Get a Life

Issue #5 -- 09/14/08

When I was a kid I had this thing about foods on my plate touching each other. My peas could never ever touch my mashed potatoes, my mashed potatoes could never touch my meatloaf and so on…if they ever did touch I would isolate the two offending particles of food, and not eat them. It wasn’t until years later did I realize that even if the two foods had touched that they were still okay to eat, and in most cases just as, if not more so, delicious. A lot of times we try to compartmentalize our lives in much the same way. We separate everything in our lives into neat little categories so they are easier to deal with. We try to do this with God as well. Have you ever heard the term “spiritual life”? The term “spiritual life” gets tossed around a lot in Christian circles, as if it’s just another compartment in our lives. But did you know that there is no Hebrew term for spiritual? If you were to ask Jesus, “Hey Jesus how’s your spiritual life?” he would have no idea what you are talking about. You see because to label one area of your life “spiritual” is to label other areas of your life “not spiritual.” It’s an idea that is absolutely foreign to the bible.

Everything is spiritual, yet we have a tendency to compartmentalize our lives, we act like our spiritual life and our everyday life are two separate things when they are really the same thing. Everything we do is spiritual; eating, drinking, having a conversation with our neighbor, taking the kids to school, going to work, talking about the big game…all of it is spiritual. Why? Because we’re human, we’re alive, and we are given by God a body AND a spirit, but also because God is everywhere, he is omnipresent. We don't always see Him, we can ignore Him, but He's there, He's everywhere. This first Christians latched onto the idea: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Col. 3:17

We compartmentalize our lives because that's what is easy for us, that is how we understand life best sometimes, but that is not the reality of it at all. The reality of life is that every act is a spiritual act…and the truly everything is spiritual. If you think about this and really think about it…how does it make you feel? Is there anything you should be doing differently in your life?

John “You won’t hear me use the term spiritual life” Downey

The Things We've Handed Down

Issue 4 -- 09/07/08

One of the most important aspects in the life of teenagers is parental involvement. Studies show that parental involvement in a teen’s life can prevent them from straying in their faith later in life. I recently had the chance to go to a family reunion, and I was amazed as I listened to some of their conversations. They didn’t just talk about who had died and had been born since they had last gotten together. They also talk about what mission trips they have been on, what they are doing in their home churches, and what they are learning about God. My grandfather has eight brothers and sisters that my great-great grandmother forced to come to church every Sunday. Because of her tenacity she has touched countless other lives. Wouldn’t it be great for our great-grandchildren to be able to say the same kind of thing about us someday?

In the coming weeks I will be using this space for some discussion ideas from our youth lessons on Sundays that you can use at home during the week. I will also provide a scripture reference or two, like this one: Matthew 19:16-26 we studied this passage in our morning class. Or this one: Proverbs 8:1-11 from our Sunday evening service.

Here are a few questions from this weeks lesson(s) you can be talking about this week:

1) Why do you think Jesus would ask the rich young ruler to give up his possessions if he was doing everything else right?

2) What is your greatest obstacle in following Christ on any given day?

3) What are tangible ways you can begin to practice solitude in your day?

These are just ideas, maybe you have your own way of talking to your student about their lives and that’s fine too. It’s your involvement as a parent in your student’s life that can make a world of difference.

And as always if you have any questions or concerns or maybe you want to get involved with the youth ministry just let me know.

John “The Youth Guy” Downey