate to discuss differences. Justin Taylor posted a blog on John Stott's view of christian disagreement here.

When people speak of 'Do not judge, or you too will be judged' they wrench that verse out of the context. The whole sermon on the mount is a treatise on two ways to live. Either, you are saved by grace and growing in righteousness, earning eternal favor with God, and the prospect of eternal rest. OR, you are distancing yourself from peace, living under the wrath of God, and storing up for yourself eternal punishment. Jesus is teaching us how to judge between the two. Voddie Baucham in a recent sermon points out that in the same breath Jesus says, 'judge not' he also says "don't cast your pearls to the pigs" and later says "watch out for false teachers." Okay Jesus, which is it? Are we supposed to judge or not? I thought 'judge not' means that I never judge? How is it then that I am supposed to know who a swine is and who a false teacher is? Isn't that judging? Jesus is not saying, 'don't judge.' Given the context he is actually saying judge accurately with the grace you have received. Remove the log in your eye, "then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:5). Jesus says to judge yourself first so that you can help your brother. He does not say never ever judge.

It is important that we understand the concept of contending for the faith. I am currently taking a course through Moody Bible Institute called "The Church and Its Doctrines" and it is crazy that men were martyred for some basic tenants of the faith. Many of these tenants could hardly be recited by an average church goer these days, yet at one point they were considered so important! We must be passionate about the truth and be willing to shed a little blood over the faith passed down to us. "Contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 1:3). This requires judging accurately.

However, I think where judging gets dangerous, and even venomous, is where we allow our wicked hearts to go beyond judging with grace, to flat out criticism (see the previous article "Criticism"). So, stand firm in the truth. But do so with reverence, grace, and humility.

Jesus, teach us to walk in faithfulness to you. Able to accurately discern truth without growing in arrogance. Guide us in faithfulness. Help us to have deep convictions. This tandem act of discernment and grace is a miraculous thing. Help it to happen with us!

Criticism

Why is it so easy to critique? Why do many Christians thrive on criticizing other Christians? This is an area where I feel I need work. Even the critique, Anton Ego, from the movie Ratatoullie, has a sobering reflection on criticism:

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so."

The scary line from this quote is, "we thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read." Why is it that we enjoy arrogance so much? We love to put ourselves in a position of prominence. We love to set ourselves on top of the world and pronounce judgement. And others love to read and listen. Gossip and slander gain traction real quick. A harsh word gains an audience way quicker than silence and faithfulness does.

We need to check our hearts before we respond to the work of others. The web serves as a great platform to blast others from with little to no consequences and I think that is why there are so many venomous blogs out there (maybe mine included). I feel convicted that I have for sure said and wrote things about others without giving them a fair trial.

In what areas of your life are you critiquing others? Where do you struggle with gossip and slander? Even if you never verbalize your complaints, it is still a rotten heart issue. So, where do you struggle?

Jesus, help us to not be critics, but truth-tellers. Help us to major in the gospel and to let you sort it all out in the end. Help us to rightly divide the word of truth without being arrogant or hurtful to others that are attempting to grow in their understanding of You. Help us Jesus. This is an area of deep need.

Making Sense of Hebrews 6:4-6

Putting it all Together|Hebrews 6:4-6

At our youth group ignite, we are working through the book of Hebrews. This past Wednesday we came across one of the most difficult texts in the Bible to interpret and apply (Hebrews 6:4-6). We breezed over it and made some big picture observations. In light of some questions, and because some of you are thinkers, I wanted to post a little deeper article on the issue. These are the facebook messages from earlier today:

Cory,

So I'm confused. The people who can't be saved are the ones who grew up around christianity and experienced things and then deny Christ? But I thought that happens like people grow up in church then turn away completly from the faith however; later on in life they come back. Idk [I don't know] it just seems like God wouldn't not accept people. I thought like the worst sin was lying to the Holy Spirit. I know God is perfectly fair but it seems like if that were true this isn't fair to those people.

Dear Student

That is the difficulty of the text... does God actually deny people repentance? Is this a hypothetical situation? Here are few arguments for the how this can be interpreted:
1)Its a threat. The idea behind this argument is that the author wants to shock the readers into persevering. I don't buy it. I had a teacher in high school that threw around threats but never ever followed through. We ruled that class and she [the teacher] was our puppet. In the same way a parent that never follows through on a threat doesn't actually make their kids behave by threatening them. I don't think God works like that either. As if He says, "If you turn from me I will NEVER GIVE YOU REPENTANCE!" then under His breath, "not really, I don't do that." So that argument doesn't work for me. Another argument is...
2) It is a manner of speaking (vs. 9)
This argument means that the Author is proving a point argumentum ad absurdum (R.C. Sproul says it this way, I am not that smart!). Meaning, let's follow out this line of thought and see where it takes us, the end result is absurd. The bible does this in other places too like 1 Cor 15. This is where Paul writes about if you think there really was no resurrection, what are the implications? You are still in sin, you are still dead, you have no hope of resurrection, basically the end result is absurd. So, with Hebrews, what may be happening is he is playing out the premise 'let us go back to Jewish practices'. The way this would role out is: If you leave the gospel to go back to Jewish practices then you are saying the cross is useless, Jewish religion is king, there is no hope of repentance because you already dismissed Jesus, he is not coming again to be crucified again... therefore,there is no hope for you. (Something like that) The way this could happen today is somebody experiences Christianity, gets 'saved,' then turns away from the gospel to something else. Let's say that something else could be social justice, missions trips, church growth, etc... (religion). So, you have moved away from the cross and the end result is an absurd reality. None of those causes can save just like the religion of the Jews void of Jesus cannot save. 'However, in your case we are confident of better things.' So really this argument is saying, don't graduate from the gospel because that is absurd as if there is something better than Jesus. A third argument is...
3) Mixed corpus. The church is made up of a mixed bunch of people. Some are authentic Christians and some are false, professing christians. So, this is actually saying you might be a professing christian that actually turns away from God because you were never really saved in the first place. This gains steam from Matthew 7:21, "not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom," and 1 John 2:19, "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they belonged to us they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." So Hebrews is saying to someone who thinks they are saved (but doesn't know that they aren't) they will continue in their lost-ness. But, I would ask, 'why such strong language for false professors' because we know that God can grant repentance in the 11th hour. I do not think it is impossible for someone to repent when they never actually did in the first place. I would say very passionately, 'it is totally possible!' So, this argument also does not satisfy me.

But, it gets even more complicated, why does Peter get repentance? Then, why doesn't Judas? Why does God tell Nathan to stop praying for Saul? It is hard to know the mind of God!

4) It is referring to someone who willfully and determinedly turns from Christ and hardens their heart to the things of God. This is the view that seems to make the most sense to me. And, it seems that the impossibility of 'being brought back to repentance' rests in the nature of sin, not necessarily the judicial sentence of God (if it is even possible to separate the two?).

It is important to recognize that some people do "fall away" (same term used in Hebrews 6:4) and eventually return. Even in scriptures Peter falls away when he denies Jesus three times then again when he starts observing Jewish practices (Galatians 2:11-12). Peter was restored in John 21 and he seemed to make it out of the Galatian issue after repenting. But, I think Heb 6:4-6 might be talking about the other case of people turning away and never being brought back, like in the case of Judas. Furthermore, I think Hebrews 6 is closely tied to sinning against the Spirit that Jesus warns against. So maybe it is a matter of willfully turning from God's Spirit and hardening your heart, and hardening your heart, and hardening your heart to the point where you seek repentance with tears and cannot find it like Esau (Hebrews 12:16-17). This fits the context of "slow to learn" (5:11) and "becoming lazy" (6:12). The idea here being: not listening to, responding to, and obeying the Spirit through the Word. John Owen in his work The Mortification of Sin, illustrates the hardening of heart this way:

"Sin will grow a light thing to thee; thou wilt pass it by as a thing of nought; this it will grow to. And what will be the end of such a condition? Can a sadder thing befall thee? Is it not enough to make any heart to tremble, to think of being brought into that estate wherein he should have slight thoughts of sin? Slight thoughts of grace, of mercy, of the blood of Christ, of the law, heaven, and hell, come all in at the same season. Take heed, this is that thy lust is working towards, -- the hardening of the heart, searing of the conscience, blinding of the mind, stupifying of the affections, and deceiving of the whole soul."

Could anything be MORE terrifying than the hardening of heart that leads to 'deceiving the whole soul,' and results in eternal damnation?

I don't totally understand the contours of Hebrews 6, but I think the way we respond to this text needs to be the same no matter the argument. "So if you think you stand, be careful that you don't fall." (1 Corinthians 10:4) Then again, "We want you to show diligence to the very end in order to make your hope sure" (Hebrews 6:11). Do not assume that you are in the same case as Peter, who was able to be restored. It is a strong reminder not to bank on being granted repentance later... Nobody should hope that they can live wild then return later in life. There are certain cases where repentance doesn't happen. People fall away from God never to return... how are we to know which case is which? So don't turn from Him because you may end up like Esau. Keep following Jesus and never give up. Don't let sin harden your heart. "Be diligent to the very end, in order to make your hope sure" (Hebrews 6:11) We have a certain hope: "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf" (Hebrews 6:19,20). Our hope is bound up in the priestly work of Jesus Christ, who is currently in heaven before the throne on our behalf. Amen.

Don't Forget about Haiti: Lecrae|Far Away

Staff Directory

We finally got staff photos on the web.... I work with some really cool and godly people. Check 'em out.

Emase

Get this guy on your radar. How does the technical gospel message of John Piper and Don Carson and many other studied "white guys" make it to 'the hood?' The answer, Eric Mason. (I'm not blowing smoke, Mason calls John Piper "The Godfather" to the movement Mason is creating.)

Mason planted a church called Epiphany Fellowship in 'Philly,' an epicenter of hip-hop culture. The concept of the church is to get the 'nutritional value' of the gospel to the ethnic minority and the culture of hip-hop. How is it going so far? See for yourself:

Interview with Darrin Patrick and Eric Mason

Advance 09: The Ultimate Shepherd

Desiring God 2010: The Role of Suffering in Sanctification

Eric Mason on Twitter

It is good for us to see how this guy is flexing the gospel to the context of Philly. I am a stones throw from the 'inner-city' neighborhood in Beloit as I currently sit in my office... Some of my favorite kids are 'camp kids.' So, how can CSM make sure the gospel is relevant to their lives?

Praise for My Riblet

In our "Marriage Matters" small group, Ashley and I received some homework. The homework that we are instructed to do throughout the week is to think of some things that are praiseworthy in each other and meditate on them throughout the day. Then, we are to offer those words of praise free of any strings or attachments. So, I have been wondering if I am openly encouraging?

The other night I had the privilege of running into a few CSM graduates. I had not seen them in a about 18 months so we were catching up on what everyone has been up to. One graduate congratulated me on my engagement and said something along the lines of, "I am so happy for you and her! You were talking her up so much!" That was encouraging because it says something about the way I talk about Ashley to my students... a graduate remembers that a couple years ago when she was in youth group, I praised Ash. But, that still misses the point. If Ashley never hears the words from my mouth directly to her, she is unaware. So I need to literally let Ash know on a regular basis how much I appreciate her.

That leads me to a homework assignment to you.... who are people in your life that you appreciate? It doesn't have to be a significant other, it can be anyone. Do them (and you) a favor by letting them know how much you appreciate them. Write a letter, send a text, give them a phone call. Whatever you need to do, do not let another day fly bye without showing the love of Christ in a real and tangible way.

In Need of Grace

"Of all the people who are most resistant to the gospel it is going to be pastors. It is going to be the elders. It is going to be the church leaders. For what obvious reason would pastors be the most resistant? Why did Jesus say it was difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom, more difficult than passing a camel through an eye of a needle? ...Because to get into the kingdom of God the only thing required is that you acknowledge your spiritual bankruptcy. So it is very obvious that it would be hard for the rich to get into the kingdom of God. Harder than anyone else because it's the hardest for them to see themselves as bankrupt. Right? So who's the hardest person to convict and convert? Who's the hardest person to transform? ...clearly the people that are in religious work. Clearly pastors." -Ray Cortese

My plea is that you would pray for me! Pray for the staff of Central. Pray for anyone you know in a leadership role. We need it.

It is so hard to not become numb to it all. The other day I was sitting in a service at a church in Chicago and watched a man get baptized. My Ashley was crying beside me and I was looking at the layout of the baptismal and listening to the way the pastor prayed. 'Is this prayer biblically sound?' I thought to myself as the man publicly professed Christ as Lord. That is messed up. Pray that God would soften my heart again. Pray that I wouldn't be a Pharisaical hypocrite.