Younger Unchurched Seek Faith that Challenges, Transforms

These interesting facts are excerpted from a post in Christian Post online portal. Click here to access.

Younger Unchurched Seek Faith that Challenges, Transforms

While surveys continue to paint a hopeless picture of young adults and the future of the Christian faith, Christianity will not die out in this generation or any other, insists one researcher and author.

"We have heard them and guess you have too: 'This will be the last Christian generation,' 'Only 4 percent of this generation are Christians,' and 'The sky is falling,'" writes Ed Stetzer in Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them. "Well, there are some concerns (and big ones at that), but hype does not help."

The latest research to sound the alarm on this generation is last month's Barna Group survey which showed that less than one percent of those between the ages of 18 and 23 hold a biblical worldview (which includes believing that absolute moral truth exists, that the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches, and that a person cannot earn their way into Heaven through good works).

Over the past three years, Stetzer – who serves as the director of LifeWay Research – has been studying and interviewing "unchurched" young adults in their twenties. The unchurched includes those who have never attended church and those who only attended as a child.

Ultimately, he found a generation that "is still excited about being spiritual but has lost its appreciation of the value of the church," he told The Christian Post. Some see the church as more of the problem than the solution to spiritual growth, he noted.

According to surveys conducted by the Center for Missional Research at the North American Misison Board and LifeWay Research, 80 percent of 20- to 29-year-olds believe God exists and 73 percent consider themselves to be spiritual and are interested in knowing more about God. At the same time, 67 percent believe the church is full of hypocrites, 77 percent think Christianity today is more about organized religion than about loving God and loving people, and 90 percent say they can have a good relationship with God without being involved in a church.

Open to Jesus and God yet wary of the church, these twenty-somethings are seeking genuine relationships and a faith that challenges and transforms.

"They want a faith that changes them and changes the world," Stetzer commented. "That's what the Gospel truly is."

"Sadly many people have identified this generation as disinterested in a deeper approach to life," Stetzer writes in the book he co-authored with Richie Stanley and Jason Hayes.

The inaccurate stereotypes have led many churches to take the wrong approach when reaching the younger generation, such as offering little biblical depth in teachings.

In Lost and Found, Stetzer notes that more twenty- and thirty-somethings are leaving churches that model after sitcoms in which a sermon is presented with a clever story, a problem is introduced and then "neatly" resolved in a 30-minute time span. "Sitcom content makes the assumption that things can be resolved at the end of church," Stetzer writes. "Unfortunately content of that nature does nothing to embrace the mysterious nature of either God or life. Life is not a sitcom, and the real problems people experience involve deep struggle and introspection.

"Life isn't that clean and all of its challenges certainly can't be resolve in thirty minutes or less."

Turned off by neat and pat answers and hungry for depth, young adults are flocking more toward churches that are offering deeper and more meaty messages (particularly through expository teaching) and tackling tough questions even though they might not be able to give all the answers.

"We need to teach people that the Christian life is not always explainable but it is always livable," Stetzer commented. ...............more................



Written by:
Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter

Popular Opinions of Jesus

I found this in an article from Leadership University, on Popular Opinions of Jesus Christ.
Just to highlight some opinions that interest me. The entire article can be read by clicking on the link above:

C.S. Lewis
“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Mahatma Gandhi
“A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.”

The Koran
“That they said (in boast), ‘We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah’; but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not.” (Koran, Surah 4:157, Yusuf Ali translation)

Thomas Jefferson
“And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter. But may we hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away with this artificial scaffolding, and restore to us the primitive and genuine doctrines of this most venerated reformer of human errors.” (In a letter to John Adams, 4/11/1823)

Barack Obama
“I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals.” (In an interview with Sarah Pulliam and Ted Olsen of Christianity Today (1/23/08)


The Dalai Lama
"Jesus Christ also lived previous lives," he said. "So, you see, he reached a high state, either as a Bodhisattva, or an enlightened person, through Buddhist practice or something like that. Then, at a certain period, certain era, he appeared as a new master, and then because of circumstances, he taught certain views different from Buddhism, but he also taught the same religious values as I mentioned earlier: Be patient, tolerant, compassionate. This is, you see, the real message in order to become a better human being." (In an interview with James A. Beverley of CanadianChristianity.com, “Comment: Buddhism's guru”, 4/16/04.)

Brad Pitt
"I didn't understand this idea of a God who says, 'You have to acknowledge me. You have to say that I'm the best, and then I'll give you eternal happiness. If you won't, then you don't get it!' It seemed to be about ego. I can't see God operating from ego, so it made no sense to me.” (In an interview with US Magazine on why he turned away from his Southern Baptist upbringing, “Why Brad Turned Away From Religion”, 10/07/07)

Augustine of Hippo
“I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are very wise and very beautiful; but I never read in either of them: ‘Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden.’”

Blaise Pascal
“Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.”

Medical Aspects of Jesus' Crucifixion

Good Friday is good only because of the sure hope of Easter Sunday; otherwise, Good Friday, by itself, would have been one of the darkest darkest Fridays in all history when men crucified the Son of God on the cross.

There is an article published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) titled "On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ" for you to read. [Citation: Edwards WD, Gabel WJ, Hosmer FE. On the physical death of Jesus Christ. JAMA. 1986 Mar 21;255(11):1455-63.]

To access the article, click here.

It is not a theological treatise; rather it describes purely on the medical aspects of the flogging/scourging and the crucifixion. It is quite technical with medical terminologies but I believe you should at least be able to understand part of it, if not everything.

In that article, we will understand:
1. the pain and bleeding inflicted during flogging
2. why the nails were probably driven through the wrist, and not the fleshy part of the palms as depicted in many paintings
3. why asphyxia or suffocation is one of the main causes of death during crucifixion
4. why the Roman soldiers had to break the criminals' legs hanged on the cross and why, when it came to Jesus, they did not break Jesus' legs
5. what could possibly be the blood and water that gushed out when the soldier pierced a side wound on Jesus
6. what was the purpose of that drink of wine mixed with myrrh offered to the criminals

By a deeper understanding of the excruciating pain (the word "excruciating" in fact, comes the Latin word "excruciatus", from the root word that forms crucifixion) that Jesus went through, we would be able to appreciate better the extent of the sacrifice and love that God has for us.

I don't think anyone will be able to understand fully the extent of the love of God; but at least we would understand and appreciate better His love for us and in return, we would fall in love all over again with our God!

Lastly, in that article, it is also mentioned that it was customary for the condemned man to carry his own cross from the flogging site to the crucifixion site. Ever wonder why Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 (GNB)

"If any of you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me."?

Holy Alphabets

A = Although things are not perfect
B = Because of trial or pain
C = Continue in thanksgiving
D = Do not begin to blame
E = Even when the times are hard
F = Fierce winds are bound to blow
G = God is forever able
H = Hold on to what you know
I = Imagine life without His love
J = Joy would cease to be
K = Keep thanking Him for all the things
L = Love imparts to thee
M = Move out of 'Camp Complaining'
N = No weapon that is known
O = On earth can yield the power
P = Praise can do alone
Q = Quit looking at the future
R = Redeem the time at hand
S = Start every day with worship
T = To 'thank' is a command
U = Until we see Him coming
V = Victorious in the sky
W = We'll run the race with gratitude
X = eXalting God most high
Y = Yes, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but...
Z = Zion waits in glory...where none are ever sad!

'I AM Too blessed to be stressed!' The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.

The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything. Love and peace be with you forever, Amen.

Five Questions To Help Us Find Our Life Calling

Below are five questions that will help us determine our unique life calling. These five questions are not absolute; they are just guide. Depends on God, rather than a set of criteria. These questions are taken from a blog post from the Agora Blog. Click here to visit.

.....how do we find out what is God’s will for us? What are our spiritual gifts? Must we hear audible voices from heaven before we know it? Is there a secret spiritual formula to finding God's call? The secret of the dragon scroll is "there is no secret".

It’s not something overly difficult or mysterious. In fact, after this we will do a little survey together to help you find out more about your spiritual gifts. Would you like to find out?

(Disclaimer: The purpose is to get you started on discovery; not absolute answers because unless you have tried some of these ministry areas, how do you know you don’t like it or good at it? The answers will change as you explore and learn more)

Here are FIVE Questions to help us find our Life Calling

1) What do you feel joy doing? What is my deepest desire or passion?
It doesn’t mean that just because you enjoy playing Counterstrike, you are called to be a gamer. But since God put the body together, you will feel fulfilled (Yes, I feel God’s pleasure when I run, sing, write, play the guitar, serve the weak etc) when functioning in the proper area. There will be a sense of purpose, like jigsaw puzzles that fit. Look out for the sense of fulfillment, satisfaction, pleasure when you exercise a gift/ministry.

2) What are you good at doing? What are my abilities, skills, spiritual gifts, mutant powers?
Run through some of the gifts and talents in the spiritual gift survey. It's not an exhaustive list. Maybe you think “Oh, I’m good at none of these things.” But again: “Belum cuba belum tahu”.

Risks: When people ask you to serve as ushers, “Oh no, because I don’t have that gift”. You begin to avoid evangelism or prayer. And at this time, none of us have enough life experience to really know what gifts you have. For example, some people would rather die than say, sing in public, but when they are given training and opportunity they may turn out to be gifted singers. So explore new opportunities. Get involved in different church ministries to meet the needs of some real people, expose yourself to the needs around and see if God puts a burden in your heart.

3) What do you feel are the biggest needs of the people around you?
When you look at the world around you, what are the things that make you sad or lose sleep? Are you burdened by the suffering of poor people? Are you burdened to see that people are lost without the gospel? Do you feel angry when there is injustice or cruelty? Of course, all Christians should feel such burdens in some degree. But it’s also true that some people feel more strongly about some areas than others. And it’s okay, dun fight over it and accept that God calls people differently while learn from others.... Don’t insist others to be like you.

Have you felt like: “Why isn’t somebody doing something about it?” Maybe you should.

4) What is your unique personality?
God has wired each of us differently, in a unique way like snowflakes. There is no “right” personality. Our individual temperament is unique to us as our fingerprint. John Calvin once said: You cannot know God unless you know yourself. You cannot know yourself unless you know God.

- Extroverts are energized by being with people or enjoy being the center of attention. Introverts tend to be content and energized being alone, and avoid attention when in a crowd. Which is more true to who you are?

- How do you process information? Am I more inclined to trust clear, certain and concrete facts (sensate) or more inclined to trust intuition, gut feeling and imagine possibilities (intuitive)?

- Do you make decisions depending on logic/analysis or personal relationship/feeling? Thinker or feeler?

- Am I more inclined to live with order, structure and routine or do I prefer going through life with more variety, spontaneous changes? Different personality may clash in a meeting. Derive fulfillment from finishing a task or find more joy in the process?

Again, your calling is not determined by one factor. For example: “Unless you are an outgoing extrovert, you cannot be a leader” – too simplistic. There are different leadership styles, a quiet person can lead effectively also.

5) What do others in school, family, circle of friends, church community say about me?
Since spiritual gifts are designed to benefit others (edify each other), you should see positive results as you exercise these gifts. But results take time so don’t give up too quickly, give it a fair try. Sometimes it’s hard to be brutally honest with ourselves – we can be either too hard on ourselves or unable to see our own shortcomings. So we need other brothers and sisters in Christ to help us recognize and confirm our gifting. Cannot ‘syok sendiri!!’ And as a youth group, be on the lookout and encourage those who do well, affirm them to continue using their gifts, be generous in giving honest feedback and constructive suggestions or evaluations.

But you can’t consider this question alone: Sometimes even people who mean well may misunderstand us, may be biased and their feedback cannot be absolute. We need to weigh opinions of others carefully as well. Usually some truth, some exaggerations…


Read the entire blog post from the Agora. Click here.

Handy Little Chart

HANDY LITTLE CHART

"Don't walk your life with your own strength, don't, but let FATHER GOD Who Creates the universe 'Walked' you".

God has a positive answer:
YOU SAY and GOD SAYS in BIBLE VERSES

You say: "It's impossible"
God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say: "I'm too tired"
God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "Nobody really loves me"
God says: I love you (John 3:1 6 & John 3:34)

You say: "I can't go on"
God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I can't figure things out"
God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)

You say: "I can't do it"
God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

You say: "I'm not able"
God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: "It's not worth it"
God says: It will be worth it (Roman 8:28

You say: "I can't forgive myself"
God says: I Forgive you (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say: "I can't manage"
God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I'm afraid"
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)

You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated"
God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)

You say: "I'm not smart enough"
God says: I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)

You say: "I feel all alone"
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

The first sentence is pretty powerful!
God determines who walks into your life.....it's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go."

If you'll do this for me, I'll do it for you.....Father God please bless all my friends in whatever it is that You know they may need this day!

And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity and power as they seek to have a closer relationship with You. In Jesus name. Amen.

The Turbulent Flight

A businessman had been on a long flight between conferences. The first warning of the approaching problems came when the sign on the airplane flashed on:

Fasten Your Seat Belts.

Then, after a while, a calm voice said, 'We shall not be serving the beverages at this time as we are expecting a little turbulence. Please be sure your seat belt is fastened.'

As the man looked around the aircraft, it became obvious that many of the passengers were becoming apprehensive. Later, the voice on the intercom said, 'We are so sorry that we are unable to serve the meal at this time. The turbulence is still ahead of us.'

And then the storm broke . . .

The ominous cracks of thunder could be heard even above the roar of the engines. Lightning! Lit up the darkening skies, and within moments that great plane was like a cork tossed around on a celestial ocean. One moment the airplane was lifted on terrific currents of air; the next, it dropped as if it were about to crash.

The man confessed that he shared the discomfort and fear of those around him. He said, 'As I looked around the plane, I could see that nearly all the passengers were upset and alarmed. Some were praying. The future seemed ominous and many were wondering if they would make it through the storm.

'Then, I suddenly saw a little girl. Apparently the storm meant nothing to her. She had tucked her feet beneath her as she sat on her seat; she was reading a book and every- thing within her small world was calm and orderly.

'Sometimes she closed her eyes, then she would read again; then she would straighten her legs, but worry and fear were not in her world.

When the plane was being buffeted by the terrible storm when it lurched this way and that, as it rose and fell with frightening severity, when all the adults were scared half to death, that marvelous child was completely composed and unafraid.' The man could hardly believe his eyes.

It was not surprising therefore, that when the plane finally reached its destination and all the passengers were hurrying to disembark, the businessman lingered to speak to the girl whom he had watched for such a long time. Having commented about the storm and the behavior of the plane, he asked why she had not been afraid.

The child replied, 'Cause my Daddy's the pilot, and he's taking me home.'

There are many kinds of storms that buffet us. Physical, mental, financial, domestic, and many other storms can easily and quickly darken our skies and throw our plane into apparently uncontrollable movement. We have all known such times, and let us be honest and confess, it is much easier to be at rest when our feet are on the ground than when we are being tossed about a darkened sky.

Let us remember: Our Father is the Pilot. He is in control and taking us home. Don't worry!