Saturday, September 19, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
FOUND
We kick off the school year this coming Sunday, September 20th! Come to Jonata Rec Gymnasium in Buellton from 6:00-7:30pm to check out what the hype is all about! Get excited! Invite your friends!
Come be FOUND!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
SHINE
SHINE is every Wednesday from 6:30-8:00pm at my house. We are studying out of a book called A Daughter's Worth. Every girl must pitch in $10 for the book. I am so excited to see how God moves in each of your lives this school year! And thank you for allowing me to join you along the way! Call me or email me if you have further questions regarding SHINE.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Mysterious Life of Jesus
By all religious standards Jesus was a failure, a debacle, an overrated healer/prophet who lacked the diligence to be who we understood the messiah to be.
Looking at the life of Jesus we can assert he was a social radical. He was the mainframe for modern spiritually free peoples. He without doubt understood the rebellion of the 1960's hippie movement. He hated racism and was the largest racial activist of the 20th century. He was in opposition to the religious justification of slavery. He was the face that outlawed child labor.
He will never understand our gender, racial, or economic caste structures.
He hates the glass ceiling(the business model for discriminating against women), and the notion that only men can pastor or lead a nation(Any questions? Take a look at the life of Debra, then lets talk...)
In ever way, Jesus was Jesus and had no apologies for being who he was.
So what do we make of the life of Jesus? In all respect, Jesus was a mysterious man--both wise from a religious standpoint(the term referred to him often is "rabbi" which simply means ' a great thinker of the Torah'), and unwise from a socially "moral" standpoint(the "Water to Wine" incident in which he became a master vintner creating what was described as the "best wine"in order for the party to continue, or when he illegally healed on the sabbath, and responded to the religious right by calling them a "brood of vipers!") Jesus was in and of himself a 'politik'. He not once subjugated himself to the Jewish predicament of desiring a king like messiah who'd raise their nation back to a place of divine prominence. In fact he utterly opposed their theories of who God's great leader would be by healing freely on the sabbath, reclining lazily with friends(the story of "Mary and Martha"), glorifying the poor before the wealthy(when he made known the "Widows Mite"), breaking Jewish law by saving the prostitute("those who have not sin may cast the first stone"), and being closest to the ungoldy: Peter(a man lacking in good judgment, over zealous, and a crude fisherman), Matthew( a tax collector, cheater of the innocent, arrogant and egotistical), Judas(a man who hung himself in sadness), His mother Mary(who by cultural belief was a loose and sexually promiscuous woman), and Mary Magdalen( prostitute for most her adult life). He later would befriend a man by the name of Saul(later to be turned to Paul) who formulated a microcosmic insurrection against a people group(Christians) much like the 'Hitlerites' genocide of the Jews. We also can take from Jesus life that he was highly emotional. It is told that "Jesus wept" when calling his friend Lazarus out of the tomb. He also fed the hungry without justification or reason when he fed the five thousand. And Jesus healed without discrimination. During the life of Jesus he indiscriminately healed a rich rulers child, and on multiple accounts healed the poor: blind beggars, those with blood disease, leper, etc.
It seems fairest to call Jesus an equalizer. He was someone who believed all humanity should receive from him equally. In fact, he turned thinking around when he wisely proposed "the least of you shall be first, and the fist shall be last". This created an infrastructure far different than American Capitalism. Much like a Ying and Yang--an idea that all things will be handled at a fair medium, both the positive(rich) and the negative(poor) would be weighed out opposite by Heaven's politico in order to love all man equally. He did not by any account align himself with conservative doctrine and political idealism. He had no outline for when he healed, whom he fed, or who he loved. That is just the point, Jesus loved everyone. Those he stood in opposition against were without doubt the religious right who aimed at controlling and manipulating the population; Some of their means are similar to Communism, Fascism, or Republicanism(should not be mistaken with being Republican, Republicanism is the ideology for a Republic, a more controlled Democracy).
I leave you with one filter when reading, studying, and experiencing the life of Jesus. Do it like Jesus, without discretion, without fear, without traditional mindsets that blind our senses to the freedom of his love. Experiment with Jesus, and in the end ask the question............who is Jesus to me.......?
Is not that the greatest mystery?
Looking at the life of Jesus we can assert he was a social radical. He was the mainframe for modern spiritually free peoples. He without doubt understood the rebellion of the 1960's hippie movement. He hated racism and was the largest racial activist of the 20th century. He was in opposition to the religious justification of slavery. He was the face that outlawed child labor.
He will never understand our gender, racial, or economic caste structures.
He hates the glass ceiling(the business model for discriminating against women), and the notion that only men can pastor or lead a nation(Any questions? Take a look at the life of Debra, then lets talk...)
In ever way, Jesus was Jesus and had no apologies for being who he was.
So what do we make of the life of Jesus? In all respect, Jesus was a mysterious man--both wise from a religious standpoint(the term referred to him often is "rabbi" which simply means ' a great thinker of the Torah'), and unwise from a socially "moral" standpoint(the "Water to Wine" incident in which he became a master vintner creating what was described as the "best wine"in order for the party to continue, or when he illegally healed on the sabbath, and responded to the religious right by calling them a "brood of vipers!") Jesus was in and of himself a 'politik'. He not once subjugated himself to the Jewish predicament of desiring a king like messiah who'd raise their nation back to a place of divine prominence. In fact he utterly opposed their theories of who God's great leader would be by healing freely on the sabbath, reclining lazily with friends(the story of "Mary and Martha"), glorifying the poor before the wealthy(when he made known the "Widows Mite"), breaking Jewish law by saving the prostitute("those who have not sin may cast the first stone"), and being closest to the ungoldy: Peter(a man lacking in good judgment, over zealous, and a crude fisherman), Matthew( a tax collector, cheater of the innocent, arrogant and egotistical), Judas(a man who hung himself in sadness), His mother Mary(who by cultural belief was a loose and sexually promiscuous woman), and Mary Magdalen( prostitute for most her adult life). He later would befriend a man by the name of Saul(later to be turned to Paul) who formulated a microcosmic insurrection against a people group(Christians) much like the 'Hitlerites' genocide of the Jews. We also can take from Jesus life that he was highly emotional. It is told that "Jesus wept" when calling his friend Lazarus out of the tomb. He also fed the hungry without justification or reason when he fed the five thousand. And Jesus healed without discrimination. During the life of Jesus he indiscriminately healed a rich rulers child, and on multiple accounts healed the poor: blind beggars, those with blood disease, leper, etc.
It seems fairest to call Jesus an equalizer. He was someone who believed all humanity should receive from him equally. In fact, he turned thinking around when he wisely proposed "the least of you shall be first, and the fist shall be last". This created an infrastructure far different than American Capitalism. Much like a Ying and Yang--an idea that all things will be handled at a fair medium, both the positive(rich) and the negative(poor) would be weighed out opposite by Heaven's politico in order to love all man equally. He did not by any account align himself with conservative doctrine and political idealism. He had no outline for when he healed, whom he fed, or who he loved. That is just the point, Jesus loved everyone. Those he stood in opposition against were without doubt the religious right who aimed at controlling and manipulating the population; Some of their means are similar to Communism, Fascism, or Republicanism(should not be mistaken with being Republican, Republicanism is the ideology for a Republic, a more controlled Democracy).
I leave you with one filter when reading, studying, and experiencing the life of Jesus. Do it like Jesus, without discretion, without fear, without traditional mindsets that blind our senses to the freedom of his love. Experiment with Jesus, and in the end ask the question............who is Jesus to me.......?
Is not that the greatest mystery?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Shine and Connect--more intimate setting for those desiring more
Hey guys,
This is pastor Luke here! I hope your day is going fantastically along and your are experiencing life with excitement and joy. I wanted to write a bit about the vision of both Shine and Connect. So here goes.....
Shine: Shine is a wonderful and intimate time for young women to interact though food, conversation, and most importantly God. Ciara will be leading the group through a wonderful interactive book called " A Daughter's Worth". She will examine the many meanings of what it means to be female, to relate to the world as a female, and most importantly the beauty God sees all of you with. It will be exciting to learn more about being a woman and your individual identities. So come please and invite your friends. The time and the address where this will take place is posted on our FOUND youth page which you all need to add as fans on Facebook! So go and find us ;0)
Connect: Connect is what I call an active group. Us men dont always do that well sitting amongst one another, getting deep about our emotional states, and desiring affection from each another. Therefore, we will be learning more about being ourselves and respecting those around us by participating together through various activities: flag football, basketball, hiking, skate boarding, and an occasional water baloon fight. Get ready to laugh, cuz I am a big goof and will chronically default to humor over being 'serious'. So the time and the day and place this will take place is happening on the FOUND youth page which you can add as a fan on facebook, so do it!
peace--
pastor luke
This is pastor Luke here! I hope your day is going fantastically along and your are experiencing life with excitement and joy. I wanted to write a bit about the vision of both Shine and Connect. So here goes.....
Shine: Shine is a wonderful and intimate time for young women to interact though food, conversation, and most importantly God. Ciara will be leading the group through a wonderful interactive book called " A Daughter's Worth". She will examine the many meanings of what it means to be female, to relate to the world as a female, and most importantly the beauty God sees all of you with. It will be exciting to learn more about being a woman and your individual identities. So come please and invite your friends. The time and the address where this will take place is posted on our FOUND youth page which you all need to add as fans on Facebook! So go and find us ;0)
Connect: Connect is what I call an active group. Us men dont always do that well sitting amongst one another, getting deep about our emotional states, and desiring affection from each another. Therefore, we will be learning more about being ourselves and respecting those around us by participating together through various activities: flag football, basketball, hiking, skate boarding, and an occasional water baloon fight. Get ready to laugh, cuz I am a big goof and will chronically default to humor over being 'serious'. So the time and the day and place this will take place is happening on the FOUND youth page which you can add as a fan on facebook, so do it!
peace--
pastor luke
Monday, August 31, 2009
Hey Guys!
Welcome to our blog! You can come to this website to read thought provoking discussions as well as updates regarding youth group! We are looking forward to kicking off SHINE and CONNECT this week! Remember, girls are in Lompoc and guys are in Buellton. Email us or give us a call for more information.
To all of you who joined us at our Fiesta on Sunday, thank you! We were blessed meeting those of you we have never met before, and encouraged to spend more time with those of you we already know. God is going to move big in the Sant Ynez Valley, and we are excited to have you be a part!
Follow us on Blogger for some good stuff!
To all of you who joined us at our Fiesta on Sunday, thank you! We were blessed meeting those of you we have never met before, and encouraged to spend more time with those of you we already know. God is going to move big in the Sant Ynez Valley, and we are excited to have you be a part!
Follow us on Blogger for some good stuff!
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