MMM - The Bible

So I was thinking about today's post and decided that I would use the Bible as this weeks meaningful media. This time of year (ending Christmas and begining a new year) we hear a lot about the Bible. The Christmas story is told many times and we make plans to read the Bible more in the coming year.

The ultimate source of encouragement though is the Bible so I want to encourage you to really commit to reading it more often this coming year. Most people make open commitments that they never really fulfill. They start with good intentions but end up leaving it behind before really getting into it. Here are few ideas/tips to get you going:

1. Pick a schedule that works for you and stick to it. It doesn't have to be every day or even a scheduled time. Whatever works for you the best but still gets reading done. It doesn't have to be daily, especially to start with, but the more often the better. If you haven't do it much or have had trouble in the past I would suggest start with a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule.

2. Pick a plan that fits your likes. There have been so many plans on Bible reading that it can be hard to choose one. If you like reading, pick one that is of the whole bible. If you like history, find one that puts the Bible in Chronological order. If you have trouble following the way the Bible reads you can try to out a new Bible style that takes out all the verse and chapter numbers and makes it more like a book. If you have trouble understanding what you are reading then it might be the version of the Bible you have. Try picking up a New Living Translation (NLT) of the Bible. It is easy to read but still an accurate translation.

3. Pray. Prayer should be a major part of life and reading the Bible is no exception. Pray that you will learn what you need to and what God wants you to while you are doing your Bible study.

May God Bless the rest of your holiday season and may you dive into His word in the coming year.

"You Have Caused This..."

(Originally posted to Facebook Notes June 27, 2008. It is kind of a long read but it is good)

Please read the following section carefully, it comes from Romans 2:17-24. There are three versions of it because I believe that it will be more helpful in the understanding of what I am going to try and say.

17Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; 18if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." (NIV)

17 What about you? You call yourself a Jew. You trust in the law of Moses and brag that you are close to God.18 You know what he wants you to do and what is important, because you have learned the law.19 You think you are a guide for the blind and a light for those who are in darkness.20 You think you can show foolish people what is right and teach those who know nothing. You have the law; so you think you know everything and have all truth. 21 You teach others, so why don't you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but you steal.22 You say that others must not take part in adultery, but you are guilty of that sin. You hate idols, but you steal from temples.23 You brag about having God's law, but you bring shame to God by breaking his law,24 just as the Scriptures say: "Those who are not Jews speak against God's name because of you." (NCV)

17-24If you're brought up Jewish, don't assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you're an insider to God's revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God's revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I'm quite serious. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I'm quite serious. While preaching "Don't steal!" are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, "It's because of you Jews that the outsiders are down on God," shows it's an old problem that isn't going to go away. (The Message)

As I was reading a devo this past week at Western Buckeye Christian Service Camp, I read the above passage of verses. In this section Paul is addressing the Jews and their reliance on the law. However, I see much more in this passage then a critique of the Jews, I see a critique of some Christians. As I read this my mind was drawn to the church in America today. Scandals rock every denomination and there are false teachers in abundance. Members of the church will say one thing and then do the exact opposite. Verse 24 is what really stands out though. This is what we should take to heart. While he appears to be addressing teachers in this passage I believe that it can be aimed at all those in the church, for we will all be teaching in one way or another whether in a class or just talking to someone at the water cooler. We must be careful not to go back on what we tell someone for whether it seems big or small, it will not matter to the person it affects. This verse (verse 24) is found in the Old Testament in two places. In Isaiah 52:5 and Ezekiel 36:22. (See them below) We often think that we are doing soo much better than the Jews of old but when we actually stop and look at what is going on around us we realize that the problems of today trace back not only to the New Testament church but even back into the days of the Jews of the Old Testament.

We must work hard to not cause people to think badly of our Lord and God.


Isaiah 52:5 "Now see what has happened," says the Lord.
"Another nation has taken away my people for nothing.
This nation who rules them makes fun of me," says the Lord.
"All day long they speak against me. (NCV)

Ezekiel 36:22 "Therefore, tell Israel, 'Message of God, the Master: I'm not doing this for you, Israel. I'm doing it for me, to save my character, my holy name, which you've blackened in every country where you've gone. I'm going to put my great and holy name on display, the name that has been ruined in so many countries, the name that you blackened wherever you went..." (The Message)

Ezekiel 36:22 "So say to the people of Israel, 'This is what the Lord God says: Israel, I am going to act, but not for your sake. I will do something to help my holy name, which you have dishonored among the nations where you went.

My Conclusions about Marijuana

So I have been a youth minister for around a year now. I have answered a lot of questions and spoke on a lot of topics. Some of them easy; some of them not so much. There are several that i don't have the best answers for that keep popping up. However there is one that I had very little answer for, especially if they asked a deep question about it. The topic of these questions was Marijuana.

I have kids ask me if its wrong and when I give the its illegal response, I always get the "well other than that" line from them. And i understand that cause although legality is a big thing they aren't coming to church to be lectured or taught about legality. They are asking a deeper question. "Does the Bible/God say that smoking is wrong?" After some study and some thought and prayer,
These are MY CONCLUSIONS:

God lays down two rules for us. Love him and Love others. Our lives can be spelled out in these two laws. Everything we do as Christians should be tested by these two.

First off like most things the actual action is not wrong (again outside of the legality problem). There are several things that he does say are wrong though. Most important of those, anything that is put as more important than God is wrong. This is where the first law comes into play. God wants everything from us; he wants nothing to be in between us and him. Marijuana use usually causes a person to begin to use more. It may not be in the form of addiction but lets face it the number one use of Marijuana is escape. This then means that we are not running to God but instead to a drug. It becomes what we put our trust in. While this may not happen to all can we really risk our relationship with God over a high? I would hope not but luckily this is not the only reason.

God says that getting drunk is wrong and it is pretty easy to assume that it is because of the loss of control and what can happen. I mean even the Bible shows this. (check out Genesis 19:30-35). Getting high definitely has some of the same effects as being drunk. How often do we here stories of people doing stupid things because they were high. (Granted people do stupid things without being high but that's just people being people). It is easy to see why God would not want this for us. He is all for us having fun but not at the risk of ourselves.

These are my main thoughts on the subject. If you are interested in a more in depth look at this then check out
http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/marijuana.html

Now I know someone is gonna ask "Well what about medical marijuana?" So here is a video of a guy talking about that subject.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKpjpxmvgO8

*Both of the links listed above are the only things that I am backing. Any other ideas of these sites or people are their own and I do not claim to back those.*