Relationships Matter

I just turned 33 last month, and now feel strongly that a person’s 30’s should still be considered young. But one of the lessons I’ve learned in my short life is, your relationships matter! Some of the largest mistakes and biggest successes in my life can be chalked up to the relationships around me at the time. Don’t get me wrong; I am not trying to blame other people for my mistakes. My mistakes are mine to own. But I surrounded myself with negative people and then made negative choices.

The same can be true for some of the biggest successes in my life, they have come when I have surrounded myself with quality, upstanding people - namely my wife and some men I have strong bonds with now. See, those people who share my belief in Christ and the moral compass the scripture offers as a guide hold me accountable to live as Christ would like me to live. Those people with whom I made bad decisions did not share the same set of convictions as I, so they flat did not know any better. We cannot expect non-believers to behave as believers if they lack the Holy Spirit. This is why who you take into your closest relationships matters so much. You’ve all heard 2 Corinthians 6:14,which warns us not to “yoke” ourselves with non-believers. A yoke bound two oxen together where one could not move in any direction without the other moving in the same direction. If you yoke in your friendships, romances, and emotional bonds with those who do not share your worldview, that yoke will pull you away from Christ. At the same time, yoking yourself to a strong believer will guide you on the path of righteousness. We must have relationships with those who do not share our values, so that we may be a light to them and evangelize. We cannot, however, confuse association with participation and fall into the dangerous trap of desiring approval from those who do not approve of our Biblical worldview.

Surround yourself, adults and teens, with people who will encourage you to do right, not tempt you to do wrong, and who will hold you accountable before Christ to live as He’d have you live. Do not be offended or defensive if someone calls you on your sin and label them judgmental. If they are doing it in love, they are doing you a favor. Luke 15:7 expresses the joy in heaven over a repentant sinner. Take time to examine your relationships. Who are the parasites to your spiritual health and who are the vitamins strengthening your convictions?

-Pastor Adam

Queasiness and THE Cause

My family has dealt with all sorts of sickness over the past month. The most recent foray into the land of germs was God allowing me to experience the best diet on the planet, the stomach flu. What does this have to do with THE Cause? Many people blame God for many of the evils, pain, and suffering in the world. God does cause some things we perceive as bad to happen, but we need to remind ourselves of the nature of God’s original creation. It was “all very good.” (Gen. 1:31) God’s original creation did not know illness, pain, death, or tossing cookies. It was our fault, not God’s, that these bad things made their way into our world. Don’t just blame Adam and Eve. Yes, they fell, but nobody other than Christ has been perfect since. As a part of God’s earthly punishment for sin he enacted turmoil and strife upon all earthly creation.

So next time someone tells you that there can’t be a loving God because of all of the evil in the world, remind them that God did not create evil. In fact, evil really isn’t a “something.” Evil is the lack of good. All that God created was good. He created mankind with the capacity to express our love for Him through voluntarily obedience. This left the possibility for rebellion. Satan exploited this void and man rebelled and fell short of the potential we had to be obedient to God. God knew this would happen, but valued a relationship with mankind enough to create us anyway. He even knew He’d have to send Jesus to atone for our sins in order to restore all creation to its original state, and yet He created us anyway because He loves us and loves the relationship we can have with Him. That’s the good news. For those that believe, the curse of sin, sickness, conflict, and death will be removed and we will again commune with God as Adam and Eve did before they fell. This is the Good News that we share, God’s love shown through the sacrifice of Christ will undo the curse we brought upon ourselves and we will spend forever living face-to-face with our Savior.

The Void, Thanksgiving, and THE Cause

One of my favorite verses, and one of the hardest to abide by, is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which says: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (NIV) The hardest part to abide by is “Be joyful always.” People want circumstances to fulfill them and make them joyful. If life isn’t the best it can possibly be, we whine and complain and want more of something to make us feel better. This void that we feel is a natural one, created in us by our Creator with the intent that we fill it with Him.

We all desire something more in our lives, whether it is companionship, success, meaning, or just to feel good. We have a desire to be fulfilled. Many people try and fill that void with narcotics, alcohol, relationships, sex, work, money, entertainment, or made-up religion. All of those things still leave us empty and we still have the desire to want more. In Christ, we should all be “joyful always,” as our Creator desires a relationship with us and has plans for us bigger than we can comprehend. Those plans, more than likely, are not your plans. Those plans will include pain, stress, possibly illness, hard work, discipline, but ultimately, a heavenly reward to which earth cannot hold a candle. I once heard a pastor say, “Instead of thinking ‘why is God doing this to me,’ we should be asking ‘what is God doing through me.’”

As genuine Christ-followers, we will suffer. We will suffer more than non-believers, as we are targets of Satan in the spiritual battle for people’s souls. Paul, who went through hell-on-earth at times, tells us that the secret to contentment is a relationship to Christ, regardless of circumstances (Philippians 4:13). To be able continually fight for THE Cause you must understand that resistance and trouble will come; otherwise it wouldn’t be described as a war (Ephesians 6:10-19). Do not allow that fight to rob you of your joy. Christ came so that you may have life and have it to the fullest, while the Satan is trying to steal, kill, and destroy you. This Thanksgiving, don’t look to your earthly blessings for contentment and joy, but look to the sacrifice your Savior made for you, and realize that no matter what life, or the Devil, throws at you, Christ is stronger and will uphold you if you hold on to Him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Pastor Adam

THE Cause

In November the youth and I traveled on our annual trip to the Dare 2 Share conference in Denver, CO. It was an amazing and life-changing trip for many who attended. The theme was BLAZE, based upon Isaiah 6:1-8, when God commissioned Isaiah and he was basically set ablaze by God almighty. Being passionate for our faith means that we sell out for THE Cause. There are a lot of causes that we can become a part of, socially, morally, and politically. Some of those causes can be very noble and worthy causes for which to fight, but they all pale in comparison to the importance of THE Cause. THE Cause is the cause of Christ. Luke 19:10 tells us that Christ’s cause was to “seek and save the lost.” Furthermore, Christ’s cause was also to make us “fishers of men.” (Matt. 4:19) Christ’s Cause was two fold. He desired to make disciples who make disciples. That is what we are called to do as well. The actual Greek translation of Matthew 28:19 says, “As you are going, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” There is no final destination at which we are to share our faith. We are called by Christ to share our faith all along our life journey. Once those disciples are made, we are to bring them along in the faith and to train them in how to make disciples.

So take a few moments to consider the causes for which you burn and fight. Abortion? Gun-rights? Save the rain forest? None of them are nearly as important as Christ’s cause, yet for some reason we are willing to go to the mat and fight tooth-and-nail for our politics, but our passion for our faith is sadly non-existent. All other causes are empty without first dedicating your life to Christ. Not just a component of your life, but your entire life to Christ. John 14:12a tells us, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.” Are you living for THE Cause? Do you even want to live for THE Cause? Because if you say, as Isaiah did in Isaiah 6:8, “Here I am Lord, send me,” and God takes you up on your offer, life will be flipped upside-down for you. Your priorities, lifestyle, time, activities, entire life will change. It will cause fear, suffering, frustration, struggle, temptation; but will also bring you fulfillment, joy, and an intimacy with Christ that you may have never experienced before. Sell out for THE Cause, everything else is fruitless.

- Pastor Adam