Disturbed

 

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/products_classic_m.cfm

These shoes are weird. There’s no getting around it. They’re called FiveFingers and they’re made by a company called by Vibram. The purpose: to recreate the sensation of being barefoot while protecting the feet. It’s hard not to stare when you catch someone wearing a pair of these. The FiveFingers are sure to get everyone around talking, gawking, and giggling simply because they’re just so darn different from everything we’re accustomed to from a shoe. 

Shoes are supposed to look a certain way. Sure, there’s many a style, from tennis shoes to high heels to combat boots to bedroom slippers, but there’s a basic outline that we all accept for a shoe to look like. FiveFingers shoes do not fit in the outline and that confuses and disturbs us. 

Much like these unique shoes, Christians should stand out in a crowd as well, confusing and disturbing the normalcy that surrounds them. Too often Christianity gets characterized as either a peaceful, calm, all-inclusive religion. Certainly much time is spent in the Bible talking of peace, of love, of forgiveness, of a grace that extends to all who want to partake in it. Some of the verses and ideas proclaimed are, well, downright disturbing. 

The book of Joel is weird. It’s filled with weird prophecies and messages that, to the untrained mind, appear to be for a time long ago forgotten. Joel’s message is often brushed aside as irrelevant for today’s times. But the book, which tells the story of a land ravished by a locust plague and the famine that comes with it, is filled with messages of repentance and hope that have modern ministerial meaning. 

The first chapter and a half tells of a disturbing plague where locusts quickly encompass a city tearing it apart and turning it from a “Garden of Eden” into “Death Valley” where “nothing escapes unscathed” (2:1-3). God lets all of this happen to his people. Their only hope is to “come back to [Him] and really mean it! Come back fasting and weeping…change [their] life, not just [their] clothes” (2:12-13). 

A strange thing happens when they do. God, the same God who let a locust plague tear down their city, replenishes the city, blessing it more than ever before. In verses 2:18-20, His wrath is turned against the enemies of the city as He defends the faithful. God’s enemies will “rot, a stench to high heaven. The bigger the enemy, the stronger the stench!”

Where’s the peace in a smell that reeks to the heavens? Where’s the love in a locust plague? It’s in God’s mercy, His redemptive nature, His forgiveness for those who humbly seek Him. “God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, this most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe” (2:13-14). God takes care of His people, and wages war on His enemies. The book of Joel has a weird way of showing God’s love, and the consequences of His wrath are disturbing, but His passionate concern and love for His people is beautiful.

Just as God is not simply complacent with rampant sin and disbelief, we should not be either. We should live in a way that disturbs the common order. We should not be content with complacency and the common life. We should live in a way that is peaceful in times of distress, that loves people who persecute us, that is joyful in all circumstances, that is patient with God’s confusing timing, that is faithful to His calling no matter the dangerous places it takes us, that resists the temptation to live a normal life, that challenges others to see that there is something better than the broken world we live in. 

We shouldn’t be afraid to wear weird shoes that are different from the norm if they speak to what our feet desire. We shouldn’t be afraid to wear our faith out into the world if it truly speaks to what our hearts and souls desire. Be the person God created you to be. Be spiritually naked, shunning the masks and costumes you wear to fit into the world. You will be ridiculed, you will be mocked, you will confuse people, you will get some weird looks, you will have people talking about you behind your back. But don’t be afraid to be disturbing. Jesus wasn’t. He disturbed the peace so much he was killed for the crime. May the way we live our lives and the way His love is displayed in us disturb the world in the same way.

Asleep At The Wheel

Homer Simpson Loses Control Of The Mono-Thingy

When in the midst of a crisis, we all want to know who is in control? Who is manning the ship? Does our leader know what he’s doing? Is the one that we follow in control? 

Homer Simpson is not the first man I’d choose to be in charge when a crisis arises, and most people would agree. However, while Homer may be a bumbling buffoon, at least he is aware of the crisis at hand. Imagine if he were asleep through it all, dozing off while the monorail passengers scream in horror. How frightening would that be? 

It’s a terrifying image, and in the hands of a normal leader the notion of sleeping while a crisis or storm or runaway train rages out of control is preposterous, outrageous, and disturbing. Of course, Jesus is not an ordinary person. He is not an ordinary leader. He is not an ordinary God. In every situation, no matter the dilemma, no matter the crisis, no matter the enemy, no matter the storm, Jesus was, is, and will always be fully and perfectly in control. 

Luke 8:22-25 tells of a particular storm Jesus once encountered with his disciples. It’s a passage of scripture that reveals so many aspects of who Jesus is, and one of those aspects is his complete and total control. The storm that arises in this story is nasty one, one that would intimidate the burliest of men. Some of Jesus’s disciples were fishermen, men who were out on the water for most of their lives who had probably seen a storm or two in their day. This was a storm that struck fear into their hearts and sent them to their knees wailing for help. The men wanted to know if anyone was in control during the scariest moment of their life. They shouldn’t have been so worried. 

Even before this moment, Jesus had already assured his followers that he was perfectly in control. He proclaimed in Luke 6:46-49 that if they believed in him and built their house upon him, no storm could ever overtake it. Jesus proved his control in the universe as well, healing the sick and raising the dead back to life. Jesus was fully in control, and had no intention of harming the disciples. They were safe and had no need to worry for they were on board with the man in control.

This wasn’t the only incident where Jesus showed he was in control of things. In Luke 4:1-13 when Satan tried to seduce him in the garden he proved that no temptation could overpower him. In Matthew 9:18-26, when on his way a to heal a young woman the girl passes away, he proved that no challenge was too great for him when he simply raised her back to life. And in the greatest story ever told we clearly see that Jesus was in no way a victim, but was fully in control of the sacrifice He made.

The entire crucifixion and resurrection points toward Jesus’s power and control. Look at Luke 22:35-38 as he instructs his disciples to prepare for what is to come. Look at Luke 22:47-53 where Jesus exhibits calmness in the midst of his betrayal, even healing one of his captors and rebuking the disciple who attacked him. Luke 23:32-43 shows Jesus on the cross fully cognizant of the events and of what is to come. Luke 23:44-46 shows that Jesus controlled when the events would be completed, and John 19:28-30 shows that it was Jesus who said “It is finished,” not anyone else. 

Jesus never claims that once we begin to follow him that challenges will subside or the storm clouds will disappear in our lives. He claims instead that these storms will not conquer us. He offers us peace in these situations in John 14:27 and in Romans 8:28 assures us that all things (the good things, the bad things, the hard things, the painful things, the confusing things, all things) are working together for good. 

As Christians, we are not expected to follow a simply a good man or a smart leader. We are called to follow someone who is perfectly in control, someone who has great things in store for us.  Life is uncertain for many of us. Storm clouds loom above, rain is beginning to fall, and we can’t see clearly the next step on the path before us. But Jesus had peace on his boat, knowing that God is steering the ship, and we too can know that peace. If we follow down the path God leads us, no storm can overturn our ship. Jesus sums it up perfectly in John 16:33 saying we can rest easy and have hope because, “I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Have A Nice Day

One of my favorite old comic strips, from Johnny Hart’s BC, April 15 2004. Why in the world do we call the day our savior died Good Friday? What better name can there be for the day our sins were wiped away and our lives were bought, paid for at the highest of costs? 

Let us celebrate and rejoice on this day at the good news that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus brings!

A Week Like No Other

 

Billy The Bunny!

Holy Week is a week like no other in the church. And not just because it can drive a guy like Billy to hop around in a bunny outfit for the benefit of some candy-craving youngsters. When you really think about it though, Billy’s eagerness to put a smile on those children’s faces, as well as the willingness of all of you to help make the Children’s Easter Party a success, is a living picture of the spirit of Easter. 

Bunny suits don’t appear to have a strong biblical foundation, but the act of dressing up in a skin that is not one’s own, leaving the comforts of normalcy and entering an unfamiliar world, and offering the inhabitants of that world a free, sweet gift is in a loose sense what Jesus did for us. 

Jesus, who was fully and undeniably God, became fully and undeniably human. He entered an unfamiliar world, our own, and lived among us. He offered us the greatest gift of all with his life, dying so that we could be forgiven of our sins and invited into eternal life with Him. And that gift is sweeter than a family pack of Reese’s Eggs.

Megan and Two Fluffy Bunnies

Come celebrate that wonderful gift this week at The Hill. In addition to the usual Sunday Worship service, there are three other unique opportunities to celebrate the entire Easter story:

- Maundy Thursday Service – April 9 – 6:30 PM – Communion is an intimate time of fellowship with the family of believers, and this service offers a reflection on Jesus’s Last Supper with his disciples hours before he was hung on the cross. Come and reflect on what his body broken for us truly means.

- Good Friday Service – April 10 – 7:30 PM – Why is the day when our savior died deemed a “Good” Friday? Join us at this service to gain a deeper understanding of why we celebrate the cross and the amazing work Jesus accomplished upon it. 

- Sunrise Service – April 12 – 7:00 AM – Ring in the new day figuratively and literally as we bask in the rising sun and the risen Son. It’s important during Easter Week to remember the cross and the crown of thorns but we must also take heart in the glorious crown Jesus wears as our resurrected savior. Wake up a couple hours earlier and take a nap when you get home since there won’t be Sunday Night Bible Study. It’ll be worth it. 

Join us for all three services during this week like no other as rejoice in the fact that we have a Savior like no other!

Flip

 

http://www.vimeo.com/19056721905672

From May 30 to June 3rd, we’re heading to Student Life Mission Camp to learn all about flipping our lives. We’ll be spending some quality Nights in Talladega, AL learning about Christ’s love and his calling for us to change the way we look at life.

 

If you’re interested in coming (and why wouldn’t you be?!), we need a $50 non-refundable deposit by January 31st. The total cost of the trip is $299 – but there will be fundraising opportunities. If you need to discuss payment options with us, we’d love to talk. Money should not be the reason why you can’t attend summer camp.

 

Get ready gang. This week will change your life. Find our more at : http://www.studentlife.com/events/events.php?cn=1354&cNav=1450