Today we just got internet installed in our house! So hopefully that means that I will blog more.
As far as what I have been doing, it has been mostly adjusting to being the proud parent of a beautiful little girl. My wife and I love our little girl so much.
Next to that not much seems significant. Hopefully I will have something more detailed to write about soon, but for now just know that I have not forgotten that I do have a blog.
Latter
Ryan
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, December 3, 2010
Happy X-Mas Everyone!
Yes I know I know.... The title of my blog just took Jesus out of Christmas. I have performed an act unthinkable by a youth pastor in a rural Midwestern church.
A lot of Christians that I know get very frustrated by the use of x mas instead of Christmas, and other acts that push their faith out of the public eye. Over the years there have been several huge battles between the followers of Jesus and the secular culture. Things like taking the 10 commandments out of public places and restrictions on prayer at school have been seen as an attack on the Christian faith.
But lets slow down for a minute. Are we over reacting to the culture that we live in? Also are we as Christians being Christ-like in the way we engage culture?
Firstly let's look at where the phrase x-mas comes from. Most people look at this x as a tool of the devil used to take Jesus out of Christmas. With Jesus out of the way Satan is free to influence us during this time where we usually celebrate the birth of Christ. But actually the x is short for Jesus. I'm no Greek scholar, but I met some in bible college and I can link you to a wikipedia article that will explain the whole thing to you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas
Basically the X is a Greek Scholar's shorthand way to say Christ.
But you might say, yeah yeah yeah, but most people do not know that, so they still use it to try to take Christ out of Christmas. Maybe you are right. Maybe there are people who want to replace Christmas with x mas and make us forget the reason for the season. I don't know either way. What I do know is this. If you are a Christian, your faith is going to be attacked. The non Christian culture is not going to understand you. They might make fun of you. Every portrait of a Christian on TV might be a crazy judgmental person who thinks that Jesus had magic powers. Maybe if you are a Christian reading this you feel like the world hates you because of your faith. Jesus had some powerful words to say on the subject....
Law : ‘They hated me without reason.’[b]
Jesus faced a lot of persecution, mostly because he did not look like the culture. He did weird things. He healed on the sabbath. He found value in women. He forgave sins. He claimed to be God in flesh. So if we are following Jesus we are going to face persecution on some level. But if we are following Jesus, we should respond to the persecution as he would have. We can't just get offended when we come into contact with those people who do not understand our faith, and thus mock it. We need to have patience with the people in our lives who may be offensive to us. Why?
Here's why
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeksGod .
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”[a]
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”[b]
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”[c]
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[d]
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”[e]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[f]
It's easy to sit in a Church and say everyone is a sinner no one is better than anyone else, but non Christian people often feel judged by the Christian crowd. Somewhere out there are Christians who are self righteous. Somewhere out there there are Christians who use their salvation by the blood of Christ as permission to feel better than everyone else. If this is you I have news for you. You are not more holy than anyone else.
But there are also the Christians who are fed up with being made to look stupid by the media and our culture. There are Christians who feel attacked, mocked, and all around bad because of this. And so they see a place to take a stand with the whole x mas thing. They just want to stand up for their faith. They just want to see Jesus win a battle in the culture. This group is made up of people I know, love, and respect very much, but my friends, if you really want to make a difference, it must be one heart at a time. Winning the fight to name the holiday on December 25th will not change hearts. Prayer and Love and showing them what following Jesus is all about will. What does this look like practically in your life? I do not know. I know in my own life it involves engaging young people who may or may not have any idea about who God is or how to live their lives. It involves a commitment to be there for them even if they never set foot in the church building. It involves having a lot of grace with them when they come in smelling like smoke or letting a cuss word slip every now and then. It's remembering that maybe they do not know any better but they will learn from watching me.
Who can you point toward Christ? Think about it. Pray about it. Most of all give love and grace to the people you encounter. That's what God does for us.
A lot of Christians that I know get very frustrated by the use of x mas instead of Christmas, and other acts that push their faith out of the public eye. Over the years there have been several huge battles between the followers of Jesus and the secular culture. Things like taking the 10 commandments out of public places and restrictions on prayer at school have been seen as an attack on the Christian faith.
But lets slow down for a minute. Are we over reacting to the culture that we live in? Also are we as Christians being Christ-like in the way we engage culture?
Firstly let's look at where the phrase x-mas comes from. Most people look at this x as a tool of the devil used to take Jesus out of Christmas. With Jesus out of the way Satan is free to influence us during this time where we usually celebrate the birth of Christ. But actually the x is short for Jesus. I'm no Greek scholar, but I met some in bible college and I can link you to a wikipedia article that will explain the whole thing to you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas
Basically the X is a Greek Scholar's shorthand way to say Christ.
But you might say, yeah yeah yeah, but most people do not know that, so they still use it to try to take Christ out of Christmas. Maybe you are right. Maybe there are people who want to replace Christmas with x mas and make us forget the reason for the season. I don't know either way. What I do know is this. If you are a Christian, your faith is going to be attacked. The non Christian culture is not going to understand you. They might make fun of you. Every portrait of a Christian on TV might be a crazy judgmental person who thinks that Jesus had magic powers. Maybe if you are a Christian reading this you feel like the world hates you because of your faith. Jesus had some powerful words to say on the subject....
John 15:18-25 (New International Version, ©2010)
The World Hates the Disciples
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[a] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in theirJesus faced a lot of persecution, mostly because he did not look like the culture. He did weird things. He healed on the sabbath. He found value in women. He forgave sins. He claimed to be God in flesh. So if we are following Jesus we are going to face persecution on some level. But if we are following Jesus, we should respond to the persecution as he would have. We can't just get offended when we come into contact with those people who do not understand our faith, and thus mock it. We need to have patience with the people in our lives who may be offensive to us. Why?
Here's why
Romans 3:10-18 (New International Version, ©2010)
10 As it is written:“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”[a]
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”[b]
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”[c]
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”[d]
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”[e]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”[f]
It's easy to sit in a Church and say everyone is a sinner no one is better than anyone else, but non Christian people often feel judged by the Christian crowd. Somewhere out there are Christians who are self righteous. Somewhere out there there are Christians who use their salvation by the blood of Christ as permission to feel better than everyone else. If this is you I have news for you. You are not more holy than anyone else.
But there are also the Christians who are fed up with being made to look stupid by the media and our culture. There are Christians who feel attacked, mocked, and all around bad because of this. And so they see a place to take a stand with the whole x mas thing. They just want to stand up for their faith. They just want to see Jesus win a battle in the culture. This group is made up of people I know, love, and respect very much, but my friends, if you really want to make a difference, it must be one heart at a time. Winning the fight to name the holiday on December 25th will not change hearts. Prayer and Love and showing them what following Jesus is all about will. What does this look like practically in your life? I do not know. I know in my own life it involves engaging young people who may or may not have any idea about who God is or how to live their lives. It involves a commitment to be there for them even if they never set foot in the church building. It involves having a lot of grace with them when they come in smelling like smoke or letting a cuss word slip every now and then. It's remembering that maybe they do not know any better but they will learn from watching me.
Who can you point toward Christ? Think about it. Pray about it. Most of all give love and grace to the people you encounter. That's what God does for us.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Dec 1
A lot has gone on in our house as of late.
The baby is fast approaching! It seems the harder that we try to get everything done, the more there is to do and the less we have done. Getting ready for a daughter is hard! I'm sure raising her will be sometimes soon, but I am totally ready for it. I'm convinced that she is going to be the best little girl ever. Sorry other dads, your daughter is cool and all but mine is the best.
Also the more we go through the pregnancy and other trials together, the closer Dorian and I become. I am very proud to call her my wife. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and if I had to live with anyone else I would kill them. Dorian is the only person I have ever met that I am able to be that close to without going crazy. She is truly a gift from God.
Speaking of trials, and gifts from God, the book of James is very big in my life right now. It seems like every bible study that happens that I read, or am a part of, or listen to, or whatever references the book of James.
James is 5 chapters long and it is packed full of Godly wisdom for people trying to follow Jesus. I dare you to read it! Here's a link!
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1&version=NIVIt will challenge you to look at how you are living and re evaluate what it means to follow God no matter where you are in life!
The baby is fast approaching! It seems the harder that we try to get everything done, the more there is to do and the less we have done. Getting ready for a daughter is hard! I'm sure raising her will be sometimes soon, but I am totally ready for it. I'm convinced that she is going to be the best little girl ever. Sorry other dads, your daughter is cool and all but mine is the best.
Also the more we go through the pregnancy and other trials together, the closer Dorian and I become. I am very proud to call her my wife. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and if I had to live with anyone else I would kill them. Dorian is the only person I have ever met that I am able to be that close to without going crazy. She is truly a gift from God.
Speaking of trials, and gifts from God, the book of James is very big in my life right now. It seems like every bible study that happens that I read, or am a part of, or listen to, or whatever references the book of James.
James is 5 chapters long and it is packed full of Godly wisdom for people trying to follow Jesus. I dare you to read it! Here's a link!
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1&version=NIVIt will challenge you to look at how you are living and re evaluate what it means to follow God no matter where you are in life!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Success!
Today I went to lunch at the high school to check in on my youth group kids in their native habitat. One of them said to me, Ryan you had better have something awesome planned because we have been inviting a bunch of people to church. That's ministry right? (It was something like that, i may have gotten it wrong in some way.)
Heck yes that is ministry! Way to apply what you hear at church to your life!
That may be one of the best things I have ever heard as a youth pastor.
Heck yes that is ministry! Way to apply what you hear at church to your life!
That may be one of the best things I have ever heard as a youth pastor.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Phoebe
I am very excited to announce (very long after most of the world already knows this because I am a horrible blogger) that Dorian and I are going to be the proud parents of a little girl! Our girl will be named Phoebe after the woman in Romans 16 (See link)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%2016&version=NIV
I can not wait to see what she is like. I hope she is musical, or creative in some way. I hope she loves life. I hope she sees me as a good father. I hope I am a good father (I think I will be). I hope she sees Dorian as a great mom (I also think Dorian will be a great mom). Mostly though I hope that she loves God. I hope that she is a servant of God just like the woman in Romans 16. I hope she is full of the Holy Spirit. I hope she impacts the world...in a good way :)
Phoebe I love you already and I can not wait until you are born!
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%2016&version=NIV
I can not wait to see what she is like. I hope she is musical, or creative in some way. I hope she loves life. I hope she sees me as a good father. I hope I am a good father (I think I will be). I hope she sees Dorian as a great mom (I also think Dorian will be a great mom). Mostly though I hope that she loves God. I hope that she is a servant of God just like the woman in Romans 16. I hope she is full of the Holy Spirit. I hope she impacts the world...in a good way :)
Phoebe I love you already and I can not wait until you are born!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Galatians 5
Our minister was recently on vacation, which required me to fill in for him for two weeks at our Sunday morning service. In the past, I have not been a very good speaker, but I think that I am getting used to it because I was pretty proud of the first sermon. In the sermon, I did some research on what people who are not Christians think of people that are. Here is the list.
The number one thing that the church is known for by non Christian young people is being anti homosexual.
Number 2 is judgemental
3 is hypocritical (saying one thing and doing another)
4 too involved in politics
5 out of touch with reality
6 old fashioned
7 insensitive to others
8 boring
9 not accepting of other faiths
10 confusing.
Wow, we are a loved group huh?! Sadly, it is understandable with the way the church has sometimes behaved. It makes me so sad that the number one thing that the followers of Jesus are known for is hating a group of people.
Galatians 5:22-26 (New International Version)
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Does anyone see a difference between the 2 lists! Love and Joy do not go with judgemental and insensitive!
The number one thing that the church is known for by non Christian young people is being anti homosexual.
Number 2 is judgemental
3 is hypocritical (saying one thing and doing another)
4 too involved in politics
5 out of touch with reality
6 old fashioned
7 insensitive to others
8 boring
9 not accepting of other faiths
10 confusing.
Wow, we are a loved group huh?! Sadly, it is understandable with the way the church has sometimes behaved. It makes me so sad that the number one thing that the followers of Jesus are known for is hating a group of people.
Galatians 5:22-26 (New International Version)
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Does anyone see a difference between the 2 lists! Love and Joy do not go with judgemental and insensitive!
1st Blog post ever!
So this is the first time I have ever tried bloging before. Hopefully it is all that it is cracked up to be.
A little about me, I am 23 years old, happily married for 2 years and expecting my first son/daughter (not finding out because the suprise will be awesome). I am a full time youth pastor, which means everyone will automatically steryotype me as a religious nut.
Honestly I am just a regular young guy trying to figure out how to be a good husband/dad/pastor/person.
Hopefully I figure it out.
:)
A little about me, I am 23 years old, happily married for 2 years and expecting my first son/daughter (not finding out because the suprise will be awesome). I am a full time youth pastor, which means everyone will automatically steryotype me as a religious nut.
Honestly I am just a regular young guy trying to figure out how to be a good husband/dad/pastor/person.
Hopefully I figure it out.
:)
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