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December 2, 2011 

5 Ways Christians Misuse Social Networks

As the popularity of social networks continues to grow, I have noticed that more believers are misusing them in a way that brings dishonor to God and disunity within the church. I am not writing this to “reprimand” or bring attention to those who I feel are doing this. My goal is to provide some thoughts on how believers can use these social networks as a tool to reach people with the Gospel, glorify God, and promote unity with other believers. Here are the 5 major ways Christians misuse social networks:

1. Highlight the Negatives – In Matthew 5:14, we are called the “light of the world.” In this, it is meant that we are to be a testimony of the hope we have in Jesus Christ through salvation. Most of the time Christians promote discontent and disaster instead.

2. Promote Sin – Earlier in Matthew 5, we are also called the “salt of the earth” in verse 13. This is a command to perserve righteousness in this world. We are to promote the things of God and honor Him with our lives. However, most of the time Christians use social networks to promote sin and other things that are not of God. (i.e. bitterness, hatred, discontent, frustration, sex, etc.)

3. Confront Others – There is nothing worse that a Christian can do than confront someone publicly over a social network for all to see. It’s embarrassing, decisive, and sinful. Matthew 18:15 tells us to go directly to the person who has offended us and confront them in private. Social networks are never the place for this.

4. Tear Down Others – Christians, just like anybody else, can be extremely mean at times. Often times social networks are used as an outlet to tear others down. However, social networks should be used to build each other up. (1 Thess. 5:11)

5. Have Theological Debates – Social networks have been used by Christians to debate or promote a controversial theology in hopes to spark debate. This is not the place for such a debate because it is very easy to be misunderstood and can become personally offensive quickly. Theological discussion should always end in unity whether or not it ends in agreement. (Romans 12:5)

September 29, 2011 

Outbreak: The Source

God has challenged our youth in some amazing ways over the last few weeks through our Outbreak series. The big idea of this series is that Gospel is supposed to have the affect on society like that of a virus. Once one person is infected, it spreads from person to person starting an Outbreak. This series answers questions about how students can start a Gospel Outbreak in our youth group, schools, and families. Over the next week, I will share a recap of the messages in the series that show students how God wants to use them to start a Gospel Outbreak.

WEEK ONE: THE SOURCE

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

“Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others.” - 2 Corinthians 5:11a

1. THE CAUSE (2 Corinthians 5:13-14)

The cause of a Gospel Outbreak is the love of Jesus Christ demonstrated through His death on the cross for our sins. An outbreak begins when an unbeliever is infected by the love of Christ through salvation. It is through Christ alone that we receive this salvation and are forgiven from our sin. When we allow Christ’s love to control us, we are compelled to persuade others to be infected by the Gospel as well.

2. THE CARRIER (2 Corinthians 5:15-17)

The carrier is someone who has been infected by the love of Christ through salvation and lives to infect others with the Gospel. The source of a Gospel Outbreak is caused by the love of Christ, but is carried by those who have a relationship with Him.

3. THE CALL (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

God has called those who have been infected with the love of Christ to share the message of Jesus Christ with others and live as Christ’s representatives on earth. A Gospel Outbreak begins when unbelievers become carriers of Christ’s love and answer the call to share the Good News with others.

Questions for Reflection:

1. Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior?

2. Are you a carrier of Christ’s love? What can we do to share Christ’s love with others?

3. Have you accepted the call of Christ to share the Gospel with others and live as Christ’s representatives in this world? How can we share the Gospel with others? How are we to live as Christ’s representatives?

September 28, 2011 

SYATP

Check out a few pictures from See You at the Pole. We had several LIFT students join other believers at the flagpole in front of their school this morning (September 28, 2011) to pray.

April 11, 2011 

The Most Important Thing

I’ve never been great at staying organized. In fact, I would often explain my organizational skills as being “organized chaos”. To the outsider, my piles of clutter look like piles of clutter, but to me they look like a sophisticated filing system that only I can figure out. Lately, I’ve been trying to change that so that I am able to stay organized and do life and ministry more affectively.

To help me make that change, I have been reading some books on being organized. One of those books had some great thoughts about how to start your day so that you feel you had a productive day once it ends. The concept is simple: “Start your day with the most important thing.” Don’t start your day by going on Facebook or watch TV because those things aren’t the most important thing. In fact, if you went a whole day without them you wouldn’t miss out on anything. However, the most important thing for us as Christians to do today is spend time with the Lord.

Most of us would have to admit that we miss out on spending time with God frequently because we try to “fit it” into our day instead of making it the priority of the day. Jesus knew the importance of connecting with His Father as He woke up early before anyone else in order to be alone with Him. (Mark 1:25) What are you going to have to do to make God a priority? Will you have to wake up earlier? Will you have to deny yourself time in front of the TV or on Facebook? Whatever it is, make sure to that spending time with God becomes the most important thing you do today.

April 7, 2011 

So Run to Win!

“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” - 1 Corinthians 9:24

In this verse, Paul is using a metaphor for what many Christian’s relationship with Jesus Christ looks like. The average “follower” of Jesus looks like a guy who shows up to a track meet in flip flops, eating a bag of chips, and out of breathe because he’s so out of shape that walking from the TV to the bathroom is his version of a marathon. Paul’s challenge is simple: why run to compete when God calls you to run to win?

An affective servant of Christ is the person who is “all in”. The person who demonstrations self-discipline, trains everyday, and feeds the itch that can only be scratched by the prize of winning Christ. Philippians 3:8 says, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” Why fill our lives with material things and meaningless activity that adds nothing to our lives when we can have Christ?

The answer is selfishness. We want things to be easy. We would rather be mediocre or lukewarm if that means our life will be easier. But running to compete will never please God. I don’t know about you, but I want to have the heart of Paul. I want to do more for Christ than just compete. I want to honor God with my life. I want to gain Christ at all cost. I want to run to win!

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