Dealing with Offense part 3

¹ The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: ² "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." ³ But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish.

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Today I want to look at someone who did things the wrong way. Everyone knows the story of Jonah being swallowed by the whale and how God rescued him, and a few people know why he was in the whale in the first place. But do you know why he was running from God? You may have guessed from the title, but he was OFFENDED!!! God wanted him to go and preach in the one place that Jonah hated more than anything else. We don't understand slavery and oppression like he was going through, but we do understand what it's like to get picked on.

I think Jonah knew God, and knew that He would punish people who did evil. In fact, the only thing that was keeping Jonah going was knowing that God would punish the people of Ninevah for all of the horrible things they had done. I wonder if he often prayed for the destruction of that city. I bet he did. So imagine his surprise when one day God tells him to go to Ninevah and preach repentance. He didn't want them to repent, he wanted them to SUFFER!!! So instead of following God's plan, he decided to try and avoid God, and because of that He was swallowed by a whale.

The moral of todays story? Let go of your offenses and listen to God, or you might end up somewhere you don't want to be.

-Jeff-

Dealing with Offense part 2

¹But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. ³The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" ⁶They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." ⁸Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

¹¹"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

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Often when we read this passage, we focus on the people and their intent to trick Jesus (otherwise, why didn't they bring the man? It takes two...). And it's true. The only reason they brought this woman was because they wanted to see what Jesus would do. But I want to look at this passage from a slightly different angle.

Leviticus 20:10 says this:

¹⁰ " 'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

These men had the law on their side. Forget the fact that they were probably waiting outside her house so they could capture her, they were in the right. The law clearly says she should die. And no one would have given Jesus a hard time for agreeing with the law. But instead Jesus says "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." And at that, the men dropped their stones and walked away.

We've all been in situations where someone has hurt us, and according to the law we have the right to get them back. We say things like: "It's okay for me to hate them, you don't know what they did to me." or we talk to our friends and say: "Just thought you'd like to know, so and so did this to me." And you take those rocks in your hands and begin to throw them at the person, because it's your right to do so.

But Jesus had a different take on this. Have you ever sinned? Have you ever cut someone off in the hallway at school? Have you ever gotten carried away and done something you regretted? If you have, and you've been offered forgiveness, it is your responsibility to do the same to others. When someone hurts you, you have a choice to make. I can take the stone in my hand and throw it at them, or I can drop it and walk away. But as you're thinking about your choice, remember that God took the rock that had your name on it, and instead he threw it at Jesus.

-Jeff-

Dealing with Offense part 1

How important is respect? When I asked this question in youth last night, nearly everyone in the room gave it a 4 or 5, on a scale of 1 to 5. As I was mulling over last nights activities, I thought of a few other examples of what we talked about, but rather than dragging this series on for another 3 weeks I figured that I could just say what I need to in a couple blogs. But before I get to the topic, here are a couple quotes on respect:

My uncle's dying wish was to have me sitting on his lap. He was in the electric chair.

I tell ya when I was a kid, all I knew was rejection. My yo-yo, it never came back!

My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.

When I played in the sandbox the cat kept covering me up.

If you're breathing, respect is probably a big deal for you. Last night in youth we talked about the how hurtful offense is, and how it gives the enemy a foothold in our lives. I'm convinced that this is one of the number one ways that he attacks us, because it makes us ineffective in the Kingdom of God. Ephesians 4 says this:

²⁶"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold.

When we allow ourselves to harbor bitterness, we give the devil a chance to attack us without even realizing. The problem with offense is that often times we have the "right" to be angry. If someone hurts us, we feel justified talking about them behind their back. But that's not what God wants for us.

I'll explore this more in later posts, but this one is getting too long.

-Jeff-

Comments

Sometimes the most innocent posts can end up with the strangest comments...

I laughed for quite a while about this! If you're having a hard time reading it, click on the image and it should get bigger.

-Jeff-

She has no idea

I don't know why, but for the last few months my kids have been doing a lot of complaining about the work distribution in our house. Usually, the biggest problem is with Tiffanney folding the laundry and then asking them to put it away. They see themselves running all over the house, while Mom gets to sit there and watch Dr Phil (nevermind the fact that she IS making a human!).

I got to thinking about this as I was reading this post from Perry Noble. Here is an excerpt:

She has no idea what I am capable of…or the things I do behind the scenes of her life that she benefits from…but remains unaware of.

• She wants a cup of milk…but I am making preparations for her to attend college one day.
• She wants to go outside…and I am working hard to buy toys that she can play with while she is out there.
• She wants to go to bed…and I do all that I can to make sure we have a safe house to live in so she can sleep.

We see the immediate needs and how God provides for us, but what about the things we don't see? Because God is constantly working on our behalf.

-Jeff-

Blogger Love-Hate

I'm going thru a bit of a love-hate relationship with Blogger right now. For some reason I can't change parts of my blog layout, which sucks because my other site, www.realityyouthonline.com, looks pretty messed up with no way to fix it (unless I delete everything and start over). I've tried searching the help forums but it seems like there are waaaayyyy more people with questions on there than there are people to answer them. So, what should I do? Maybe the answer is to scrap it and start a new blog somewhere else. But that takes a long time. So I guess I'll just sit and wait for them to fix the problem, whenever they get around to it.

BTW, my blogger error code is: bX-gcjf62, if you're getting the same code, let me know and maybe we can talk through the problem together.

-Jeff-

USS Enterprise vs the Death Star

I saw this and just had to post it! Have a Happy Monday!


-Jeff-

Mother's Day Video

It's not too late! If you're looking for something to do for your wife or mom for Mother's Day, here is a great idea from Animoto.com. All you do is upload 12-15 pics and select your music, and they do the rest! You will need to sign up for an account before making the video and at the end you click send as Mother's Day video. Here's how our video turned out.



-Jeff-

What I learned while swinging.

My daughter just taught me something interesting. We were out on the play ground and I was pushing her on the swings. Suddenly, she turns to the girls next to her and says, "Haha girls, I'm going higher than you!" BUT I WAS DOING ALL THE WORK!!!

As I stood there thinking about what she was doing, part of me wanted to walk away and see how well she could do on her own! But in that moment God spoke, "How often do you take credit for the things that I'm doing?" And it's so true, I'll spend time praying and fasting for a sermon, and then when it goes well I take the credit! Like I made those people get saved! Let's just say it was a humbling experience.

And in case you were wondering, I typed this whole blog while pushing her on the swing (she thought I was texting!).

-Jeff-

Using Twitter beyond Status Updates

Hey there Tweeple! So maybe you've made the jump into the Twitterverse, and maybe you're still sitting on the fence. Here are 10 reasons why you should be on Twitter!

1) Imagine being able to update your Facebook status via text message.
2) Imagine never missing a status update because they're sent to your phone via text message.
3) If everyone was on Twitter, we could send out announcement reminders to help you plan things easier.
4) If you own a blog, you can set it to update your status everytime you post something to it.
5) If you own a blog, you can set it to update your blog everytime you post something on Twitter.
6) Youth Pastors/Leaders can quickly update parents about changes to events, or let them in on things that are happening on a retreat or missions trip.
7) Twitter is an easy way to get pictures on the internet (check out Twitpic).
8) Twitter is a great way to stay up on current events (go to search.Twitter.com).
9) Twitter is great for networking. Maybe you'll never get a reply from @aplusk (Ashton Kutcher), but many interesting people in different fields use Twitter, and they're ready to talk.
10) Lastly, Twitter is fun when there are a lot of people on it. But do me a favor, post jokes or things you find interesting, not just what you're eating for lunch. Do that, and Twitter will be fun for everyone.

Hopefully I've convinced you, if you have questions about how to do any of the things listed above, leave me a comment.

-Jeff-

I am Barabbas

Let me start off by saying that I love Mark Batterson. I just finished reading his book, Wild Goose Chase and I'm still chewing on some of the things that were in that book.

But the reason for this post is to talk about something he said on his blog: I am Barabbas. You remember Barabbas as the man who was traded for Jesus. Click the link above to read Mark's thoughts, and remember that Jesus took our place.

-Jeff-

UnCommon Promo

Here is a little video that I put together to advertise for our Discipleship Retreat. It's gonna be great!



-Jeff-

Guitar Hero Ministry Mentality

This post from Steve Furtick is so good that I've shared it with all my youth leaders, and even mentioned it in my sermon on Wednesday night. Here's an excerpt:

If my generation isn’t careful, we may fall into a Guitar Hero mentality toward ministry:
Everybody wants to be a rock star, but no one wants to learn the chords.

The rest is just as good, click over here to read it.

-Jeff-

Save the Executives

This video touched me in a very profound way. Watch it, and then I'll offer my commentary.




What's really great is this was put together back in October, well before the current round of AIG bonuses. Thanks to Ray Hansen and Pastor Rich Smith for sharing this with me!

-Jeff-

Explanation or Obedience

Here is a great post from Perry Noble, Pastor of New Spring Church. He does a great job asking (and answering) the question, "Does God owe us an explanation when He asks us to do something?" Too many times people get stuck on why God wants us to do something (witness, go to college, find a job, start a new ministry) instead of merely obeying Him and trusting Him with the results. The results are up to God, our job is to obey! Here is an excerpt of what he said:

One of the problems I have constantly faced as follower of Jesus Christ is the mistake that believing that God owes me some sort of explanation every time He commands me to do something…

…which has caused me, many times, to expect God to explain Himself rather than me simply trusting Him enough to do exactly what He says.

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BUT…I believe ONE of the reasons He doesn’t waste time with explanation is because it would lead to negotiation on our part…we would hear His plan and try to “improve” upon it because; after all, we are smarter than Him, right?

...

By the way…when we want an explanation and try to enter into negotiation…the result is always frustration.

We get in trouble when we expect God to do things our way. When He doesn't, then we balk at Him rather than trusting Him to know what's best for us.

-Jeff-

Get out of Purgatory Free (Almost)

I got this story from Randy Cassingham over at This is True. If you're a fan of weird but true news, click over there and get a FREE newsletter subscription from his site. Anyways, I wanted to post this article because I watched the movie Luther on Saturday, and here's what I posted to my Twitter account (btw, if you're on Twitter, follow me here):




PAGING MARTIN LUTHER: The Roman Catholic Church is bringing back Plenary
Indulgences -- a sort-of Get Out of Hell Free card from a priest. "Why
are we bringing it back?" offered Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of
Brooklyn, N.Y., who supports indulgences. "Because there is sin in the
world." Indulgences were dropped by the church in the 1960s after the
Second Vatican Council. Church doctrine notes that even after a priest
offers absolution after confession, sinners still face punishment after
death. Indulgences supposedly cancel the punishment in purgatory. They
cannot be purchased -- the church outlawed that in 1567 -- but a
contribution greases the wheels. A parishioner must confess to get one,
and there is a limit of one per sinner per day. "It was always there,"
Bishop DiMarzio says. "We just want people to return to the ideas they
used to know." (New York Times) ...So parochial school nuns can get out
their rulers again.

If only AG churches would follow the same model... So here's a question, how much would you pay to get yourself or someone you love out of Purgatory? Obviously I don't believe in Purgatory (show me where it is in the Bible, then you'll get me interested), but if I believed for a second that I could shorten my stay there, I'd empty every dime out of my bank account to make sure that it happened. Anything less would indicate that I didn't really believe what I said I did.

So to flip that around, what are some things we believe in that we don't sell out for ?

-Jeff-

I Love Youth Leaders

Last night I had a unique experience. A lot youth pastors will laugh when I say this, but there are several out there who are going to nod knowingly, and a few who will be jealous. I say unique because it's something I've rarely had happen to me. So enough stalling, here it is: Our small groups happened and succeeded without Tiffanney or I there. Our leaders are really stepping up, and they've taken small groups to a level that Tiffanney and I could not have gotten them to on our own. It feels like our group is multiplying! I'm loving it!

-Jeff-

New Reality Logo?

Probably not, but we'll need to find a way to use this. I think it's pretty cool.




I guess you could say I'm having a hard time concentrating today,

-Jeff-

Dilbert has an addiction.

And the only solution is more smartphone!!! I laughed when I saw this, 'cause Tiff makes fun of me all the time for my crackberry addiction. Although I will say that I still prefer my wife over my phone... Love you babe!



-Jeff-

100 posts

This is it! Post #100!!! At times it seemed like I'd never make it, and for sure there have been times when I've quit blogging altogether, only to pick it back up when the time was right. If you are new to reading this blog, I'm going to take a few paragraphs to highlight some of the ways this blog has changed in the last 100 items.

It's funny going back and rereading some of my old posts. I've been blogging for two years now, and a lot has changed in my life since then. My first post was right after a lock in, and includes the prophetic statement "I think Myspace is outliving it's usefulness anyway." That's right, I called it two years ago! Back then I was concerned about the ads that were so prevalent (and still are), now I'm concerned (not really) that no one uses it.

I posted three times in the first 8 days, then took a three month break because it was getting to be too much (really I was just lazy and didn't think I had anything interesting to say (I still don't)). I hit my blogging stride though shortly after that as I posted 10 items during our missions trip. I haven't done that since, but I really need to because it was a great way to decompress and to let parents know what was happening in the ministry.

The blog took on a new direction for a little while as I tried to apply the Bible to current events, which was a noble goal but I didn't have the time to search out new information. In December 2007 our house was flooded, so there are several posts relating to that.

During that same time period our senior pastor left, and I was the interim pastor at our church. This was the one time when I could seriously say I was too busy to blog, it was all I could do to keep my head above water.

Sometime in 2008 I decided that my writing needed to be focused more towards youth pastors, as one of the things God has called me to do is to help resource the next gen of youth pastors out there. So I started a few different series, and each time they ended up being too much work to keep up with. Tools I use in ministry and What Should I do after I get Saved flowed from this line of thinking, and each one took months to complete.

In June we stepped down in Oakville, and for a while this blog became a way for me to get my name out there. When we moved to Lake Stevens, the blog became more a way for me to connect with our Youth Leadership, and to start a discussion about Youth Ministry.

So that's where we've come from, as far as where we're heading, maybe the next 100 will make that clear.

-Jeff-