The American Church & The Rise of Donald Trump:

May I be honest for a minute? I am scared. I look at the candidates for the two leading parties in America and they both scare me. In reality, one of these two are going to be our next President and the future of America could not look more bleak.

When I scroll through my Facebook feed (I know a reliable source) I see my white, male Christian friends urging me to vote for Trump and I see my friends from other ethnicity and backgrounds urging me to vote for Hillary.

To be perfectly honest in good conscience I can not nor will I vote for either one of these candidates (let the hateful comments come on).

As I examine the rise of Donald Trump I can not help but feel some blame as a Minister of the Gospel for creating an environment in which Trump would rise to power.

I am sorry for my role as a Minister of the Gospel in creating an environment in which Donald Trump could rise to power. Below are eight factors which I believe have contributed to the rise of Trump.

1) I am sorry as a Minister of the Gospel for not speaking out against racism:
Donald Trump has risen to power playing on the racial tendencies which exist in each one of us. Each one of us has a propensity to gravitate towards those who look and act just like us. This is wrong. As a Minister of the Gospel I am sorry for not speaking out against the sin of racism. I am sorry for saying statements such as, "God is color blind." "If there's an African American Month shouldn't there be a Caucasian American Month." "All Lives Matter." I am sorry for not standing with my brothers and sisters of different ethnicities and speaking out against racism. I desire from this day forward to teach my kids and the students under my care not to be colorblind. I pray they see white, black, brown, yellow, the whole spectrum. Color makes the painting beautiful and what it is. Each color represents a culture and each culture represents a unique, one of a kind person made in the image of God. So, I will teach everyone under my Pastoral care to see different colors, to see different viewpoints, cultures, and lifestyles.

2) I am sorry as a Minister of the Gospel for emphasizing safety instead of Gospel proclamation:
Donald Trump has risen to power playing on the fears that the majority of Americans feel towards people who are different. He has advocated for the removal of illegal Hispanics based on the fear that they are taking our jobs and He has advocated for a ban on Muslims based on the fears that all Muslims are Terrorist. Somewhere along the way Pastors have given the impression that our safety and the safety of our children should be our number one concern. This is anti-Gospel, anti-Bible and yes, anti-Christian. Our safety is not our number one concern. The safety of my children should not be my number one concern. My number one concern should be getting the saving message of the Gospel to every person on the planet. I will strive as a Minister of the Gospel to teach another generation of the importance of sharing the Gospel and not prioritizing safety.

3) I am sorry as a Minister of the Gospel for promoting ethnocentrism or the belief that America is God's chosen land:
I am sorry for taking verses which apply to Israel and applying them to America. I am sorry for giving the idea that America is God's hope for the world. Donald Trump has risen to power on his slogan "Make America Great Again" and his promise to put America and Americans first. His Republican nominee acceptance speech made him sound more like the Great Messiah coming to rescue us all rather than a political candidate. He appeared to be advocating for a larger government which he would lead and help the people. I am sorry for elevating America when I should have been elevating Christ. Jesus Christ is the hope for the world and the only hope to make any country great again.

4) I am sorry for allowing infidelity to take place among Christians:
As a Student Minister I have done a poor job teaching the importance of purity both in our physical actions as well as in our thought life. I fear that people are overlooking Donald Trump's infidelity within marriage because of the sexual sin which exists in their own life. I am more comfortable talking about homosexuals than I am confronting church members looking at pornography or flirting with co-workers. All types of sexual sin are evil in God's sight and need to be dealt with from the pulpit and in discipleship. Fidelity before marriage and in marriage is what the Bible teaches and when Christians are living holy lives they will be able to speak out against infidelity in others.

5) I am sorry for not teaching logic:
I am sorry for not teaching people how to think for themselves. I am all the time hearing people say, "if you don't vote for Trump than you are voting for Hillary." There has been a lot of ink already spilled pointing out the fallacies in this argument so I will not waste anymore ink on it but I will say if my non-vote for Trump is a vote for Hillary, then my non-vote for Hillary is a vote for Trump & it all evens out. I will work harder to teach students how to think through and listen to a particular argument rather than getting caught up in the emotions of the speaker.

6) I am sorry for the rhetoric that has been used from the pulpit to demonize people who disagree with us:
Pastors are horrible (myself included) at over-simplfying from the pulpit and making people who live as non-Christians or who disagree with us look worse than they actually are. Donald Trump has risen to power through name calling and censoring those who disagree with him. This should not come as any surprise that Evangelicals are flocking towards him since this is something we do every Sunday from the pulpit when we talk about "those people" out in our community who do not know Jesus. From now on I will work hard to fairly represent everyone's viewpoint in the best possible light. Teaching students to disagree agreeably and not resort to name calling or demonizing.

7) I am sorry for promoting easy believism or the false belief that all you have to do is walk an aisle and say a prayer and you are in to the Kingdom of Heaven:
Donald Trump has recently come out along with other prominent Evangelical leaders saying he is a Christian. Instead of pausing and saying OK let's wait and see the fruit. Evangelicals have been flocking to him because of this profession. Maybe we should wait a little while and see if his confession of Christ was genuine or just something he has done to garner more votes. I need to work harder teaching my students that it is not a profession of faith that saves them but a possession. There salvation is made evident through a lifestyle of following Christ.

8) I am sorry for promoting the CEO/Celebrity Pastor model:
Once again watching Donald Trump's acceptance speech I couldn't help but notice how many times the word "I" was used as he promoted himself as the only one who can make America great again. We have promoted this mindset in the church of following one person and building large empires around him and allowing one man to lead us. As Pastors we need to return to giving the power back to the people. Allowing ordinary church members to lead in our churches.

In conclusion, I am sorry as a Minister of the Gospel for creating an environment in which Donald Trump has risen to power. I realize it might be too late to apology for this election cycle but I will not stop training the next generation to ensure that the next generation does not make the same mistakes.

I am sorry.

Allow For the Loud:

Let’s say you’re standing in the hallway outside the youth room. What would bring you back into the room faster: loud noise or complete silence? I’m guessing your answer is probably silence. Why? Because youth ministry is loud. It’s supposed to be loud. Youth ministry is like that perfect song on the radio that must be turned up as the window goes down.

Too often churches want to treat the youth program as if it’s a continuation of Sunday school—the curriculum is merely an extension of what the students learned in grades one through six. But when a person becomes a teenager, his or her brain begins to produce certain chemicals. When these chemicals kick in, the human brain begins to process things at amazingly high levels. Having your students sit around a table and work through the teen version of what the kindergarten class is also learning won’t cut it. Youth ministry must be about the experience if it’s to be effective.

Youth ministry is extraordinarily loud, ordinarily annoying, completely messy, universally unglamorous, customarily disgusting, repeatedly boisterous, routinely disorderly, often smelly, frequently vulgar, seldom peaceful, and—every now and then—downright dangerous. (FYI: When the MythBusters say, “Don’t try this at home,” you should take them seriously.)

Allow for this. Allow your program to be messy. Allow your teens’ faith to be messy. Don’t try to force your program into a box. (Unless it’s a box like one of those noisemaker thingies where you push the clay into the little plastic pail and it makes that glorious FRAAAAAAAAAAAPPP sound.)

ALLOW FOR THE GROSS.
ALLOW FOR THE MESS.
ALLOW FOR THE SEMI-SACRILEGIOUS.
ALLOW FOR THE LOUD.

Churches that understand this will see how much a program can grow when the students are given permission to be what and who they are. If they’re accepted for who they are, and if they understand that your church, your youth room, and your community are sanctuaries, then they will be much more likely to open up and let you into their lives. If they feel safe, they’ll be more likely to let God into their lives. If they feel they can be themselves, they’re more likely to be who God called them to be.

People Need the Lord:

Its an old cliché that truth depends on where you stand: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure;  one man's meat is another man's poison; truth is in the eye of the beholder. In our postmodern times we’ve turned these clichés into complete moral confusion. But seeing good as evil isn’t simply a postmodern or even modern thing. The prophet Jonah once suffered from the same delusion.

As Jonah sat on a dry and barren hillside outside Nineveh, waiting for the coming destruction, his worst fears materialised before his eyes. The God Jonah knew showed up just the way he had feared he would.

God came with grace.

When God saw what they did, how they turned away from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. (Jonah 3:10-4:1)

The footnote in my ESV Study Bible informs me that the Hebrew here can be literally translated, "But it was exceedingly evil to Jonah".

Such was Jonah's delusion.

“Jonah didn't fight against God because he was scared of the Ninevites; he ran and railed because he knew God would turn up with healing in his wings, he knew God would show amazing grace—and he did not believe the Ninevites deserved it."

The God who showed up was the God whom Malachi would later describe as the "sun of righteousness who rises with healing in his wings" (Malachi 4:2), or of whom David sang, "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" (Psalm 103:8). This God came with amazing grace.

From Jonah's vantage point, however, this righteous, healing, merciful, patient, and loving grace, was a revolting evil that did nothing but fuel his anger.

Me too...

Yet before I let my indignation cause me to point a judgmental finger at Jonah, maybe I too need to learn a lesson.

Jonah didn't fight against God because he was scared of the Ninevites; he ran and railed because he knew God would forgive them.

And he prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was yet in my own country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster..." (Jonah 4:2)

As the blood of thousands cry for justice from the Nigerian soil, doesn't my heart burn with the same hatred toward Boko Haram? Doesn't my heart also cry out at the thought that the Gospel might bring these people healing too?

What about ISIS? Do they deserve God's relenting favour?

What about the mutilators of unborn babies in the American Planned Parenthood organisation? Or are they outside the reach of the redemptive power of the cross?

What about you? Do you deserve God's grace—do I?

This is the Gospel.

There is a world out there full of sheep without a shepherd – people who do not know their right hand from their left. And I, by rights, am numbered among them.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved… (Ephesians 2:4-5)

Jonah ran from this grace. He wanted it for himself, yet not for others.

But the gospel pursues us, captures us, compels us, even obligates us.

As you now see the grace of God poured out on the undeserving, how does it appear to you?

One Step Closer:

-10	No God Framework	“Who is God?”
-9	Atheist: denies existence of God and supernatural	“There’s no such thing as God.”
-8	Agnostic: not sure it’s possible to know if there is a God	“I’m just not sure.”
-7	Al-Anon view of God: vague belief in God; aware of Jesus	“I think there’s a higher power.”
-6	Interested in Jesus/Christianity; perhaps used to attend a church; open to finding out more.	“There might be something to this.”
-5	Has personally experienced Christian love; wants to find out more.	“Why would someone do something so selfless for me?”
-4	Aware of the basic facts of the gospel; attends church	“I’ll kick the tires and see if there might be something to Christianity.”
-3	Aware of own personal need for Jesus, whether for forgiveness or a new direction in life	“I’ve not always done what God wanted me to do.”
-2	Grasps the implications of what Jesus did	“It’s not about being good enough; it’s about what Jesus did on the cross for me.”
-1	Challenged to respond personally	“I need to turn away from sin and to God. I need Him to forgive me and take charge of my life.”
0	Repents and puts faith in Christ	“God is now the boss of my life. I’m trusting and following His plan.”
+1	Baptized	“I’m identifying with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.”
+2	Becomes active member of local church	“I’m connecting with other followers and doing life with them.”
+3	Continues to grow in character, service, and relationships	“I’m spending time with God, serving others and becoming more Christlike.”
+4	Leads others to connect with Christ and take next steps	“I’m reaching out and inviting others to take their own next step toward God.”

*Taken from How To Pick Up A Stripper by Todd and Erin Stevens

Let me explain the concept behind this chart. Everyone is somewhere on this scale, depending on his or her current view of and relationship with God. In theory, people will tend to move through the scale in a linear fashion. In reality, people will sometimes take three steps forward and then two steps back. Sometimes they might move through multiple stages on the scale in a very short time, perhaps even in just a few moments. Other people will take years before they move from one stage to the next. Sometimes, they get stuck and never go any further. Regardless, I think we can agree with the big idea that this scale is overall a fair representation of where people are spiritually and the steps they generally go through in their spiritual journey.

Here’s how this concept can impact our approach to outreach. We simply make it our goal to invite people to take the next step toward Christ from wherever they are. Let’s consider an example. I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered anyone in America who has never heard of God at all (-10), so let’s assume we’re talking with someone we would categorize as -9 on the scale. My aim with an atheist is to encourage her to at least take the next step, which on this scale would mean she decides, “I’m just not sure whether there is a God or not.” With this understanding of evangelism, this would mean she is moving toward God. The way I see it, that is a win.

So think for a moment about the implications of this approach. Am I saying that someone could say she is not even sure there is a God, and I would consider that a good thing? If I’m reaching out to an atheist, then that is exactly what I’m saying. In fact, hearing her say that would be a reason to celebrate. I am thrilled when that happens because this is the next step toward God from where she was.

Could God radically save an atheist in a single day? Of course! With God all things are possible. By inviting people to take the next step from where they are, we’re not limiting what God could do. We’re simply recognizing that people are at different points on their spiritual journeys and we are choosing to meet them where they are, rather than assuming they should already be where we want them to be.

This Little Light Of Mine:

"You are the light of the world. A town build on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven"-Matthew 5:14-16

Once Jesus sat down on a hill and began to teach the crowd that was following Him. He talked about how they could be blessed and the ways they should be different from the world around them: "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

Jesus presented an object lesson that His listeners would easily understand. "Do people light a lamp and then put it under a bowl?" Everyone there would have immediately said, "Of course not! That would be ridiculous." Today most of us light our houses by flipping a switch. If you're one of the ten people in America who still has a Clapper device from the 90's, then I suppose you could clap on your lights. Regardless, we all still recognize it would be absurd to light a lamp and then keep it under a bowl. But here's the thing: we do it all the time. We call it church.

Jesus said we are the light of the world. We all come together on Sunday. When we're gathered, there are big lights and little lights, and even supersized lights that are trying to shed a few lumens. Some lights have been shining for a long time, and some have just recently been lit. We learn how to be even brighter lights and encourage each other to keep on shining for a long time. We sing awesome songs like "Go Light Your World" and "This Little Light of Mine." All the while, we're gathered together under a bowl.

Every now and then, we lift the lid and look out. We shake our heads in disbelief at how dark the world out there is. We talk about how bad the people out there need light and how we are so grateful that we have it. Then we take our light and go home until we come back the next weekend and do it all again.

I think Jesus would say, "Since you have light and you see a group of people who need light, how about you go over there to where they are? Let them see your light up close and experience you. Because when they see you up close, they're ultimately going to see Me. When they experience you, they're going to experience Me." 

Jesus made it clear how we shine our lights: we do good deeds. When people see our good deeds, they won't praise us, because it's not about us. They'll praise our Father in heaven and will be drawn toward Him.

I Can Not Wait For Heaven:

May I let you in on a little secret?

I am really excited about going to Heaven one day.

I know. I know. I am too young to be thinking about Heaven but I can't help it. What a glorious day that will be when I close my eyes on this Earth and open them to behold my Savior (Jesus Christ) face to face. I can't wait.

There is a lot of things to be excited about when it comes to Heaven. The very pinnacle of Heaven will be seeing Jesus face to face. I can not wait to place my hands in His scars and thank Him for saving my soul.

While Jesus is at the top of my list (as it should be for everyone who is a true believer) there are other things I am excited about when it comes to Heaven. Reuniting with family members and loved ones who have gone before, seeing and conversing with Bible characters, the majestic beauty of Heaven and the list goes on and on.

One of the aspects I am excited about will be meeting the people who the Lord has saved through my giving to various offerings whom I have never met.

Let me explain: imagine you are sitting in church and a missionary comes and shares about the work he is doing in India, while you are listening your heart is pricked and you want to support the work in India so you contact the missionary and every month for several years you give a check to the work going on in India. You may never go to India but your financial contribution is helping to spread the Gospel in India. Imagine that day in Heaven when someone from India comes up to you, shakes your hand and thanks you for giving to the Lord.

How many times in our life have we given money to an offering and never thought anything else about it? Imagine the people we are going to meet in Heaven who came to know Jesus because we gave.

Take a minute and think about all of the times you have given to a particular cause or to a church. Imagine all of the individuals who are now hearing the Gospel message because you gave. I believe if we have this picture in our mind when we are asked to give it will spur us on to reach deeper into our pockets and give more sacrificially.

Every time you give to an organization which is reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ you are playing a part in reaching someone with the Gospel message and one day in Heaven we will meet all of those people whom have been reached because we took the time to place money in an offering plate.

I can not wait until that day. Can you?

Wednesday Worship:

Wednesday Worship:

Wednesday Worship:

Monday Morning Humor:

Monday Morning Humor:

Monday Morning Humor:

Monday Morning Humor

What To Teach Our Kids About Gender:

We live in very unique and complex times. Cultural wars are being waged over gender identity, public restroom access and moral debates over whether gender is more a matter of biological hardware, mental wiring, feelings, personal choice, or a combination of them all. This confusing climate has added an extra layer of complexity for those of us who are raising children. Most parents are asking themselves, “What lessons should we be teaching our kids about gender?”

As a dad, the lessons I’m teaching my kids about gender and identity include (in no particular order)

1.GOD GAVE you your gender, and God has NEVER made a mistake.

When we have the starting point of belief in a loving God who is working all things together for our good and His glory, we’re starting in the right place. When we start with any other worldview, we won’t be able to find true answers to the deepest questions of our souls. God made you. He loves you. He made you either male or female. He doesn’t make mistakes.

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” Psalm 139:13-14

2. Men and women are created EQUAL, but they are also created with DIFFERENCES.

I still can’t understand why it’s no longer politically correct or cultural acceptable to say that there are differences between men and women that extend beyond genitalia. You don’t have to see a group of kids playing on the playground for more than a few minutes to notices that boys and girls tend to interact with the world and with each other in different ways.

Both masculinity and femininity are beautiful unique and equally valuable. They’re complimentary, like two sides of the same coin; like two wings on the same bird. To say either is wrong or to say that one is more important than the other is to lose part of our own humanity. To say their neither exists apart from man-made (or woman-made) cultural constructs, is to abandon common sense.

“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27

3. Your gender can’t define you, and you can’t define your gender.

Let me unpack this one just a bit…I don’t believe that God ever intended gender to be a prison cell that puts limitations on you. Like all things God gives, gender is a beautiful gift that frees us to be all He created us to be. While our gender certainly sets part of the course for our lives and families, it’s not what defines our souls.

While our gender can’t define us, neither can we define our genders. There is much in life we get to decide, and there are some things that God is His love and sovereignty decides for us. Gender is one of those God-given, irrevocable gifts.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

4. Your gender is a gift; not a stereotype.

Much of our cultural frustration and confusion over gender started with the distortion of what gender really means. Men were taught that if we don’t have lumberjack beards and benchpress 500 lbs., then we’re not really men. Women are taught that if they don’t have the build of a Barbie doll and the domestic skills of an HGTV host, then they aren’t real women.

Gender is so much more than a stereotype or an impossible standard that God expects you to live up to. It’s a gift; not a prison. Your gender is part of what makes you the unique masterpiece God created you to be, so embrace it as the gift it was intended to be. Don’t let magazine covers or cultural stereotypes squeeze you into a mold when God created you to be a unique masterpiece.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2

5. If you search for your identity in anything but God, you’ll never truly find it.

The quest to find our “gender identity” is really just another quest to find our “identity.” We’re all longing to know who we are and why we’re here. We’re trying to make sense of the brokenness of our past, the struggles of our present and the fears and hopes for our futures. Christ gives purpose and peace to these pursuits like no one else can. If our primary identity is rooted in our gender identity, sexual identity, political identity, family identity, national identity, denominational identity or anything else, we’ve missed the point. Start the search with Jesus. He’ll not only show you the answers; He’ll show you that He is the answer.

“There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

Wednesday Worship: