Soli Deo Gloria

FILM FEST DATE CHANGE

2008-04-16T09:56:00.002-04:00

Due to a writers strike. The Film Fest has been moved back two weeks to
Sunday May 18th!! This gives you two more weeks to make your films exceptional!!

Film Fest 08

2008-04-09T12:37:00.002-04:00

Covenant of Grace
Film Festival 2008

WHAT? A Film Festival, which brings out Big Truths about God and Christianity through Short Films. The Whole Church is invited to come out on this wonderful night!!

WHEN? Sunday May 4th
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
WHERE? Covenant of Grace –Sanctuary
Desserts, Snacks provided: Donations taken for Missions

WHO? Films can be made by anyone in the church!
Simply form your group and submit your video to Jordan on May 4th AT church, the morning of the film fest.

2008 THEME
Take any Old Testament Story and make it your own! Modernize it, keep it historical, Be CREATIVE! And make sure you bring out the MORAL of the Story!!

Rules: 1. Clip length: 10 minutes or less!
2. Make a film based on the theme.
3. Films can be made in any genre you choose eg. Documentary, Sci Fi, Scary Movie, Drama, Action, Silent Movie, Music Video, Comedy, etc.

HS Teams: Seniors vs. Underclassmen
Plus one with all HS members
MS Teams: Boys vs. Girls
Plus one with all MS members

Different Categories being Awarded
1.Best Movie 2. Best Actor 3. Best Actress 4. Best Script
5. Best Cinematography 6. Best Music 7. Supporting Actor
8. Supporting Actress 9. Best Comedic Moment
10. Best Dance 11. Best Dramatic Moment
12. Most Church members involved
13. Most non-youth youth/friends involved
14. Best Gospel presentation
15. Best Spiritual Insightfulness

Questions? Contact Jordan jordanross@comcast.net

Christian Witness Reverses Damage of Hypocrites

2008-02-19T14:10:00.002-05:00

One of the most often claims made about Christians is that we dont put into practice what we believe, basically we are hypocrites. The below story can help reverse the damage that hypocrites make.

Apologist and author Ravi Zacharias recounts a story found in Marie Chapian's book Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy (Bethany House, 1980). The book follows the Yugoslavian Christian church's suffering under a corrupt church heirarchy:

One day an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived in a certain village. He commiserated with an elderly man named Cimmerman on the tragedies he had experienced and talked to him of the love of Christ. Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, a history replete with plundering, exploiting, and indeed with killing innocent people.
"My own nephew was killed by them," he said and angrily rebuffed any effort on Jakov's part to talk about Christ. "They wear those elaborate coats and crosses," he said, "signifying a heavenly commission, but their evil designs and lives I cannot ignore."
Jakov, looking for an occasion to get Cimmerman to change his line of thinking, said, "Cimmerman, can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal your coat, put it on, and break into a bank. Suppose further that the police sighted me running in the distance but could not catch up with me. One clue, however, put them onto your track: they recognize your coat. What would you say to them if they came to your house and accused you of breaking into the bank?"
"I would deny it, " said Cimmerman.
"'Ah, but we saw your coat,' they would say," retorted Jakov. This analogy quite annoyed Cimmerman, who ordered Jakov to leave his home.
Jakov continued to return to the village periodically just to befriend Cimmerman, encourage him, and share the love of Christ with him. Finally one day Cimmerman asked, "How does one become a Christian?" Jakov taught him the simple steps of repentance for sin and of trust in the work of Jesus Christ and gently pointed him to the Shepherd of his soul. Cimmerman bent his knee on the soil with his head bowed and surrendered his life to Christ. As he rose to his feet, wiping his tears, he embraced Jakov and said, "Thank you for being in my life." And then he pointed to the heavens and whispered, "You wear His coat very well."

We reverse the claim of hypocrisy when we seek to be like Christ and through his power and grace we really love others.

Truth Project - What is Truth?

2008-02-11T14:38:00.000-05:00

Sunday night, the 10th, we went over our first lesson in the Truth Project.
Below are some highlighted notes of that lesson, what did you guys think?

Lesson 1 - Veritology: What is Truth?

Introduction
In this initial episode, students receive a general introduction to the overall scope and purpose of The Truth Project. This series is designed to take participants on a guided worldview tour, following the points of the worldview compass, a tool designed to direct our thinking with regard to four fundamental issues: Truth, God, Man, and the Social Order. Along the way, we will attempt to build a logical, systematic framework of ideas by which to organize and evaluate the various truth claims to be encountered during the course of our tour. Our ultimate goal is not
simply to gain knowledge, but to look upon the face of God – and to be transformed in the process.

Themes
Our destination in Lesson 1 lies due North. The focal point for this first hour of discussion is the concept of Truth itself. What is truth? Why is it important? What role does it play in the biblical view of the world, God's purpose for the cosmos, His will for mankind, His plan of salvation, and the way we live our personal lives? In his comments on this subject, Dr. Del Tackett will demonstrate how truth was fundamental to the mission of Jesus Christ in the world; how it forms the heart of the Cosmic Battle that has been raging since the beginning; how this battle has divided the world into two opposing camps or sides; how lies, the antithesis of Truth, take human hearts and minds captive by the power of deception; and how every man and woman now stands in the position of having to choose between God's truth claims and the opposing perspective of the world, the flesh, and the devil. To answer the question "what is truth?" Dr. Tackett consults the 1828 edition of Webster's Dictionary which defines truth as "Conformity to fact or reality…" We will also see how popular notions of truth (represented by man on the street interviews) contrast sharply with the biblical concept (as articulated by Ravi Zacharias, Os
Guinness, and R. C. Sproul).

Points to Watch For
Dr. Tackett concludes that, in almost every case, the perspective of contemporary culture stands in direct opposition to the Truth-centered worldview presented in the Bible. In the process of making this case, he advances the bold claim that our culture is not only filled with lies but is actually heading in the direction of social insanity. As a result, he proposes that Pilate's query –
"What is truth?" – is the most important question facing our society today. He ends Lesson 1 by challenging his audience with this all-important question: "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?"

In other words, are you living out your belief in God in the reality of your everday life?

Thoughts on Christmas

2007-12-12T15:11:00.000-05:00

God became a man for this purpose: since you, a human being, could not reach God, but you can reach other humans, you might now reach God through a man. And so the man Christ Jesus became the mediator of God and human beings.

God became a man so that following a man—something you are able to do—you might reach God, which was formerly impossible to you. — St. Augustine
John 17:3, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25

Our Lord came down from life to suffer death;
the Bread came down, to hunger;
the Way came down, on the way to weariness;
the Fount came down, to thirst.
—Augustine, Sermon 78

He so loved us that, for our sake,
He was made man in time,
although through him all times were made.
He was made man, who made man.
He was created of a mother whom he created.
He was carried by hands that he formed.
He cried in the manger in wordless infancy, he the Word,
without whom all human eloquence is mute.
—Augustine, Sermon 188, 2

Manhattan Immersion

2007-10-11T09:15:00.001-04:00

Welcome back to Baltimore Earthlings!

So Manhattan Immersion is over for 2007. It was quite the trip. For those of you who had to do SAT's. We deeply regret leaving you behind.
Thus this post is dedicated to those who didn't experience the best weekend ever.
Well, one of the best weekends ever.

The winners of this years trip were:
Matt and Jenn Seda, Tim Logsdon, Alex Basalyga, JT Wojtowicz and Claire Maisel.
Runner ups: (although some could dispute and claim winners due to creativity points)
Jordan and Jessica Ross, Greg Hayes, Tyler Rees, Matt Neal, Josh Danko and Tim Hayes
And last but not least:
Jim Beachley, Jon Basalyga, Addie Beachley, Erika Houston, Caitlyn Danko and Amy B.

Highlights of the trip.
1. Mars 2112. A restaurant a la Chucky Cheese style but a Mars theme, a place that looked a lot like an 80's Sci-Fi movie set gone bad. (Ever seen Total Recall?)
But it had its perks. The glowing red light everywhere, the balloons littering the ceiling and the $2 entrance fee.
2. A new winner this year! Jim Beachley's team unfortunately lost both their clue sheets and couldn't finish the race. Instead they went shopping an entertained themselves by pretending to win.
3. Matt Neal last comic standing routine that kept us guessing and laughing!
4. Tim Keller's sermon was nothing short of stellar!
5. Watching each group Moo like a cow in the middle of a busy intersection while they stared admiringly at an old building.
6. Listening to Amy Beachley for some reason ramble on about Alexander Hamilton. That was weird.
7. Watching Tim Hayes act like a lame dinosaur and being tackled by his father on the front steps of the Natural History Museum.
8. It was priceless to see Alex play with Barbie Dolls in the Times Sq Toys R Us.
9. Watching Matt and Jenn's team play Marco Polo in slow motion and look like escapee's from the luney bin who needed a good fire extinguisher.

Now its time to include your highlights of the weekend.
Let everyone know what stood out to you!!

Missions Trip Reflections

2007-09-25T11:08:00.000-04:00

Electric Truth

We often go on mission trips to bless others with our service, but often we come home having been the most blessed because of the example the receivers were to us. Paul, in I Thessalonians reflects this principle when he wrote in 3:1ff:

"We sent him (Timothy) to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith. . . but now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love. So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How we thank God for you!"

Here was Paul the Apostle, a veteran of mission trips, blessed because of the faith that the new believers in Thessalonica had. There are so many principles to be learned from this biblical example:

Humility: to accept your limitations and realize that there is much that you need that is a gift from others and has nothing to do with material things
Teachability: to realize there is much you can learn from others through the challenges they have faced in their own lives
Priorities: what is really important in life
Generosity: giving graciously and abundantly because you want to
Reciprocity: two way relationships are what's really important in any ministry
Flexibility and resourcefulness: making the most out of the least.
And the list goes on. In short, it is about character building, and hopefully as we saw the hearts and lives of those we served, we can begin to internalize what we've learned and demonstrate toward each other those same character traits.

With this in mind we can ask ourselves these questions:
Which of these traits is our strongest as a youth group?
Which is the weakest?
How can we build these character traits?
How would these traits help our Go Wide efforts?

Fall Calendars

2007-09-11T11:58:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone, the Fall Calendar is now viewable both on the left side column on this site and at the below websites where you can print out your own copy!

Click here for High School Calendar.

Click here for Middle School Calendar.

Questions?
Call Jordan
or email him.
jordanross@comcast.net

The Sense of the Geese

2007-08-15T14:36:00.000-04:00

Geese Facts
Next fall when you see geese heading south for the winter... flying along in V formation...you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way:

As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in V formation the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range, than if each bird flew on its own.

People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone... and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are.

When the head goose gets tired it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point. It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs...with people or with geese flying south.

Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. What do we say when we honk from behind?

Finally...and this is important...when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshots, and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies, and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group.

If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that. So lets continue to build on to our unity and fellowship and dont be afraid to honk at one another.

Favorite Experiences and Quotes from Toronto

2007-08-14T09:07:00.000-04:00

Well folks,
Its been a little while since I last posted. But I wanted to say hello, and welcome back to America! For those of you who went to Canada it was a marvelous time. For those of us who didnt go well then, how about we share some stories and quotes not just for those who didnt go but for memories sake.

My favorite quote from the Toronto trip was when Tyler talked about Anson, our VBS kid in our group. Caitlyn was telling us about how she met Anson and he was alone and seemed to be crying, being the good missionary that she was she decided to befriend him and get to know him. She found out that one of his hobbies was knitting. Everyone thought it was kinda funny that an 8 year old boy liked to knit and someone commented that maybe thats why he was by himself! And then Tyler comes to Anson's rescue and says well, "Maybe he has to knit to survive."
That definitely got the van rolling and thus became our quote of the week.

Any other funny or fond memories from the week? Or simply things that impacted you both spiritually or through the ministry we did.

I know I felt the presence of God at many times, especially the night when we sang praise songs and even though we were all hot and uncomfortable I felt like God was telling me that was nothing compared to the uncomfortableness that our Lord and Savior felt for us. It really made an impression on me and made me very grateful for what Jesus had done for me and I really do think that it helped me persevere and persevere gladly for the rest of the week.

How did this trip effect you?

Postman

2007-05-10T12:04:00.000-04:00

Yes,
Its been a little while but welcome to the wacky realm of SOLI DEO GLORIA....or as we like to call it the SOUL ZONE....This place may have been lacking in the last month but the soul is still hovering around and I have just pulled it back down and jolted it with this little rambling post. Speaking of post, ever see that Kevin Costner film, the Postman? A post Apocalyptic movie set in the future where no one gets their mail until Kevin Costner's character decides to take it upon himself to ride a horse across the American wasteland to deliver packages and letters and whilst doing so delivers hope to a ravaged sparse nation.
This is a pic of the postman with his donkey mule saddled with mail.

So why am I talking about the postman? I CAN TELL YOU WHY.
For HS Students going on the Missions trip...the postman should be delivering your support letters this week!!

And if your not going on the missions trip, i.e. MS, then simply take this little message about the postman bringing hope as an analogoy for our duty as Christians to bring the hope of the gospel to others! If a postman can bring hope by delivering a simple letter then how much more can we bring the gospel, which is best delivered through our acts and words of love, to others! That is the true hope.

Grover Cleveland

2007-04-19T16:56:00.000-04:00

Grover Cleveland

The First Democrat elected after the Civil War, Grover Cleveland was the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later.

One of nine children of a Presbyterian minister, Cleveland was born in New Jersey in 1837. He was raised in upstate New York. As a lawyer in Buffalo, he became notable for his single-minded concentration upon whatever task faced him.

At 44, he emerged into a political prominence that carried him to the White House in three years. Running as a reformer, he was elected Mayor of Buffalo in 1881, and later, Governor of New York.

Cleveland won the Presidency with the combined support of Democrats and reform Republicans, the "Mugwumps," who disliked the record of his opponent James G. Blaine of Maine.

A bachelor, Cleveland was ill at ease at first with all the comforts of the White House. "I must go to dinner," he wrote a friend, "but I wish it was to eat a pickled herring a Swiss cheese and a chop at Louis' instead of the French stuff I shall find." In June 1886 Cleveland married 21-year-old Frances Folsom; he was the only President married in the White House.

Cleveland vigorously pursued a policy barring special favors to any economic group. Vetoing a bill to appropriate $10,000 to distribute seed grain among drought-stricken farmers in Texas, he wrote: "Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character. . . . "

He also vetoed many private pension bills to Civil War veterans whose claims were fraudulent. When Congress, pressured by the Grand Army of the Republic, passed a bill granting pensions for disabilities not caused by military service, Cleveland vetoed it, too.

He angered the railroads by ordering an investigation of western lands they held by Government grant. He forced them to return 81,000,000 acres. He also signed the Interstate Commerce Act, the first law attempting Federal regulation of the railroads.

In December 1887 he called on Congress to reduce high protective tariffs. Told that he had given Republicans an effective issue for the campaign of 1888, he retorted, "What is the use of being elected or re-elected unless you stand for something?" But Cleveland was defeated in 1888; although he won a larger popular majority than the Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison, he received fewer electoral votes.

Elected again in 1892, Cleveland faced an acute depression. He dealt directly with the Treasury crisis rather than with business failures, farm mortgage foreclosures, and unemployment. He obtained repeal of the mildly inflationary Sherman Silver Purchase Act and, with the aid of Wall Street, maintained the Treasury's gold reserve.

When railroad strikers in Chicago violated an injunction, Cleveland sent Federal troops to enforce it. "If it takes the entire army and navy of the United States to deliver a post card in Chicago," he thundered, "that card will be delivered."

Cleveland's blunt treatment of the railroad strikers stirred the pride of many Americans. So did the vigorous way in which he forced Great Britain to accept arbitration of a disputed boundary in Venezuela. But his policies during the depression were generally unpopular. His party deserted him and nominated William Jennings Bryan in 1896.

After leaving the White House, Cleveland lived in retirement in Princeton, New Jersey. He died in 1908.

And thats why you should drink your milk.

Letters from a Nut

2007-03-21T14:47:00.000-04:00

What lies below is a real letter written to a real company. The letter is outlandish, funny, sarcastic and meant to provoke a response. The author of this letter is using a psuedo name to protect his identity.
(I'm almost positive the author of this book of letters is none other than Jerry Seinfeld, who I've seen in person.)
The author has put together a pretty funny book of his crazy letters and called it "Letters from a Nut" by Ted L Nancy.

What follows is one such letter and response:

Dear Nordstrom Deptarment Stores,

I am a regular shopper at your Nordstorms stores in Glendale. In the last few weeks I have noticed that a new mannequin you have out in the store looks just like my deceased neighbor. I have passed mannequin from many directions and the resemblance is uncanny. In every way - nose, cheekbones, hair, etc. Look at it from any angle. It looks like the neighbor I was friendly with. Even the clothes that the mannequin was wearing was the kind of lightweight windbreaker jacket my neighbor would wear. It is UNBELIEVABLE that this mannequin looks so much like my neighbor.

Is it possible to buy this mannequin (after its use) so I may present it to my neighbor's family? They would think this would be a VERY sentimental gesture. I think his co-workers would also like to have him remembered, so having him "there" would be good, theraputic behavior for all.

I was told to write to your stores HEADQUARTERS OFFICE afterI inquired about buying this mannequin to the sales lady (Very, courteous, I might add.) She suggested that only the stores main office could assist me in this purchase. But she was very helpful with my socks purchase.

Thank you, Nordstrom, for being a store that cares about its customers. I am a long time shopper. I keep lots of things in your Nordstrom bags. Fishing gear, etc. I have a garage full of Nordstrom bags full of old shoes, wire hangers, etc. Thats how I know I've been to your store so much. Let me know about the mannequin. This family is in some need of good loving. This will help!

Sincerely,
Ted L. Nancy

Nordstrom's response Letter:

Dear Mr. Nancy:

Yours is one of the most interesting requests I have ever received. Candidly, I can't imagine any family who has lost a loved one wanting to see a mannequin that resembles that person.

Of course, we want to respond to our customers as positively as possible, but we definately do not sell display materials while they are being used by the company. I see no reason why (when it comes time for a change of mannequins) that we wouldnt sell it to you at the same price we would get from our normal resources.

If you should be interested in that, simply talk to our store manager there at Glendale, Diane Kantor, and she will let you know when the time comes. Unfortunately, mannequins are used for a number of years before they are phased out.

Sincerely
Bruce Nordstrom

About a Boy Part 2

2007-03-06T09:32:00.000-05:00

I wrote this on my blog in April two years ago...
I thought it was relevant to post becuase I reference a couple movies, including About a Boy, the movie we went over at Youth Group on Sunday night.

"Extreme Makeover: Transforming hearts in a changing world", was the title of a Youth Conference Conference that the Jeff, Amy and I attended 2 weeks ago. The question presented to us: "Do we simply try to sell Jesus like a marketing rep? Like someone trying to sell vacuum cleaners? Or do we allow Jesus to touch the whole of our lives each day and as a result genuinely try to touch others for Christ?"

Before we can engage another person's heart whether it be family, friend, a stranger, a child or a student, we must first be aware of what is going on and ruling our own hearts.

There is a big difference between asking someone how they’re doing and actually caring about the answer.

I saw a young man in the mall once that had a T-shirt that had these words on the front "People always tell me to stop drinking.." and on the back the phrase ended with, "But no one ever asks me about my thirst."
Today's culture (MEANING= The world we live in everyday! Even our lives!) is built around trying to avoid the real questions. Avoid that void, the pain, the hurt.
Why can't we be more enticed to see someone’s soul? To really be in tune with someones heart?
Culture today lives for comfort and escapism and we wonder why were apathetic and indifferent.
We should change our motto from "Land of the Free, to the, Land of the Numb".
We can create ourselves island paradises if we have the right supplies.
(TV's, DVDs, music, espresso machines, laptops, video games, nice cars, the right relationships, the cool shoes, the high position at work or church)
This was the idea Hugh Grant presented in the opening scenes of the movie, "About a Boy", the last line of that whole montage said the following,"...like all island dwellers you often have to visit the mainland."
How often have we visited the mainland of our hearts? How often do we break out of this state of anesthesia and enter into another persons world and actually touch them?

As Brad Pitt says in Fight Club, "We're the middle children of history.... no purpose or place. We have no Great War, no Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives." We associate with this quote, with this movie, or at least I did because we feel lost in this culture that says that we live for ourselves. At least those people back when had something to fight for, to fight against, right?
Nope...today we are simply trying to escape reality and enjoy every fake minute of it. We are self-absorbed, living somewhere between depressed and happy and never simply content.
Turn off your TV's, your palm pilots, your cell phones, your video games, your computers for one night and face the quiet.
How does it feel?
Do you feel lonely? At a loss for what to do? Why do we always have to have something entertain us? Because it numbs us from the reality that we need something greater than ourselves. If we occupy our time then we don’t have to worry about the reality of life. That it is lonely without God, without a relationship with Christ.
When life gets hard, the dating scene seems old, your children wont behave, your spouse annoys you, your job is depressing, your dog dies, whatever..turning to the numbing agents of TV, computers, cell phones, and video games feel empty don't they? They dont quite satisfy during those rough times. {As a side note- So we eventually turn to bigger self pleasers...bar scenes, clubs, relationships, drugs, wealth and whatever else}
I'm not saying to turn into a monk and throw away all your posessions, but be aware of what culture says is important, be aware of what you turn to when you feel lonely and empty.
Turn away from the thin things that this consumeristic culture has put in our lives and turn to the thick promises and security found in a relationship greater than ourselves, a relationship with Jesus.
And as a follower of Jesus the next time you bump into someone and ask them how they're doing....care.
Show them the love of Christ. Crush them with love!

I Pity the Fool!!!

2007-03-01T14:28:00.000-05:00

Who remembers or knows who this crazy man is?
Tyler, Luke, you can't answer.

The Home Concept

2007-02-28T09:36:00.001-05:00

Coming Home

Remember two weeks ago? We discussed the movie Garden State at Youth Group and this idea of finding a home. Here's a bit more discussion on the topic.

Andrew: "You know that point in your life when the house you grew up in isn't your home anymore? All of a sudden even though you had some place where you put your stuff, that idea of home is gone."
Samantha:"I still feel at home in my house"
Andrew: "You'll see one day when you move out. It just sort of happens one day, and it's gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesnt even exist. Maybe its like this rite of passage, you know?
You won't ever have that feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself. You know,for-- For your kids. For the family you start. Its like a cycle or something. I dont know. But I miss the idea of it, you know? Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place."
Samantha: "Maybe."

This dialogue was taken from the movie Garden State. There is some truth in those lines and some very relatable sentiment. The reason I mention this is because last year I went back home to Chattanooga for a short visit. I decided to surprise my family and my mom in particular for Mothers day. It was a smashing success and my family have said they will always remember the shock of the surprise. (My dad acted like he saw a ghost and took a double take, my little sis jumped in my arms and my mom cried!)

The temperature outside me was rising as I drove farther into Dixie and my heart started rising with excitement as well. I love my city. I love my friends. I love my family. I love my home. Mere words would not do justice to the emotions of my heart. The whole weekend I felt a sense of privilege for being able to walk amongst the familiar things of home; from walking around my house to walking with friends in old stomping grounds. On the surface the air was alive with the joy of being home and it penetrated deep within my heart but it somehow intermingled there playfully with those haunting flames fanning the very concepts that Andrew from Garden State had verbalized.
I had seen the movie before but I watched it again later after my return to Baltimore and I felt like what he mentioned had grasped some parallel truths that I had experienced that weekend. It wasn’t a new truth but one magnified due to the fact that I actually do live far from “home” now. My family will always be home to me. And Chattanooga will always be my home. And the friends and people I know there will always contribute to that sense of home.
But as I enjoyed every minute of my stay back home, in my parent’s house, with my family, with my friends, with my city, there was still this underlying current that ran through me longing for something deeper yet. My parent’s house no longer felt like home. It was a place where I put my things for a while. I had felt this before as a college graduate when I went back home for a short while and I felt it again as I visited home.

Perhaps those thoughts led to the next epiphany I had further down the road on that same car drive home. This thought captured me quite vividly: that I really desired to start my own home, with my own house, with my own kids, with my own family. (This is without seeing the movie) It was a very sharp thought and desire that struck me and it made me happy to think about it.
All this to say; Andrew Largeman, the character from the movie Garden State, had struck at some very good truth. We all have a concept of home and an undeniable and unexplainable feeling and desire for home. He claims that perhaps family is tied together in that search for the imaginary thing called home.

Well, Hollywood is touching something true but it hasn’t dug deep enough yet.
Home is not an imaginary concept, it’s not the search for home that defines the meaning.
Home is a universal longing we all search for.
As the saying goes, “home is where your heart is”, that’s true too but what if your heart isn’t satisfied with home? What if you return and realize that house you grew up in doesn’t make you feel at home anymore? What if that cycle turns and you establish your family and have your kids and build your home and yet somehow that home you have established still leaves you longing for something more?
The simple truth is, you will always be searching for something more. For a home that will make you feel welcome at last and satisfy that desire to rest in a familiar place.

Later in the movie, Andrew Largeman, finds his home. As he holds the girl he has met and fallen in love with he says the following, “When I’m with you I feel so safe. Like I’m home.” Everyone who knows me knows I am a romantic at heart and I enjoyed that line And when my family grows and I have a cute little house in my little nook of the woods that even though I may feel at home and I may feel safe and on the surface the air will be alive with the joy of being home and it will penetrate deep within my soul, it will ultimately intermingle there playfully with those haunting flames fanning me to someone bigger than myself, bigger than my wife, my kids, my house, my home…..He will be calling me to an eternal home where my longing will finally and completely be met.

A Profound Blessing

2007-01-31T12:51:00.000-05:00

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may wish for justice, freedom, and peace. May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

A Franciscan blessing

Fragrance of life.

2007-01-25T10:29:00.000-05:00

What are some of your favorite smells? Last night I watched an episode of Futurama on Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network. This has become somewhat of a habit of mine lately. It comes on at 1030 and 1100. I've never really gotten into the show before but have recently and its pretty darn funny.
In last nights episode a scientist invents a smell-i-scope. You got it, you can smell things in the galaxies above rather than see them. At one point they smell something so putrid that they nearly lose the contents of their stomach. They eventually find out that it is actually a huge "asteroid" of garbage that was sent into space by the city of New York in 2015. (The show is set in 3000) And this garbage is coming straight for Earth. Suffice it to say, its a pretty stinky story.

That may be fantasy but we can imagine what trash smells like. We dont have to live with trash long because we can get rid of it but in a lot of places in the world people have to live in and around trash. In the Philippines near the city of Manilla there is the Payatas city dump that is so large that it literally towers over the shanty towns that surround it. According to stats I found, there about 30,000 people living on the dump and about 70,000 that live around the Payatas garbage dump; which is a 12-block-wide mountain of fermenting refuse.
Imagine the life. Imagine the smell. Imagine the trash. Its disgusting and tragic at the same time.

Okay, okay...I started off with what are your favorite smells, and I moved straight to trash...I didnt mean to do that so now that you are thinking about the worst smells think about the best. The smell of autumn in the air, the smell of roses, the smell of clean sheets, the smell of hot apple pie wafting through your nostrils.
All good smells.

So where am I going with this? Ever read 2 Corinthians 2:15-17. I like these verses. As Christians, as followers of Christ, as people who God has saved, as individuals whose sin is paid for by the life and blood of Jesus Christ..."we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing."
The fact that we are a sweet scent to God means that he delights in us and in our lives. This is a fulfillment of the Old Testament burnt offerings, the smoke of which was created "an aroma pleasing to the Lord" Lev. 1:17 (Reformation Study Bible)

"To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life."
True believers emit a pleasant fragrance, not only in terms of their relationship to God but also in their interactions with those around them. On the other hand, the lives of believers firghten hardened unbelievers, who recognize that they themselves lack this sweet spiritual aroma - a warning of impending judgement. (Phil. 1:28)
Are we the fragrance of life to those around us? YES! No matter what you do, if you a are a believer, Jesus Christ's life and death covers you....we are the aroma of Christ!! What an amazing thought. Nothing in our hand we bring, simply to the cross we cling. Cling to Christ...seek him...and our fragrance of spiritual sweetness will not only waft up to God but to those around us...so that we become messengers of the gospel. Praise to God for his mercy and grace in our lives!

Fed Ex Superbowl Commercial

2007-01-24T13:43:00.001-05:00

My favorite SuperBowl commercial from last year. I laughed my head off at this the first time I saw it. I love it that he kicks the little dino and then he gets it! Prepare yourself for Superbowl Sunday, coming up in a week and a half! So whats your favorite Superbowl commercial, or commercial in general. I also like the cavemen in the Geico commmercials, I will have to post some of those soon.

Shine On!

2007-01-16T03:30:00.001-05:00

A cool video, and a very cool song! What kind of response does this music elicit in you?

2007-01-11T15:17:00.000-05:00

1. Guns don't kill people. Chuck Norris kills people.

2. There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of animals Chuck Norris allows to live.

3. When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

4. Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

5. Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris.

6. Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.

7. Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

8. Chuck Norris doesn’t wear a watch, HE decides what time it is.

9. Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.

10. When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down.

Poll: What would be the outcome of a Tyler Rees and Chuck Norris brawl?
Click on line above to vote!!

HAPPY 2007!!

2007-01-04T13:13:00.000-05:00

A Calendar of Upcoming Events and SMASH locations has been sent out.
Be sure to call me if you have any questions.

Now that its the New Year its time to look ahead. One of those things we all are concerned about is what to do with our lives. I know some of you may not be struggling with that now, but you High Schoolers will start to feel that pressure about choices made in what college you go to, and then what major, and then what career field, who to marry! etc. etc.

You may be struggling to find Gods will for your life even now. As you ponder to enter or exit a relationship, or ask if you should pursue that summer job or a certain sports activity. Whatever it is we are always making choices that chart the course of our lives.

Ever wonder how to find Gods will for you?
Some periods of our lives are more uncertain than others but the common denominator is surrendering ourselves to Gods will for us.
How do we do that?
The answer is seemingly easy but its completely radical and runs counter to our culture.

Here is the answer.
Develop a Heart for God.
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37.4

Granted this does not mean that God is a genie, granting magic wishes whenever you come before him, but that He shapes your heart after He has cleansed it of all sin, so that your desires correspond to His. When God is in control of your life, He is also in control of your desires.

When you are seeking the Lord, the Holy Spirit makes your desires like Gods.
Therefore there is a legitimate place for your desires of your heart revealing the will of God.
We go to scripture first, as Gods word is the ultimate authority for the faith and practice of the Christian life, but the next most important aspect of Gods guidance is to follow the desires of your heart.

In 2007 when you are faced with questions, options, choices and uncertain circumstances;
Delight yourself in God first, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

for further reading, Check out Bruce Waltke's "Finding the Will of God."
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=39740&event=1010SBF%7C1216169%7C1010

Christmas in Hawaii!

2006-12-21T12:22:00.000-05:00

Click Here for more pics!
http://www.photagious.com/slideshow?8c27e05868b5d4c4b22abe1166721110

(You have to click on the small play button on bottom left to start slideshow.)

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-21T10:48:00.000-05:00

Hey ya'll. The Christmas Party was a Smash! Ha ha, notice the play on of words there?
I will have pictures up soon. My new computer here at work has been jimmy-rigged where I dont have administrative authority to download various programs and therefore I cannot download the program I need to get the Christmas pics up. Whats up with that? They dont trust me! : ) But dont you worry, I can bypass the system and will have Christmas party pics up soon!!

So Christmas is like in 4 days. Crazy quick.

If your looking for a devotional on Christmas you came to the right place.
The following cut and paste article is Tim Keller's take on the Purpose of Christmas. Remember Tim Keller from New York? So get your Bible handy, read 1 John 1:1-4 and see what how 1 John 1:1—4 gives us the teaching and the purpose of Christmas.

1 John 1:1—4:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

Christmas is about the word incarnation. We sing it every year in our Christmas carols, especially in "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Charles Wesley wrote that, and one line you've sung says, "Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity."
If you understand the word incarnation, you'll understand what Christmas is about. The Apostles' Creed doesn't use the word incarnation, but it teaches the doctrine of the Incarnation when it says, "conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary."

Where do we go to understand what Christmas is? The first two verses of our text give us the teaching of Christmas, and the second two give us the purpose of Christmas.
Let's take a look at the first two verses. We see here the teaching of Christmas is two things.

It's frankly doctrinal, and it's boldly historical. We have to grasp this before we move on to how it changes our lives.

Christmas is frankly doctrinal
What do I mean by "frankly doctrinal"? I used the word doctrinal on purpose. I know it's a negative word. It's part of a family of words that have negative connotations. Doctrine or dogma connotes being narrow, being rigid or closed. The word doctrinaire gets that across well. Doctrinaire is bad. It is bad to be narrow. It is bad to be closed. It is bad to be haughty. It is bad to not be open to reason. It is bad not to listen to others. But in our fear of being doctrinaire, we are not frank, we are not honest, about the fact we are all doctrinal.

A doctrine is a belief we base our lives on, and it's something we contend for, we insist on. In other words, a doctrine first of all is a faith position. It's not something we can prove scientifically. It's not something we prove empirically.
Secondly, it's something we live on, we commit ourselves to, we base our lives on.
And thirdly, it's something we push, we contend with other people over. That's a doctrine. And even though we shouldn't be doctrinaire, we are all doctrinal.

Illustration: I'll give you an example. Mr. A is a Christian. His friend, Mr. B, is not. Mr. A one day sits down with Mr. B and says, " I wish you could believe Jesus is Savior and Lord. Let me try to convince you." Mr. B says, "Nobody can know anything definite about God. And secondly, you should not try to persuade other people to see things your way. That's not right."
When Mr. B says, you can't know anything definite about God, what is that? That is a faith position. That's not scientific. That's not empirical. It's a belief. And secondly, when he says you mustn't try to convince other people your take on spiritual reality is the right one, he at that moment is trying to say to Mr. A, "You ought to see it my way." In other words, he's saying, "I have a relativistic take on spiritual reality, and you ought to take it." He's doing the very thing he's forbidding as he's forbidding it.
Both Mr. A and Mr. B are being doctrinal. They have a faith position. They've bet their lives on it. Mr. B has bet his eternal destiny on the idea that nobody can know anything definite about God. And they're both contending for it. Here's the difference. Mr. A is being openly doctrinal. He's being frank about his doctrine. Mr. B is not. Mr. B is in denial.

Let's try not to be doctrinaire. But we cannot avoid being doctrinal. Everybody has faith assumptions about God, about eternity, about human nature, about moral truth. We bet our lives on them and press for them, and there's no way to avoid being doctrinal.
Christmas is frankly doctrinal. The text says the invisible has become visible, the incorporeal has become corporeal. In other words, God has become human. The absolute has become particular. The ideal has become real. The divine has taken up a human nature. This is not only a specific doctrine, but it's also unique. Doctrine always distinguishes you. One of the reasons we're afraid to talk about doctrine is because it distinguishes us from others. Here's why the doctrine of Christmas is unique.

On the one hand you've got religions that say God is so imminent in all things that incarnation is normal. If you're a Buddhist or Hindu, God is imminent in everything. God is the divine spark in everything, and therefore incarnation is normal. God is incarnate in all sorts of people and things. Christians say Jesus is the God, and people from that family say sure. On the other hand, the family of religions like Islam and Judaism says God is so transcendent over all things that incarnation is impossible. Jesus as God is blasphemous.

But Christianity is unique. It doesn't say incarnation is normal, but it doesn't say it's impossible. It says God is so imminent that it is possible, but he is so transcendent that the Incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ is an event. Christianity has a unique view on this that sets it apart from everything else.

Christmas is boldly historical
Christmas is not just frankly doctrinal; it's also boldly historical. Look at what John says:
We saw it. We heard it. Our own eyes, our own ears. We felt it, this eternal Life.
Here's what he's saying: When we give you these accounts of Jesus walking on the water, of Jesus rising from the dead, of Jesus speaking these words, these are not legends. These are not things we made up. These are not wonderful spiritual parables. These are things we saw. We saw him do this. We heard him do this. We felt him do this.

In other words, the doctrine of Christmas is that God became historical. The manger, the resurrection, the story of Jesus is not just a story. It's true. It actually happened in history.
This goes completely against what the average person believes. The average person says these are wonderful stories, but they're parables. They're legends. They didn't really happen.

Here's the one thing Christmas presses us on. First John 1:1—2 is saying: These are either lies you're reading in the New Testament or they're eyewitness accounts, but they can't be legends. Many scholars of ancient literature have told us this. Today modern fiction throws in details that give a realistic sense, but ancient legends were never written like that.
For example, the story of Jesus walking on the water in John 6 says, "When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water." You may not be an expert in ancient literature, but think of The Iliad or The Odyssey. Can you imagine Homer saying, "And Achilles met Hector in combat, and they were either three or three and a half miles from the wall of Troy"? He wouldn't have said that, because in ancient legends they didn't put in details that didn't help the plot or develop the character. Therefore, when a man back then was writing a legend he wouldn't say, "They were three or three and a half miles out." It wouldn't have occurred to him unless he was writing an eyewitness account.
When John says, "I saw him, I felt him, I heard him with my own ears, I saw him with my own eyes," everyone would know immediately he was claiming to be an eyewitness. Therefore, every reader of the New Testament knew either these were deliberately fabricated lies or they were true eyewitness accounts, but they couldn't be legends.

If they are lies, they're some of the stupidest lies ever made. Here's why. These accounts were written down within the lifetime of the people who were there. If you're going to write that 500 people saw Jesus risen from the dead in the Kidron Valley, you wouldn't write it 40 or 50 years later like the Gospels were written. You would write it 100 years later, when everybody who lived in the Kidron Valley at the time was dead. If you falsely write that 500 people saw Jesus in the Kidron Valley, and lots of people are still living the Kidron Valley who were there at that time, you're never going to have a religion that gets off the ground. But it did get off the ground, because they wrote these accounts and they weren't contradicted.

The point of Christmas is that Jesus Christ really lived, and he really died. It happened in history. He did these things. He said these things.

You may think, What's the big deal? You're being doctrinaire here. No. People say, "I like the teachings of Jesus. I like the meaning of these stories. The meaning of these stories is to love one another, serve one another. I like that. But it doesn't matter if these things really happened. Doctrine doesn't matter. What matters is you're a good person."

The great irony is, that is a doctrine, but they're not being frank about it. It's called the doctrine of justification by works. When somebody says that, they're saying it doesn't matter that Jesus actually lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died; all that matters is we can follow his teaching. That is a doctrine that says: I'm not so bad that I need someone to come and be good for me. I can be good. I'm not so cut off from God and God is not so holy that there has to be punishment for sin. That doesn't matter.

The gospel is not that Jesus Christ comes to earth, tells us how to live, we live a good life, and then God owes us blessing. The gospel is that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived the life we should have lived, and died the death we should have died, so when we believe in him we are accepted and live a life of grateful joy for him. In other words, if these things didn't happen, we can't be saved utterly by grace. If these things didn't happen, if they're just parables, what you are saying is you believe the doctrine of salvation by works—that if you try hard enough God will accept you. See, you cannot avoid doctrine.

The doctrine of Christmas is that Jesus came. If he didn't come, the story of Christmas is one more moral paradigm to crush you. If Jesus didn't come, I wouldn't want to be anywhere around these Christmas stories that say we need to be sacrificing, we need to be humble, we need to be loving. All that will do is crush you into the ground, because if it isn't true that John saw him, heard him, felt him, that Jesus really came to do these things, then Christmas is depressing.
Every year I see stories in newspapers saying Christmas is the time of year for depression. It is, but not if you believe these first two verses, not if you understand Christmas is not just an inspiring story we can live up to, but it's frankly doctrinal and boldly historical.

Christmas makes you deeply mystical
Verses 3 and 4 tell us that if you grasp this idea—not that Christmas is a sweet story but that Jesus Christ came to earth, God became flesh and lived the life you should have lived, died the death you should have died, as a Savior, not just as a teacher or an example—then Christmas will do four things to you. It will make you deeply mystical, happily material, fiercely relational, and free to be emotional.

First of all, Christmas will make you deeply mystical. First John 1:3 says, "Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son." This word fellowship, which is koinonia, means that if Jesus Christ has come, if Christmas is true, then we've got a basis for a personal relationship with God. God is no longer a remote idea or just a force we cower before, but we can know him personally. He's become graspable.

Let me give you an example. Scholar A and Scholar B are both trying to write a biography of Sir John Doe. Sir John Doe lived in East Anglia and died in 1721. Both Scholar A and Scholar B believe Sir John Doe wrote five letters to his wife, and they can learn a lot from that. But then there's a 500 autobiography, and it says it's written by Sir John Doe. Scholar A says, "I believe that's genuine." Scholar B says, "I don't." So they sit down to write their biographies. Those biographies are going to be different. Scholar A's biography of Sir John Doe is going to be much more detailed, much more personal. When you're done reading you're going to feel you know this guy. But Scholar B's biography is going to be much more remote, much more general, much more speculative. You're going to feel you hardly know him at all. It all comes down to whether the autobiography is genuine.

Here's the point. If Jesus Christ is actually God come in the flesh, you're going to know much more about God. He's going to be graspable. He's going to be somebody you can relate to. You're seeing him weep. You're seeing him upset. You're seeing him cast down. You're seeing him exalted. If Jesus is who he says he is, we have a 500 autobiography from God, in a sense. And our understanding will be vastly more personal and specific than any philosophy or religion could give us.

Look at what God has done to get you to know him personally. If the Son would come all this way to become a real person to you, don't you think the Holy Spirit will do anything in his power to make Jesus a real person to you in your heart? Christmas is an invitation to become mystical. Christmas is an invitation to know Christ personally. Christmas is an invitation by God to say: Look what I've done to come near to you. Now draw near to me. I don't want to be a concept; I want to be a friend.

Christmas makes you happily material
Greek and Roman readers of this verse would have been astonished when John said he felt the eternal, he saw the eternal. Greeks and Romans and even traditional religious people today believe matter is bad; divine is good. The divine would not come down. Traditional religion says salvation is escaping out of this world into the kingdom of God, but the gospel of Christmas is that salvation is the kingdom of God coming into this world. Traditional religion says the world is bad. Let's get away from cancer. Let's get away from poverty. The gospel is that salvation is the kingdom of God coming down into this world. The body is important. Matter is important. This world is important. He took on physical flesh. Therefore, Christians know in the name of Christ we share our faith, but in the name of Christ we also help a poor person get a decent house. That's part of testifying to the gospel of Christmas. The kingdom of God is here to rehabilitate this world, not to save us out into some kind of ethereal paradise. The future of traditional religion is paradise. The future of the gospel is a new heaven, a new earth.

Christmas makes you fiercely relational
Thirdly, not only does the gospel of Christmas make us deeply mystical and happily material, but it makes us fiercely relational. The Incarnation imprints on us an attitude toward relationships. Jesus says, I want fellowship with you. The test that you know what Christmas is about is that you become more desirous of intimate personal relationships with other people and better at getting them, because the Incarnation is the secret of good personal relationships.
When two people are different culturally and linguistically, how are they going to have a relationship? One must learn the other's language, speak in a broken dialect, and become vulnerable and weak. If you enter into another person's world you become weak; the other person keeps the power. But then you have a relationship.

If you follow the way of Jesus you say, "I will not work so much on being understood but on understanding. I will not work so much on getting my needs met but on meeting needs. I will work on entering into her or his world and giving that person what they consider love, not what I consider love." Incarnation, if it's imprinted in you, if you see what Jesus Christ has done, is going to make you unbelievably good at personal relationships.

Christmas makes you free to be emotional.
Look at verse 4. John says: I want you to have fellowship with us. I want you to believe what we are saying. I want you to understand the doctrine of Christmas. I want us to be united in a community. I want us to be united in belief.
And then he says: I'm doing all this—why?—so my joy will be complete.
He doesn't say: I need your lives to be okay so I can have any joy at all. He's already got joy. He says: You need to get your act together for my joy to be complete. There's a balance there. He's got a joy no matter what they do. Christmas gives you a subterranean joy.

Kathy and I used to own a house in Philadelphia. It was always damp in that basement, and always mucky in the backyard. Somebody said, "Didn't you know before you bought the house? There's a subterranean river that goes underneath all the homes on this street. It's always flowing, even in a drought."

On the one hand, Christmas gives you a subterranean river of joy, and no matter how bad it is on the surface, no matter how bad circumstances are, the joy is always there. It keeps you green. It keeps you fresh. After all, Jesus Christ has landed. The Lord has opened a cleft in the pitiless walls of the world, and the kingdom of God is coming, come hell or high water. That's subterranean joy.

But on the other hand, John says: I can't have complete joy unless you believe. That means this. Many of us are afraid to enmesh ourselves in the lives of other people, because we can't stand the idea of tying our hearts to other people. If they're unhappy, we're unhappy. So we pull back. We withdraw. We don't get involved in the lives of people. But the Incarnation means that Jesus Christ, God himself, got enmeshed in our brokenness. He got involved in a major way. He was weeping. He came in and he fell, and he had nails in his hands.
But here's what's great. It's a subterranean joy. It's a joy that cannot go out, and it will give you the freedom to get involved in the lives of other people. Christmas makes you free to be emotional. It makes you realize the emotion of grief is not going to take you all the way down, because you have a subterranean joy.

If you believe the doctrine of Christmas, it makes you deeply mystical. It makes you happily material. It makes you fiercely relational. It makes you free to be emotional. What else could you want? Think about that the next time you say to somebody, "Have a merry Christmas."

HS Smash Sunday December 10th.

2006-12-04T14:55:00.000-05:00

Location has changed for HS Smash this upcoming Sunday.
Rather than at the White's it is down the road a bit at Robin Coffin's home.
4511 Prospect Avenue
Glyndon, MD 21071

Directions are as follows:

Start address: At Church
820 Nicodemus RdReisterstown, MD 21136
End address:
4511 Prospect AveReisterstown, MD 21136
Distance:
5.1 mi (about 10 mins)
Directions
1.Head east from Nicodemus Rd - go 0.7 mi

2.Turn left at Franklin Blvd - go 0.3 mi

3.Turn left into the I-795 N entry ramp - go 2.0 mi

4.Take the MD-140 E/MD-30 N exit 9A to Hanover - go 0.4 mi

5.Continue on Butler Rd - go 1.3 mi

6.Turn left at Waugh Ave - go 329 ft

7.Bear right at Prospect Ave - go 0.3 mi

8.Arrive at 4511 Prospect AveReisterstown, MD 21136

Questions? Call Jordan

Comments are Welcome.

2006-11-30T14:49:00.000-05:00

I can tell this new youth blog isn't getting much traffic, but regardless, everyone is welcome to leave comments!! : ) Its great for creating interactive dialogue.

Rosie O'Donnell states radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam.

2006-11-29T10:34:00.000-05:00

On the View in September Rosie states that radical Christianity is just as threatening to America as radical Islam.

Click here for link to video & story.

Unbelievable.

My first responses to this are: shock and then anger.
How could she say that? Are Christians beheading people weekly? Are Christians flying planes into buildings? Are Christians blowing themselves up at bus stops?

Personally, I believe Rosie is more of a threat to America than Christians.

Then I started to feel guilty for being upset. Yes, what she said was completely off base but has Rosie ever met a radical Christian?
Perhaps, Rosie and I's definition of radical Christianity are different.
She's probably thinking of that lunatic Eric Rudolph who blew up an abortion clinic.
I would say that’s not a radical Christian but a sick and mentally insane person who misrepresents the Christian faith.

Come to think of it, I misrepresent the Christian faith all the time. I get upset at the person who cuts over on me on the freeway. I get upset when my food isn't brought out to me on time. I get upset when people insult or disagree with my beliefs.

Perhaps Rosie has never met a radical Christian. One who is so radical that he or she does not validate their existence on the things and persons around them. They don't have to be served first, or treated the exact way they want to be treated. Instead they love first, forgive first, care first, smile first, and rejoice first.
This is the definition of a radical Christian.
How radical is that? What if more Christians lived out the Gospel in every moment of their daily lives? What if Christians focused on the cross instead of themselves?
Luther once said he felt as if Jesus Christ died only yesterday. I read that and knew I didn’t feel that way consistently. I believe a radical Christian would. A radical Christian would be one who lives a cross centered life. One who continually gains understanding in Christ’s suffering for them, and grows in consistent joy and zeal in the knowledge of that unmerited favor Christ has given them in his death.

A radical Christian is one who is being equipped each day with the fruit of the spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Galatians 5:22
A radical Christian becomes these things not for himself but because God became these things for him. And in turn we show this radical life to others by our words and actions and we give testimony to the work of the cross.

Has Rosie met these radical Christians? Has the audience that so thundersly applauded to her comment met these radical Christians?

I know I have faltered in helping change the definition of radical Christian.
How do you live as a radical Christian?

I believe the answer is found in living a cross-centered life rather than a self-centered life. Living the Cross Centered Life.

John Stott once said, "The Cross is the blazing fire at which the flame of our love is kindled, but we have to get near enough for its sparks to fall on us."

God is still working on us, lets pray that we may become more cross-centered, full of love, joy, forgiveness, and compassion and become radical Christians.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-22T09:55:00.000-05:00

"When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you." Dueteronomy 8:10

Turkey Bowl Extravaganza!

2006-11-16T09:38:00.000-05:00

What is the Turkey Bowl?

I can asssure you, it won't be getting dressed up like this guy!

Here are some details:

When? This Sunday, Nov. 19th from 4:30-6:30

Where? Meet at the Church Youth Annex!

What? The Theme for the evening:

DEEDS DONE IN THE DARK!

The games may include such things as:

Glow in the Dark Football.

Grog. Can you find all the pieces to the flashlight before the Grog catches you?

Capture the Flag.

Etc. etc. etc.

Game Night!!

2006-11-06T15:53:00.000-05:00

Come one, come all!

When? This Thursday at 6:30 pm.
Where? Seda's House.
6 Millpoint Lane Apartment 1B
Owings Mills, MD 21117

What? Guys playing XBox360. Girls playing card and board games.
Plus Pizza!

Games Included:
Madden 07Call of Duty 2 Ultimate Alliance

Does it feel like Groundhogs Day?

2006-10-31T10:07:00.000-05:00

Ever see the movie Groundhog Day? It's Bill Murray at his best. I love this movie.
(Bravo ranked it 32 on all time comedies!)
If you haven't seen it, let me give you the premise of the movie.
A weatherman, Bill Murray, finds himself living the same day over and over again. (That day being Groundhogs Day)
He is reluctantly sent to cover a story about a weather forecasting "rat" (as he calls it). This is his fourth year on the story, and he makes no effort to hide his frustration. On awaking the 'following' day he discovers that it's Groundhog Day again, and again, and again. First he uses this to his advantage, then comes the realization that he is doomed to spend the rest of eternity in the same place, seeing the same people do the same thing EVERY day.

Does your life ever feel like this? Doing the same thing, seeing the same people, losing heart because everything feels mundane....its simply a daily grind.
Ever read Ecclesiastes?
Solomon wrote this book and he understood that life can sometimes seem lifeless.
Ecc. 1:8 "All things are wearisome, more than one can say." And there is no hope for tomorrow, as verse nine states, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, there is nothing new under the sun."

Whats the point Solomon is getting at? Isn't he a follower of God? Why does he sound so hopeless?
The purpose is to demonstrate that life viewed merely from a realistic human perspective must result in pessimism. When we are left to mere human outlooks and efforts, life seems hopeless and meaningless. Human beings cannot begin to fathom the divine wisdom that undergirds and controls all things. Once human limitations are recognized, the faithful will gain a godly vision of life by renewing their reverence for God.
And in turn each new day is not simply wearisome but a joyful event. An opportunity to see something new. To do something new. To love life. Because God is in control. Because God made us. Because God loves us. God's vision of the world, of each day becomes our vision.

“If you think you are seeing the same show all over again seven times a week, you're crazy. Every morning you wake up to something that in all eternity never was before and never will be again. And the you that wakes up was never the same before and will never be the same again."- Frederick Buechner

When life seems dull, remember that it can be fresh. God's love is never stale but always powerful and vibrant. Let it rule your heart. And his love will rule the way you live each day. Loving God and loving others.

Upcoming Events

2006-10-23T15:09:00.000-04:00

FRIGHT NIGHT FOOD DRIVE!

WHEN? Tues Oct 31st, 6:30-9:00 pm

WHERE? Meet at Covenant of Grace

For? HS Youth Group & Friends

Who says were too old to trick or treat?
Rather than ask for candy we are going door to door to ask for canned goods.
Proceeds will go to food bank or needy family at Thanksgiving.

DETAILS
1. Meet at church at 6:30 pm. We conlude at 9pm.
2. WEAR a costume.
3. Best costume gets a prize.
4. No costume means you wear the dreaded paper bag.
5. ALL costumes must be reasonable. We are representing the COG youth group not the devil or a cast from a horror movie.

Questions? Contact Jordan at Church

Or contact one of your fearless leaders.

"Extreme Makeover"

2006-10-23T14:42:00.000-04:00

"Extreme Makeover: Transforming hearts in a changing world", was the title of a Youth Conference Conference that I attended some time ago. The question presented to us:

"Do we simply try to sell Jesus like a marketing rep? Like someone trying to sell vacuum cleaners? Or do we allow Jesus to touch the whole of our lives each day and as a result genuinely try to touch others for Christ?" Before we can engage another person's heart whether it be family, friend, a stranger, a child or a student, we must first be aware of what is going on and ruling our own hearts.

There is a big difference between asking someone how they’re doing and actually caring about the answer. I saw a young man in the mall once that had a T-shirt that had these words on the front "People always tell me to stop drinking.." and on the back the phrase ended with, "But no one ever asks me about my thirst."

Today's culture (MEANING= The world we live in everyday! Even our lives!) is built around trying to avoid the real questions. Avoid that void, the pain, the hurt.Why can't we be more enticed to see someone’s soul? To really be in tune with someones heart?Culture today lives for comfort and escapism and we wonder why were apathetic and indifferent. We should change our motto from "Land of the Free, to the, Land of the Numb". We can create ourselves island paradises if we have the right supplies. (TV's, DVDs, music, espresso machines, laptops, video games, nice cars, the right relationships, the cool shoes, the high position at work or church)

This was the idea Hugh Grant presented in the opening scenes of the movie, "About a Boy", the last line of that whole montage said the following,"...like all island dwellers you often have to visit the mainland." How often have we visited the mainland of our hearts? How often do we break out of this state of anesthesia and enter into another persons world and actually touch them?

As Brad Pitt says in the movie Fight Club, "We're the middle children of history.... no purpose or place. We have no Great War, no Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives." We associate with this quote, with this movie, or at least I did because we feel lost in this culture that says that we live for ourselves. At least those people back when had something to fight for, to fight against, right?

Nope...today we are simply trying to escape reality and enjoy every fake minute of it. We are self-absorbed, living somewhere between depressed and happy and never simply content. Turn off your TV's, your palm pilots, your cell phones, your video games, your computers for one night and face the quiet. How does it feel? Do you feel lonely? At a loss for what to do? Why do we always have to have something entertain us?

Because it numbs us from the reality that we need something greater than ourselves. If we occupy our time then we don’t have to worry about the reality of life. That it is lonely without God, without a relationship with Christ. When life gets hard, the dating scene seems old, your children wont behave, your spouse frustrates you, your job is depressing, your dog dies, school is too difficult, whatever..turning to the numbing agents of TV, computers, cell phones, and video games feel empty don't they? They dont quite satisfy during those rough times.

{As a side note- So we eventually turn to bigger self pleasers...bar scenes, clubs, relationships, drugs, wealth and whatever else}
I'm not saying to turn into a monk and throw away all your posessions, but be aware of what culture says is important, be aware of what you turn to when you feel lonely and empty. Turn away from the thin things that this consumeristic culture has put in our lives and turn to the thick promises and security found in a relationship greater than ourselves, a relationship with Jesus. And as a follower of Jesus the next time you bump into someone and ask them how they're doing....care. Show them the love of Christ. Crush them with love!

Heavy-Duty Love

2006-10-17T12:21:00.000-04:00

Heavy-Duty Love

The term love tends to be over used and abused and the specialness of that word loses its meaning…like saying I love hot dogs! Or signing off your IM with Love ya!
OR when the society around you tells you love is all about having the perfect dating relationship. If all we did was watch TV and movies to get our defination for love then we would definately have a very different view of love.

So pause a minute and think, what are some of those insignficant meanings people have given to love? How does tv, movies display love? How have you seen that word used in culture, in school, with friends and from school?

How have you personally used the word love?

Now lets see what the Bible says about love:
I Corinthians 13:4-7
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Now think back on what culture says love is. Culture's love is often very self-seeking.
But God’s love, found here in the Bible is the highest expression of love.

Its pure, its unconditional, its self-giving, and its rare.

This is the kind of love we are talking about! This is the type of love we as Christians are to have for God and for others.

Have you seen this love before?
Here's an example. Remember the Amish school shootings a couple of weeks ago?
The families of those daughters who were shot to death were not even done burying their children before they went to the family of the killer and told them that they love them, that they have forgiven the killer, that they accept them into their community.
That takes some heavy duty love.

Where did they get the ability to forgive like this?

If you answered God then you got it. Why is the answer God?
Because God sent his only son to Earth to die on the cross for our sins so that we might have eternal life!
Okay, okay...you've heard that. But picture this. Imagine Jesus in Heaven for all eternity, like he was, imagine Jesus in perfect bliss. Jesus and God the Father had the most beautiful loving relationship in Heaven and yet Jesus left Heaven to come to a broken, sinful, painful Earth where he endured 33 years of human existence to die on a cross so that we might have access to that perfect blissful love with God the Father. Amazing.
Would you have left Heaven to do that? Probably not. But Jesus did.
And that is why we love others because Jesus loved us more than we can ever imagine.
He surrended himself on the cross willingly because he loved us so much. Thats the type of love that is heavy duty.

Examine your hearts today...Is your love self-seeking? Or is your love self-surrendering?

COG Youth Zone is Here.

2006-10-13T14:25:00.000-04:00

COG Youth Zone exists for Covenant of Grace's youth ministry to reach out and touch someone. For us to communicate, to connect, to chat, to expound on ministry moments and lessons or to simply gather COG youth news.

So stay tuned. More to come!