Big Lies

I was reading this article in a local Christian newspaper about lies people believe as truth. There were 12 of these lies, which a few I don't know if I totally agree with but there are a few that I most certainly find to be true especially working with teenagers. The first one that caught my attention is people have this belief that they are inherently good. It shocks me that people think they are "good." Maybe there is a little logic that goes with this thought in that good is relative from one person to the next and if we can make our own definitions of it then how can anyone be classified as such. Which brings me to the next lie believed to be truth.

The belief that there is no such thing as truth. In my opinion this is a really scary thing to believe, and so many teenagers even "Christian" teens are buying this one. I am not sure if its something we are teaching them in schools or if parents are not being direct enough about right and wrong. The ideas though maybe not termed in a teenage mind are easily pointed out to be relativism, subjective, and objective truth. Even Christian adults 20's and 30's have trouble with these. And the more that I think about it the more angry I become. I believe we have all gotten to this place as Christians by believing that what is sin and conviction to one person does not apply to all. I really don't have the time or the brain to really attack any of these, but I do have the heart to say that it concerns me and I honestly don't have answers. I just know that unless absolute truth is sought and bought into younger generations of Christians will learn to accept anything and therefore not stand for anything at all.

There are so many other lies that are out there everyday that we buy into as Christians especially here in America, as we desire God's best for our lives yet somehow mistakenly think that that is to own a home w/ a white picket fence, and having 2.5 children. I am not saying that can't be what God wants for you but I am thinking that in order for God to accomplish what His desires are for the world that it can't be true for all of us. I believe God's will is just as creative and interesting as the many personalities and gifts that He has given us as humans. If you struggle to know if you have clouded The truth with lies don't read another book or blog about it...read the Bible because real absolute truth lies in the person of Jesus Christ and not our own revelation of our own reality!

The Network...

To my understanding the Youth Pastors in this area of South Florida have been having "network" meetings for years. I was made aware of this pretty early on in moving here to Florida, working for a Christian clothing store. And when I came of staff with Youth for Christ almost 3 years ago I was excited to be apart of this "network" of youth Pastors and youth workers. In the last 3 years however this network has changed so many different times in so many different ways. It is after all logical that it would have changes, I mean the average stay for a youth pastor is like 18 months or something crazy like that, and leadership is hard for one person with other obligations to prioritize when "networking" isn't a part of their job description.

Well this week we had some miscommunication that took place between some members of the network, and not only am I unclear as to what happened, but there was another organization that may have gotten the impression that YFC was not for them or with them. This is not really the point of this post but this situation got me thinking what does networking mean and when it comes to the Kingdom and His causes how do we accomplish this.

I would never dare to suggest that I have any answers or that my ideas are correct, I just think when it comes to the kingdom and reaching the lost we all have lost the purpose of networking. We constantly pin larger churches in competition with smaller churches, and one organization against another. And this is sad, I can't help but believe that satan is having a hay day with this kind of philosophy, being able create this idea that we don't ALL have the same mission and calling to reach the lost and to disciple believers. This individualized understanding of different talents and gifts doesn't mean we reach out in different ways, doesn't it in fact mean that we work together to do it more completely???

Well I could go on and end up in a very long dialog that has nothing to do with this topic, but I want to know what do you think about networking, have you seen it done right? Or maybe I'm way off and the purpose of a network should be something else- maybe encouragement or accountability? Either way I'm not positive but I don't think the word network is even used in the Bible....however "unity" is used several times in scripture, perhaps we should strive for more of that?