The Advent on Facebook

This post is a fake facebook page between Joseph, May, God, and others.  Click on the picture, then click again to enlarge it.  It is really funny, and really makes you think.  It's great.

Some we know of, some we don't. We need help with them all.

In Psalm 19 David is writing about how great God is, and this His creation sings to Him, even though it has no voice or words.  He describes how powerful and beautiful the teachings and truth of God are to people who are willing to listen and do what they hear.  Then, in verses 12-14, he closes with a prayer:

"But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults,
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
May they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
Innocent of great transgression.
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

This is my prayer for me, and for you, today.  Forgive what is hidden in us, give us the strength to say no to the things we face, and strip them of their power to control us.  God, may it be like this for us today.

A psalm of David. A prayer of Jason.

Psalm 15

"Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?  Who may live on your holy mountain?


Those whose walk is blameless,
who do what is righteous,
who speak the truth from their hearts;
who have no slander on their tongues,
who do their neighbors no wrong,
who cast no slur on others;
who despise those whose ways are vile
but honor whoever fears the Lord
who keep their oaths even when it hurts;
who lend money to the poor without interest
and do not accept bribes against the innocent.


Whoever does these things will never be shaken."

So Lord, today here is what I ask you:
Help me live a life that people can't fairly accuse me of the wrong things.
Help me to live the life You describe in the Bible.
Help me to tell truth because my heart is filled with truth.
Help me to shut my bitter mouth when I want to put someone else down.
Help me to serve others, not use them.
Help me to speak positively of everyone around me instead of tearing them down to feel better about myself.
Help me to run away from a lifestyle of sin, and never to look at it with envy.
Help me to find the people who fear and love you, and celebrate them in my mind and life.
Help me to make worthy promises that change the world, and keep them when it costs me mine.
Help me to look for and create new ways to be generous every day.
Help me to defend those who are innocent, and never sell them out for a profit.
Because when these things happen, I will be unshakable. 

Just like You.

Parent Review for Christmas on the Circle: 2010 Edition

Yesterday was our annual trip to downtown Indy for Christmas on the Circle.  This was the eighth time we've done this trip, and it is always a great time!  Here are some highlights:

Ice Skating at Pan Am Plaza - We always have several students who don't know how to skate, and somehow I end up being a skating instructor.  I love helping them figure it out, and it's such a great chance to just hang out with students and talk as we go round and round the rink at .5 miles an hour.  Garrett surprised everyone when we discovered he used to play hockey as a little kid, and he quickly proved to be king of the ice; until the 14 year old figure skater showed up.  She was amazing.  Jacob Gahimer took a fall, and we're praying he's okay.  He hurt his wrist, but was in good spirits the rest of the day.

Circle Center Mall - All the students split into groups and shopped around.  My group went looking for a purple penguin, as Foo needed one for a girl.  So, all seven of us guys hit Claire's first thing.  Meanwhile, we caught Vince and Todd (guy leaders) in the Yankee Candle Store, and Annette in the Lids store.  We're a strange bunch of leaders, no doubt.  My crew spent time and a lot of cash upstairs in the arcade, while everyone else shopped around.  Kyle Weaver cheated and beat me on the Indy 500 game after I lead for the whole race, and he won with one foot to go at the end.  (NO, I am NOT bitter!)  Dinner was fun, as a certain guy student and mom were sitting back to back and grooving at the exact same time, without knowing it. 

Monument Circle - We had snow, again!  So of course, we had snow ball fights, again.  Fortunately this year there were no small children around from other groups, so no one got hurt, just cold and frosty.  It was COLD, but everyone had a great time and we ran for

South Bend Chocolate Company - Great hot chocolate and a chance to get warm.  It's always an even better time to hang out and laugh about a great day.  My crew went in the Bro Closet and found the 2005 Statistical Data book, and quizzed each other on it. (An annual tradition).

When we left, the Colts fiasco let out late, so we all got stuck in CRAZY traffic, which ran us 30 minutes late getting back.  Thank you to all of our patient parents for understanding. 

So, parents, you may wonder why we do this trip.  What is the goal?  We want to accomplish a few things:

1. Relationships - Discipleship happens in relationships.  We want your students to have meaningful relationships with adults who passionately love Jesus.  That takes time.  Our leaders are intentional about spending time with your students on these events to show them love and listen to them.  We also want students to have healthy relationships with other students who love Jesus.  Both are crucial to growth.

2. Memories - We need to put "mile makers" along the road in life to look back on.  As students remember this trip, it cements in a correlation between being loved, having fun, and Christ.  That's crucial.

3. Culture - Downtown Indy is part of our local culture.  We want to provide kids a healthy chance to experience it, as it builds a better understanding of what God is doing, as well as an appreciation for what He has given us.

Thanks for letting us partner with you as you raise your students.  If your kids didn't go this year, I encourage you to sign them up next year and send them.  Let me know if you have any questions!

A Mouthful of Lies

Psalms 10:1-18 (NIV)
¹ Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
² In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises.
³ He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
⁴ In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
⁵ His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies.
⁶ He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble."
⁷ His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue.
⁸ He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims.
⁹ He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
¹⁰ His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength.
¹¹ He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees."
¹² Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.
¹³ Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, "He won't call me to account"?
¹⁴ But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.
¹⁶ The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.
¹⁷ You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
¹⁸ defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.


I read this Psalm this morning, and I have to wonder, where am I in this Psalm?  I don't consider myself to be one of the wicked in verse 2.  I love Jesus and try to follow Him.  He's my King, the one in charge.  But I read the description of the wicked; boastful, greedy, prosperous.  The wicked take advantage of the fatherless and the oppressed.  They also revile God's laws, and ignore His ways.

So, maybe I'm not wicked in this sense.  But am I a partner with wicked people.  We read so much about how people are treated in other countries, and about how we prosper as Americans from it.  Either through our buying habits and how cheaply we can get things, or through how we treat other countries and their people.  I don't know, this one just makes me wonder.

the Edge in review - December 1, 2010

Tonight has been a great night!  Here's the run down on the evening.

Game Time - Four Team Kickball.  It's chaos with rules.  Two games of kickball overlapping each other, multiple runners on a base, tons of laughter and fun.  The whole point is for students to hang out and spend time together.  It worked great.

Announcements - 

1. Christmas Service Projects - Wednesday, December 15th we are all meeting for youth group at 6:30 and then heading out for a variety of service projects around the town.  If you'd like to go and help drive, we can use some drivers.  Contact us and let us know.

2. Nerf Wars - Christmas Break, Tuesday December 28th

3. Video Game Challenge - Wednesday, December 29th

Minute to Win It - We did a game called Bobble Head where you have to shake a pedometer attached to a hat 125 times in a minute.  Colten Farnsley did it 81 times, and won some Cry Babies candy.  He was excited, and a little woozy.

Memory Verse Challenge - Our sixth grade girls seem to win almost every week.  Alivia Chenoweth, Korrigan Glackman, Madison Adkins, and Kate Frazee all won tonight.  Congrats girls!

Lesson - The Story

Brian Hogan walked the students through a booklet called "The Story".  It's the gospel in a way that is easy to understand.  Your student should have a copy of the book with them tonight.  Ask to see it, and then go through it and discuss it with them.  If they've lost it, you can find a digital copy on www.edgeandbeyond.org on the home page.  Check it out.

All of the students are in small groups right now, which I think is the most important and best part of the night.

We love partnering with each of you in your student's life.  YOU are the most important influence by FAR.  Never doubt it.  Let me know how we can help work better together.

Dodgeball is Life. No, really, check it out....

Yesterday I got to spend some time talking with an amazing young lady from our middle school youth group.  I love whenever we get to spend time talking, because she is so incredibly smart, and asks super intelligent questions.

So, we were talking about Jesus, faith, demons, life, and a bunch of other stuff, and I needed an illustration.  We walked in the gym and began talking about dodgeball.  It always comes back to dodgeball, doesn't it?

Let's say we're playing dodgeball.  One team has a leader who is clearly in charge.  He gives encouragement to his team, shows them the best places to throw, and helps them come back in the game when they get knocked out.  He really wants his team to play as well as they can, and does whatever it takes to make that happen.

The other team has a leader, but they handle it completely differently.  They convince everyone that there isn't really a "leader" on the team, and that everyone can do whatever they want.  They scare everyone on their team about losing, about not being in control, about what will happen if they screw up.  They manipulate people into playing the game in ways that aren't fair, and don't really help them win.  But everyone on the team is convinced there really isn't a team captain, that everyone is just in charge of their own little game.  It's not true, but that's what they all believe.

Who's going to win?  Yeah, it's pretty obvious that the team with the clear cut leader is going to play better, enjoy the game, and win at the end.

This is how life works.  The Bible tells us that in life, we are either for God or against Him. (Matthew 12:30).  So often we think if someone is "against God" they must be this horrible, evil psycho killer.  Not really.  To be against God just means you are not with Him.  That's all.  You are on one team or the other.  To be on God's team means you've decided that He is in charge, He's the team captain, and He gets to call the shots.  He tells us the best places to throw, when to do it, when to run, and when to charge.  The better we get at following His lead, the better our team does, and the more fun the game is.  God's team, we are told, is powered by love.  Not that wimpy "I love you" stuff from movies.  Legit love.  Love that will sacrifice for the team.  Love that will encourage someone when they mess up, not yell at them for a bad throw.  Love that knows it's better to win as a team than to win alone.  Love that wants the Team Captain to win, and will do whatever it can to see that happen.  Love that is patient, kind, forgiving, hopeful, and more (1 Corinthians 13).

To be against God means we have decided we don't want His leadership, we want to be on a team where we call the shots ourselves, and no one tells us what to do.  The Bible usually will call this "the world" when it talks about it.  We want to do things our way, not His.  So we play on the other team.  Just like in dodgeball, there are only two teams.  There is no third team in this game (Team Love, and Team Fear). 

But there's a catch isn't there?  The Bible is pretty clear that this team full of people doing their own thing really does have a leader, he's just crafty enough to make everyone think he's not really running the show.  Satan is the one in charge, pulling the strings, manipulating the game.  He just wants everyone to THINK he's not in charge, but he is.  The Bible is clear about it.  He uses fear to run his team.  He scares everyone into doing what he wants.  Why do you want to be in charge of your own life, your own game?  So that you can make sure no one can hurt you or leave you.  That's fear. So that you can make sure you get everything in life you want.  That's fear.  So that you can be important or liked by others.  That's fear.  Every move this team makes is based on fear.  It always is.

In dodgeball, the only thing separating the two teams is a line on the ground.  No walls or towers, just a line.  Anyone is free to cross from Team Fear to Team Love at any time.  Team Fear's captain will try to scare you into staying (You can't go over there, you're not good enough.  What if they don't want you?  What if you fail?).  But it's just a line.  You can move across at any point, Team Love's Captain actually encourages it.  He wants you to come be a part of the team.  Everyone. (John 3:16).

So, what keeps you from crossing the line?