Life2gether

Here’s a brief description of Kenda Creasy Dean’s provocative book, Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church:

In Soul Searching, Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton found that American teenagers have embraced a “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism”–a hodgepodge of banal, self-serving, feel-good beliefs that bears little resemblance to traditional Christianity. But far from faulting teens, Dean places the blame for this theological watering down squarely on the churches themselves. Instead of proclaiming a God who calls believers to lives of love, service and sacrifice, churches offer instead a bargain religion, easy to use, easy to forget, offering little and demanding less. But what is to be done?

In order to produce ardent young Christians, Dean argues, churches must rediscover their sense of mission and model an understanding of being Christian as not something you do for yourself, but something that calls you to share God’s love, in word and deed, with others. Dean found that the most committed young Christians shared four important traits: they could tell a personal and powerful story about God; they belonged to a significant faith community; they exhibited a sense of vocation; and they possessed a profound sense of hope. Based on these findings, Dean proposes an approach to Christian education that places the idea of mission at its core and offers a wealth of concrete suggestions for inspiring teens to live more authentically engaged Christian lives. (Taken from Dean’s website)

• Buy the book here
• Read CNN’s take on it here

If you’re like me, you like your time alone.  You come away feeling refreshed, revitalized, and ready to live for Christ.  And then you come into contact with real people again.  And it doesn’t take long before you feel tired and impatient.  Sure you could chalk up some of this to your temperament, but we all know something deeper is going on.  It’s called sanctification.  God wants us to be in community with others because that’s where we change.  That’s where sin is exposed and humility is grown.  That’s where mistakes are made and grace is given.

Don’t get me wrong.  We need both community and solitude.  As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said,

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community.  Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.”

How true.  But the danger in solitude is that we miss the fellowship of others who can help us see into our souls.  We miss the encouragement and exhortation from those who care about the outcome of our faith.  As B. Witherington so eloquently put it,

“The community, not the closet, is the place where our salvation is worked out.”

Practically, wouldn’t it be wonderful to wed these two together in some kind of outing with others in your church?  Solitude mingled with community.  Community mingled with solitude.  Sounds like a worthwhile and perhaps life-changing idea.

I just came across a new blog by Reggie Joiner and Carey Nieuwhof called Orange Parents.  The picture below explains the orange concept.  My buddy, Lisle Drury, and I attended the Orange Conference last year and it helped to spur us on to begin a new ministry to families called, S.E.E.D.S.  Though the gospel is not always put to the forefront of the 252 curriculum produced by these “Orange Leaders,” there is much good to be gathered from their intentional focus on bringing the church and home together.  So I encourage you to bookmark this parenting blog.



Sam Luce with an interesting theory on helping your little ones to let go:

I may not be a doctor of anything but I have a theory. I have been reluctant to throw this out there but now after we have had our third kid I am fairly certain that it’s a fact. The amount of time you spend playing peek-a-boo translates into your child’s ability to be ok with you dropping them off in the care of others. Because even though they can’t see you they know that you always come back. We tell our kids we will come back but young kids deal in concrete not abstract thought so if you can show them that you will be back by hiding your face then popping out again you demonstrate that even when you can’t see me I am nearby and you will see me soon. They can trust you.

I am not sure if this helps the parents with the letting go part when their kids get older but it may. I do however know many two year old teachers that would benefit from this theory of mine.

As a parent dropping my oldest off at kindergarten I think I am starting the processes of peek-a-boo where I can let my boy go and know that he will come back. It’s not easy but few things are easy when it comes to parenting. Our job is to equip, train, release. I have to prepare my kids to be everything God created them to be and not selfishly hold them back because they fill a gap in my life.

4 New Testament (Church) Family Values:

1. We share our stuff with one another.
2. We share our hearts with one another.
3. We stay, embrace the pain, and grow up with one another.
4. Family is about more than me, the wife, and the kids.

~ Joseph Hellerman, When the Church Was a Family, (pg. 145).

This is a good word from J.C. Ryle (one of my favorite dead pastors):

Our Lord experienced everything that belongs to man’s nature – except only sin. As man He was born an infant. As man He grew from infancy to boyhood. As man He yearly increased in bodily strength and mental power, during His passage from boyhood to adulthood. Of all the sinless conditions of man’s body – its feebleness as a child, its growth, its regular progress to maturity – He was in the fullest sense a human being. We must rest satisfied with knowing this. To pry beyond is useless. To know this clearly is of much importance. An absence of settled knowledge of it has led to many wild heresies.

One comforting, practical lesson stands out, something we should never overlook. Our Lord is able to sympathize with humanity in every stage, from the cradle to the grave. He knows by experience the nature and temperament of the child and the youth and the adult. He has stood in their place. He has occupied their position. He knows their hearts. Let us never forget this in dealing with young people concerning their souls. Let us tell them confidently that there is One in heaven at the right hand of God who is exactly suited to be their Friend. He who died on the cross was once a youth Himself and feels a special interest in youth, as well as in adults.

Adapted from The Gospel of Luke by J.C. Ryle (Chapter 2).

Pastor Tullian:

So, we miss out on some great things God intends for us to enjoy when we separate in worship according to musical tastes. The idea to do this comes, not from the Bible, but from American consumerism and we adopt this practice to our own peril.

As my friend Steven Phillips rightly says, we ought to use the best music, prayers, and traditions of our Christian past, so that our worship is guided and enriched by our fathers in the faith. In doing this we demonstrate that our Christian faith reaches back thousands of years. And we ought also to use the best new songs and styles – to “sing a new song to the Lord” as the Psalms say – so that we can demonstrate that the grace of God is ever new. God’s saving power is available now, in the present day, to all who call on Him in faith.

By musically blending things in this way we  exercise love toward those who resonate with different musical tastes than us. We recognize that our worship service is a shared time and a shared space, so that if a particular song or style doesn’t inspire us, we can still look across the sanctuary and give thanks from our hearts for the diversity of people who are here. The gospel of Jesus Christ invites us to look across the aisle and say, “Though this song or style may not appeal to me, I see that God is using it to move you. I love you in Christ and I’m glad you’re here.”

(HT: Z)

Family Worship at PCPC from PCPC Video on Vimeo.

(HT: Jared Kennedy)

Kids love their pets.  So when they die the question eventually comes, “Will I see my pet in heaven?”  Instead of passing it off as a stupid or trivial question, my friend, Eric Schumacher, seeks to answer it (and other questions below) in a recent sermon.  You can listen to it here.

1. What is the nature and purpose of animals in creation?
2. What is the relationship between animals and man?
3. Why do animals suffer and die?
4. Will animals be redeemed?
5. Will particular pets be recreated?
6. What is the root of this question, and where should we go with it?

• Randy Alcorn answered this question here …
• I recommend his book, Heaven for Kids, as well

Ed Welch on his new devotional guide, When I Am Afraid:

“You know how anxiety and fear feels, your stomach drops, your neck tightens, your whole body tenses, but do you know what to do when anxiety fills your days and troubles your nights? You’ve probably already tried a few strategies, like denial or working harder, and noticed that they aren’t a permanent solution. If you are tired of dealing with anxiety and worry on your own, then this guide is just for you. As you go through each set of meditations, anxiety will gradually yield to hope, peace, and rest. Of course, this is a lifelong process, but going through this devotional guide, either on your own or with a small group, will kick-start the process and bring lifelong change.”

I love Ed Welch’s stuff.  His book, Running Scared, greatly affected me.  This book looks to be a helpful, shorter (96 pgs.) devotional with new insights. Might be a helpful resource to pick up.