http://www.youtube.com/v/CCHHxlxGfWM&hl=en&fs=1

I was thinking about this after doing a bible study with my girls group a few weeks ago. We had been talking about the tongue, and how to keep our tongues under control. It was a decent discussion, but some of the girls’ take-away thoughts left me thinking, “wow, they really don’t get it…”

That got me thinking… the worst thing that can happen from this Bible study is that these girls go away, not gossiping, not slandering, not complaining… but not KNOWING the God who created the universe. You know? Because although one less gossiper is better for the world, the girl is no better without Christ.

WHICH got me thinking… you know, being a Christian isn’t about being good. It really isn’t. And I think that the fact that people have gotten it all a little confused has messed up a lot for God’s Kingdom. The confusion between goodness and holiness, the confusion between being a good persona and being a sold-out soldier for Christ, this has not done good things for God’s cause.

For really, we should not be known for being boring and good.
We should be known for our mercy, our love, our sacrifice. We should be known for sold-out service for our great King. We should be not good, but a revolution of Christlikeness.

And my Christ? Well, he was definitely not just nice. He changed the world.

Here’s something I found over at the Boundless web-zine. Check out this article about race relations and let us know what you think.

This morning, I spoke in chapel to 7-12 graders about the spiritual battle we find ourselves in every single day.

Today the theme was, “whose side are you on, anyway?” and it really forced me to do some thinking. To be honest, I’m not sure why I spoke today and not someone else. I know there are teachers on staff much more capable. But, last night, as we were praying in the 212 room, I felt like I needed to just be obedient and trust the rest to Him.

The previous days focused emphasized that we are “in a battle,” we’ve been “called to fight,” and we are “equipped.”

Today, as I asked the question, “Whose side are you on, anyway?” I focused on these four points:
There’s no middle ground
The battle is BIGGER than you
God HAS WON the victory
You are redeemed for a purpose


I just want to share the final point with you today, as it is fresh on my mind and pressing on my heart.

redeemed for a purpose
“When Jesus redeemed sinners, he didn’t say, “Sit here and don’t sin.” NO! He said GO! and sin no more! (John 8:1-11) You are His ambassadors, as Paul writes to the Corinthians, as though Christ were making His appeal to the world THROUGH YOU. God is making His appeal through you – do you think his plan is for you to be silent? Is that why you’ve got all this armor?

What are you going to do with your redemption?

2 Timothy 2:3-4 says, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.”

When a soldier wakes up in the morning, he doesn’t ask “what do I feel like doing?” No, a soldier doesn’t meddle in civilian affairs – he is concerned only with pleasing his commander. Be ready, soldier, to endure hardships, be ready to pass on Truth and teach others. Be ready, soldier, to please your commander.
But, to please God you have to know God and what it is He requires.

Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you. But to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

If you claim to be in the Lord’s army – then your commander requires you to ACT.
do justice
love mercy
walk humbly with God.

Justice is bringing the fairness of God to the unfairness of the world.
Mercy is not getting what you deserve. We don’t deserve salvation, but God has offered it freely. How can we do the same?
To walk humbly we must truly believe that we are unworthy of this relationship with an Almighty God, but honored to be enlisted in His service.

This morning, some of you know that you have not placed your faith in Christ as your Savior. You know that you are walking around without any armor, unsure of your allegiances.

Some of you may have said the words of a sinner’s prayer hundreds of times, but your life bears no fruit.

Some of you have that personal relationship, but you not really sure what to do about it.

Wherever this morning finds you, know that there are only two choices – to fight for God or fall prey to Satan. Take your pick. This morning – whose side are you on, anyway?

I showed this short movie, featured on the 24-7 prayer website, shows an example of someone doing what our commander requires.

The day that Caroline was stranded on a mountaintop, I was safe in little Des Moines, IA. Even though I was safe and sound, I was also stranded like my sister.

Stranded outside Des Moines churches.

Why? You say. How could this be? Well, let’s travel back a week. Our church is sponsoring one of the biggest bands in Christian music, Starfield. The Student Ministries team (some of the coolest folks I know) split up the city to head to big churches in the area to chat with them about the concert and invite their youth groups to the concert. We headed to the first church, (Kudos, Johnston E Free!) which wasn’t hard to find, and friendly folks were inside, so we briefly chatted, gave them the poster, and headed to the next place.

This is when some problems arose. As we canvassed different churches around Des Moines, we realized that getting into churches is easier said than done. We pulled into one church, and since there were two cars in the parking lot, we assumed at least a few people were working. But we tried every door around the place, and from the locked doors all around, we thought, “Well, this church must be locked on Mondays!”

So we moved onto the next church, confused about a church shutting down for a day of the week, but alternatively feeling a little jealous that our church didn’t have the same day-after-worship-day perks. With the next church we got super lost, so after 40 minutes I finally *411-ed it and they gave us directions to their house of worship. After kicking ourselves for not seeing it before, we headed in that direction. When we got there, though, the front doors, again, were locked and windows dark! How could this be? We JUST talked to a nice lady on the phone who gave us directions! Since I had (wisely) had a text message of the number sent to my phone, I called the church again. They said of course we’re open! All the doors on the back side are open! Hmm. back doors? Ok! We found our way in and gave them the materials, happy to have found our way into a church, to speak with a human inside. We thought, if this church, with locked doors and dark windows, had people inside, maybe the last church did too? So I *411-ed that church as well and what do you know! That church was open too! If you call having to enter in through the side door and pushing a small black button to buzz the office, “open.”

My goodness! So we thankfully gave the info to that nice lady as well, and moved on. Our next church was, of course, dark and locked as well. By this time we were fed up. If there were people in there, we were getting to them. We walked around the entire church, banging on doors and trying to raise the reclusive workers inside. As we were about to give up and walk away, a nice guy surprisingly opens the front door, answering our door pounding plea. We give him the poster and move on.

It made me want to call our Office Manager, and thank her for keeping her office bright and lit.
It made me want to thank my Church for keeping their, clearly front, doors unlocked the majority of the time.
It made me want to ask these churches- If you’re locking the public out,
Who are you hoping will come to your church?