No condemnation!!

Romans 8:1-4

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit."

I have started a small study in Romans 8 and these four verses have been something I have really been chewing on the last couple of days. To believe that I have NO CONDEMNATION before Christ is a really hard thing to believe. So often, I don't really believe that Christ could love me enough to die for me and become a sin offering on my behalf. The truth is that Christ was completely sinless and a perfect representation of the law and took on my sin and condemned it so that I could have life. Now instead of living in sin, I live according to the Spirit. I like Jesus!

American Justice

Last night at youth group, (which I thoroughly enjoyed thanks to awesome students and the musical genius of Ian Driver) I mentioned a movie that Ian and I did for a Campus Outreach meeting and I wanted to post it. This is Ian at his very finest playing out the role of "funniest man in Campus Outreach" perfectly. Enjoy.

NYWC

Emily and I spent this last weekend at the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta. Besides the fact that we had to drive into downtown Atlanta and traverse the largest building in the world (Georgia World Congress Center) we had a really good time. It is a really cool conference because we were in a place where 5,500 people had the same passions as us and we could all relate to many of the same struggles.

I feel like I am walking away with a lot of things to think through and be challenged by but there were a couple of really cool things that were worth noting:

1. Joe Castillo- An awesome artist that tells the story of Christ through this weird sand art. It is really hard to describe but go to www.sandstory.com or check out a clip here.
2. Walt Mueller- He is a youth culture guru that really challenged me on being up with the culture in order to better serve the youth in Gainesville. I am currently reading Engaging the Soul of the Youth Culture and thoroughly enjoying. A must for all youth leaders and parents of teens.
3. Shane and Shane's song "Burn Us Up"- I love the story of Shadrach, Meshac, and Abednego and they performed a song they wrote about it. It is so sexy! Go to their myspace page and listen.
4. Doug Fields-Secretly I have always hated Doug Fields for that mustache/soul patch combo that he rocked but he turned out to be a really funny and compelling speaker (plus he shaved). Him and his wife's Q & A about marriage and ministry was the most helpful seminar Emily and I went to.
5. Shane Claiborne- He was a speaker for one of the general session and he got up did a fire breathing routine then read the Sermon on the Mount and then walked off. It was really weird but it made a cool statement.

Overall, it was a great learning experience and there was the best of the best as far as christian music and entertainment go (no offense Slaten I will take you over Tomlin any day of the week).

Awesome video

I found this today and loved it! It is a bullet in slow motion going through different things. My fav is the water bottle. Which do you like best?


Add to My Profile More Videos

Community

On Sunday, I met a guy who has been a part of the Catholic Worker Movement. This is a movement of christians who live in community together in voluntary poverty with the goal of trying to make an impact on poverty and consumerism in the US. While I don't necessarily agree with all of their methodology, I was struck by their view of community. Here are people that live together in relative poverty and share most everything they have with each other and those around them.

It was really a wake up call to me to think about how I am living out community. I live in a condominium that shares a wall with a family and the most interaction that happens is when we happen to be in the driveway at the same time or when our cat goes on their porch and bothers them. I work in a church and yet at times feel incredibly disconnected with most of our members. I am dropping the ball in this area of community.

How should Christian community play out? I don't really have the answer but I do know it has something to do with us as christians learning how to live life together and engage in the culture around us.

Here is sarcastic blog post with a list of ways to avoid community and for more info on the catholic workers movement's aims and means go here (again we disagree a little here).

Halloween costume

I dressed up as Dwight from the office and though it is a little late I promised some that I would put up a picture. The hair is a little long but you can't beat the tie shirt combo

#1 All Time

While I generally think that 98% of what is on Youtube is stupid and/or innapropriate, I did come across the most watched video of all time on Youtube today and thought I would share. If you have never seen it enjoy!! If you have seen it enjoy it again!