Really Amazing

Last night, I received an amazing opportunity. I received an e-mail from Thomas Nelson that asked me to join their new blogger review group. It is a group designed for bloggers who can read and review books. Recently, I reviewed The Faith of Barack Obama and Through the Storm, two of their new books (you can read my reviews on this blog, just search them). These are books they chose to have us bloggers review, however with this new group, we the bloggers can pick and choose the books we desire to review! This is so amazing to me because it is a FREE book and an opportunity to make my blog a better known blog. My blog will be looked at more due to Michael Hyatt the CEO of Thomas Nelson posting a link to my review on his website which is viewed by thousands of people! The next book I am going to review is something I had on my Christmas list..the new Thomas Nelson Chronological Bible! Be on the look out for the review soon. This is a great opportunity for me and I thank Thomas Nelson for being willing to do something so inventive and just plain awesome!

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God, the Shaker and Mover

God is TRULY doing a work in our Jr. High Youth Ministry! As you've read by my blog, the CRAZINESS that we've been experiencing has been a wild ride. However, I've learned to see that if you allow God to strengthen you during the wild ride, there is a HUGE payoff at the end!
Before I give some great news about Wednesday Night, I want to give some background into our Jr. High Ministry as of late. This is probably the MOST attended youth night we have as well as the MOST non-Christian attended. One week, I counted off 25 Jr. High teens and all but 5 were from non-Christian homes (most had parents who've NEVER been to church...EVER). We were still missing approx. 5 of our regular teens this night too! Well, as you can imagine, this many teens who've come from un-churched, non-Christian homes has been a bit of a challenge. There has been tons of talking during the lesson and tons of "he said, she said" fighting that goes on. One week, I had hit my limit and wandered what God was doing and if I was good enough for this calling. The very next week is when I hit something I didn't expect...I gave a teeny bit of my life's story and the teens were silent, listening to every word dripping off of my tongue. They loved the connection of my life to the Scriptures. Now, I'm a student of Youth Culture, and I know teens connect WAY more with personal stories, yet for some reason I never utilized it the way I did this one week.
Well, I prayed about this effect and since our Month's theme was: The Quest (Our Journey Towards God), I felt like this Wednesday, God wanted me to give my full testimony (which is pretty intense, I will Blog about it sometime soon). I did indeed give my full testimony and the teens again were intensely listening to what I was saying (something that doesn't often happen for the full 20 minute talk). God was moving in their hearts and when we moved to Small Groups (which I do every week after the talk, so the teens can then interact with the lesson together), God showed up in a BIG way. As a side note, the greatest fun during this time, was that one of our Sr. Highers (Ty Walker) was leading the small group discussion and he did great! When Ty got to the question of "Do you want to Go on this Quest towards God" 3 kids raised their hands, asked how they could and then PRAYED TO RECEIVE CHRIST! It was flippin' sweet and so much more sweet that a Sr. Higher was able to get these Jr. Highers to this point. I praise God for what he's doing!

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What's so BIG about Authenticity? Pt. 4

One thing I've noticed about teenagers is that they can spot a "fake" person from a mile away. It's as if they have radar to sniff out a person posing. In the Church, this "fake" person motif is all to familiar. We say things like: "I'll pray for you brother" (and don't do it nor mean it). We see people acting different than they do at church in their homes, their jobs, and their schools. And I tell you that this fake face has become a negative pungent stench in the nostrils of today's youth. I will continuously quote UnChristian due to it's prophetic nature into today's youth and in this book, they've found that 85% of people 16-29 find the church as a whole (meaning us Christians) to be hypocritical! (By the way, I agree)
Being authentic is NOT being hypocritical. 1 John 1:5-10 says: "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives".
In bold is the call to Authenticity. We need to confess our sins, this is WALKING in the Light! We admit out junk. This means, we're honest, we're open, we're vulnerable. This type of authentic community brings fellowship with both God and men (read the italicized portion)! Also, this type of authenticity is attractive to the world, they need a place to admit their junk! The World NEEDS the church to be a place that says: "Oh, you're messed up? You're a sinner? All of us are too! We've messed up (and still do sometimes) but let us show you the LOVE of Christ, and give you the KEY to life!" A place that is willing to LOVE, take in sinners, be real with them and show the Christ (the Light) is a place that will be BOOMING with non-Christians!
Non-Christians (especially 16-29 year olds) FEAR going into a church because they will feel like everyone hates them, they will feel as if they are un-welcome because of their problems. They will feel isolated because they would be made to feel that they are the only person there with issues! Yet, if we could create an AUTHENTIC place where they will no longer feel this way, we could see this generation (and the next) come to Christ like NO OTHER generation in history!

In my next segments on authenticity, I will show how it does COST us to create this type of atmosphere, I will share more from 1 John about what this Authenticity creates and lastly, I will show how this type of Authentic living brings about the HEALING that God desires for us! Stay Tuned and PLEASE let me know your thoughts!

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The Cross Kills Lizards

At Living Christ Church, we've been doing a sermon series on the Cross. This past Sunday I preached a sermon in this series titled: The Cross Kills Lizards (Luke 9:22-25) Here is that sermon:

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Arguments and Apologetics Pt. 2

This is the last installment of Arguments and Apologetics. Something I've found to be true is that we Christians are natural arguers. It's true! Say for example I say: "I am voting for Obama in this coming election. I feel McCain's policies are dumb and Obama's rock." This simple statement would be commented upon post-haste! I would have people asking me about my faith, people asking me how I can be a Pastor and vote for "a disgusting liberal". Literally I might be asked how I could be a CHRISTIAN if I voted Obama!
Or for example, I say something slightly less controversial. Say, I simply say: "I read Harry Potter". This is controversial, but slightly less than the Obama idea. This statement would bring people arguing that J.K. Rowling is a witch(which she claims in Newsweek Sept. 2001 article this is false) and other such non-sense.
First, let me make myself clear. I am by no means UN GUILTY of these very same arguments! I've said these things and believed them as well. My point is simply that we Christians argue...ALOT.
It is intriguing to me how controversial things can be. It also pains me as a Christian, that we (myself included) run, head first into such arguments. What really ends up happening is that these arguments seem (or to be honest ARE) bitter, with malicious intent. We'd rather win an argument than lose one, so we pull the God card. If we feel Obama is not the right guy in office, simply say: "I don't think he's right for office, so I won't vote for him". There is no need to attack a persons CHRISTIANITY over it, just so you can be "right".
This also translates to how we witness. If someone you know says: "I don't believe in God". Don't sit there and try to "debate them into the Kingdom"! They won't budge and in fact, your debate tactic will end up turning them OFF to the gospel...because they will feel you care more about being "right" then you care about them. Here's how we can still win people for Christ, if we let go of arguing people into the Kingdom: Live a life where Jesus is CONTAGIOUS. Allow God to so permeate your life that people catch Jesus. You're not force feeding them, your showing them. Allow your life to be a conviction or a stumbling block to the un-believer, so much so that they realize that the way they've been living seems like a lie (because it is) to them!
Build many honest relationships, where people can see the Christ that lives in you. Befriend the "sick" as Jesus did..for they need the Doctor. Yet do as Jesus did and simply be with them and they will be transformed! If it was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me!

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On Being a Future Daddy

In late August, I found out I was going to be a Papa...but I had to keep it quiet until 2 days ago. This entry will reveal how I felt in the moment.

My wife, Hilary comes out of the bathroom, holding the test and it says: "Pregnant" on the little digital screen. She kind of has this half smile, nervous laugh going on. I look at the little word and get super excited! I was like a monkey with sugar. I grabbed my cell phone and tried to take a picture of the work pregnant...too dark. So I grabbed the camera and tried again to no avail.

Then after all the excitement of calling family and revealing how awesome it is to have the feeling that I will be a dad, something hit me. It was this crushing feeling of responsibility. It was a new, awkward feeling I've NEVER felt before. But I found myself questioning: "Am I good enough to be a Daddy? Am I old enough? Am I responsible enough? Will I still be able to do this, or that? Will I be selfish or will I be selfless? Will the baby even like me? Will we be able to afford a baby? "

These thoughts sort of crushed me and I remember staying up a little later that night to ponder what kind of a Father I would be. I like to read, write, stay up, sleep in. I love to spend alone time with my wife, God and friends. I enjoy time to myself, with the X-Box 360 or a movie. This will change everything. The time I spend doing all of the things listed above will shift. As I thought these things, I remembered how selfless Christ was. How he moved from the right hand of God (Supreme Comfort), lived as a human for 33 years, suffered and died...for me. It was there I decided that I will do my very best to be a selfless Daddy and Husband. Believe me, I know I will fail...I have no delusions of grandeur, but in the end, I know it will be worth every moment!

As I think about it right now, I wish I could hold that little bean in my arms right now! I am still very excited to be a father, I just wanted to admit that I am a bit scared too. I want to be the best Daddy I can, portraying for my kids the best possible picture of a Daddy I can, so when they learn about God the Father, their Abba...they won't have a SUPER distorted view, but an easy to grasp image of God as Father.

The road to fatherhood so far has been ponderous, but as soon as the Baby is here, I am well aware that pondering must cease and action must begin!

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Through the Storm By Lynne Spears

Thomas Nelson Publishing Company has again given an AMAZING opportunity by giving out 200 free books to bloggers! I was among the lucky few and was asked to give a 200 word review of the book.

Through the Storm is an amazingly touching book. I have to admit that I went into the reading very skeptical. I am a Youth Pastor and have seen TONS of bad press on Britney Spears and her family. However, I like all of America was only reading HALF of the story. I was more than convicted as to how I came about my judgments of this family while reading this book and know for sure that anyone reads this book, they would be too. Lynne's utter candor in this book was shocking! She was just flat out honest. I must hand it to her for bearing her soul out in this book. Purposely rehashing awful events, so we could see the truth in the matter, was just amazing.
One thing that made me almost weep due to my conviction was the fact that Britney's aunt (to whom Britney was close to) died just 2 weeks before her "shaving her head" incident. I mocked her for her insanity, yet she as simply reacting to her pain. My inner pastor felt wrecked while reading this book, because I just wanted to minister to Britney, Jamie (Britney's dad), Lynne, and Jamie Lynne! If I could sum up Lynne's attitude during this book it would be one word: Transparent. She was just open about all aspects of her life, and not just Britney and Jamie Lynne either! She talked about her marriage and divorce, her failures as a mother and most of all her faith. I was shocked at how steadfast this woman is in her faith. So many people bash her and many Christians including myself have said horrible things about "a woman whose kids do such things". To doubt a persons faith totally and completely based off of the "performance" of their children is plain wrong and this book was used by God to convict me of this truth!
Lynne uses tons of scripture both in reference and in detail throughout the book. She tells of how God helped her and her children (and husband) through hard times. I am truly glad I read this book, because to be honest, I probably wouldn't have aside from this opportunity and I would be the worse for it.
I thoroughly enjoyed the reading of this book, the honesty that's in it and the courage it took to write it! I strongly recommend reading this book.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson for allowing me the pleasure of this read and for challenging Christians to seek out truth and not fabricated fictions!

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Arguments and Apologetics Pt. 1

Evangelism in today's American Youth Culture is dramatically different than it ever was. Apologetics, the way I was taught was more of a "debate and argue" format. Where one person (in this case the Christian) has the rebuttal to every possible question (which was said as "giving an answer to our faith"). I believe that in the "modern" era, this approach was incredibly effective. People just 20 years ago were looking for cold hard facts and when you could debate and give them facts that would repute an argument they were proposing...they were hooked.

Somewhere along the line, there was a huge shift in thinking. When exactly this thought change occurred is still under debate. However, the fact remains that evangelism has changed. In the book UnChristian, several different things were studied. This idea of what evangelism mode is most effective was part of the study. Here is a little bit of what was discovered: Televangelism, door-to-door witnessing and tract evangelism COMBINED total a whopping 1% effective rate with people ages 16-29! 1%! (Do you know how much money is spent on tracts each year? More than 1% of the budget, that's for sure!). Also discovered was that "Relational Evangelism" evangelism which is in and through a trusted relationship has a 78% effective rate!

Non-Christian young adults, in order to come to Christ in Today's culture, don't need a lecture on how they are wrong, but a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Prov. 18:24). Our mode of Apologetics NEEDS to change. Do we still need answers? OH YES! Do we need to argue them into the kingdom? NO WAY!

How do I know this works? I've seen the power of this type of evangelism. There's a teen in our ministry named Paul, who started coming with his girlfriend who was a student of ours. His first event he came to was simply a movie night. No talk afterwards, no shove em into Jesus trick at the end...simply getting together (non-Christians and Christians) to watch a movie. This caused Paul to build relationships with our other Christian teens. Even after he and his girlfriend broke up, he kept coming, because he felt welcome with us, he felt accepted and loved, so he remained. Eventually, he accepted Christ in his life and is now looking to get into ministry! Relational Evangelism works!

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What's so BIG about Authenticity? Pt. 3

Many of you reading this may know that I'm writing a book on the idea of Authenticity. I've written over 60 pages on it and hope to dribble a little bit out on my blog here for all of you to see. I believe that this idea is GIGANTIC for our teens today and of tomorrow, thus my writing a whole book about it. It all started back in September of 2007, when I did a sermon series with my Sr. High teens about it and the response was incredible! I've seen our teens embrace this authentic lifestyle and choose into it. Here is an excerpt from my forward of the book...enjoy!

"...When put on a social network, we can be whoever we want to be, but the desire to be known still drives us. A lot of what is put on the social network is the true us, but there are altercations we choose to make, so we look better. However, I know that deep down inside each and every one of us (youth and adults) there is a desire for the true us to be known. When you think about it, we all realize that when someone likes the fake face of us, they are not accepting or even liking the real us.
This book is about how we as the church can be a place of authenticity and transparency. Authenticity is what the youth of today are crying for, a place where they can be known for who they are, the good, the bad and even the ugly. We as Christians in the past have had a rough time at being real. We hide our stuff better than the world, for fear of rejection. It’s time to rip off our masks both with God and each other so we can be real with our hidden junk, find love and acceptance and receive God’s forgiveness. For too long, we as the Christian sub-culture have been turning people away from God because we tend to portray ourselves as perfect and all put together, when in actuality there are people; teens and adults who are hurting inside, because they have hidden sin, hidden pieces of themselves, hidden doubts that they’ve NEVER been able to express due to the fear of exposing their true self.
God has a word about the fellowship of the brethren and the transparency we need to have in order to have authentic relationships both with God and men. This book takes those pieces of scripture and hands them to the reader to challenge us all to live Transparent!"
-By Marv Nelson, Transparent

*I will be posting more about Authenticity, and more excerpts from the book are forthcoming*

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This Weeks Youth Group Adeventure

Let's begin with Tuesday Night, shall we? I'm being honest when I say I get more and more encouraged and excited when I get to teach/preach to these young folks. I am stoked when I get to share my life and the Word with them. This week, we began the series of "Serving With Eyes Wide Open". We've gone through this type of series, before, but this one is better, because it's Got a lot more Word in it. We're exploring the true meaning of service, what our motivations are and how we can Bring Jesus to the people of this world through our service.
One of the things I've been teaching my teens for the past year is how to be authentic. This series is no different...we are learning how to be real in and with our service. This week, we took a look at true service and our motivations for service. I ended with the fact that true, genuine service, is rooted in love and the eyes of Jesus. If e don't see the people we're going to serve with the Eyes of Jesus, we will most likely hinder rather then help...especially if we serve without love.


JR HIGH:

This weeks Jr. High crew was again rowdy as all get out. I have to be honest when I say that Satan doesn't want these kids to know Jesus! I mean we all knew that, but dude, he's fighting hard core to keep these kids in his hands. If you get a chance, please be praying for these students. We are right on the cusp of grabbing these non-Christian kids into the fold of Christ (PLUS their parents!) yet, they seem so far away.
This month , we are talking about "The Quest" (Our Journey Towards God) in which, we are following Joshua's story of his Quest for the Promised Land, and then i turn our Quest towards our Promised Land...the place where God is. This week, we talked about Journey's beginning and how Satan will try to throw GIANTS in our way to distract us from truly Seeing God...yet God can defeat those Giants. (comes from the diologue with the 12 men sent out to scope out the land, 10 see Giants and say run, yet two Josh and Caleb see God's power and say fight).

AGAIN, keep these teens in your prayers! God is good and more and more un-churched Jr. Highers come to Youth Group...they just need JESUS.

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20-Somethings and Obama

*What's so BIG about Authenticity Pt. 2*

I have read several times that Obama has won over the college aged and 20-somethings crowd. He's seeming to rake in this group of non-voters to not only vote, but vote Obama. I've also heard several reasons why. However, let me set the record straight. This may have been talked about, if so, it's important to reiterate, if not, it's important to understand.

Why has Obama been able to pull this crowd of people in? Is it because they are politically dumb and see him as a "celebrity candidate"? NO! The reason why Obama has won this age group (my age group) over is because he's a genuine, transparently authentic guy. My age group is tired of secret lives, hidden agendas, false pretenses, lies, dishonest honesty (Such as "I didn't inhale" or "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Monica Lewinsky" and several others). My generation is dropping out of church for these same reasons. Not to mention because of other issues such as hypocrisy and judgemental ism (See UnChristian by Kinniman and Lyons).

When asked about drugs, Obama is clear that he did do them. When asked about abortion, Obama doesn't skirt his stance, when asked about religion, Obama gives clear-cut answers. Obama has read correctly, the importance of being real to this age group. Does this age group think that he has: the best policies, the best stance on abortion, the best whatever? Probably not, some may, but one thing they flock to, cling to and enjoy most is his candid attitude.

It's felt that we don't need a "Maverick" but an "Authentic". Even if my age group is what has been said of us in that we are "politically un-wise", most sign on to authenticity.

Why is this idea of authenticity to real and vital to my generation? Because we've grown up in a land of phonies. Phony politicians, phony pastors, phony TV (also, why reality TV is big, even though it too is being found out as phony), phony teachers, phony parents...the list goes on. I am not saying I feel TOTALLY the same on all these issues (for example, my parents are RAW, dead honest people) but I do feel the same for the most part.

I'm tired of fake people, fake preachers, fake Christians, fake acts of service, fake politics and fake answers. I for one am ready for real, RAW honesty. That is why, when I preach, I preach stories that show me as the person who's fallen, not as me as the hero. I let people know the STUPID stuff I've done (there is a lot) because they can connect themselves to it.

Trust me when I say that the younger generations will be even more hell-bent on Transparent Authenticity than my generation is(again, read UnChristian). We, the church as a whole, better start owning up to our crap, confessing it to one another and to God so we can walk in the Light. If we claim to be without sin, the Truth is not in us. True fellowship comes in the confessing of sins.

When the world sees us owning up to our sins, and showing love to them (see instances of this in: Blue Like Jazz and Lord, Save Us From Your Followers), they will come to know the Light that is Jesus.

*Note* I do NOT agree with a lot of Obama's policies (like abortion). However, I DO sign on to his authenticity and his desire to get to the root of the abortion problem i.e. unwanted pregnancy. Obama wants to eliminate abortion at it's source, not in it's practice. Also, I know many may (and will disagree with me) and that's OK. I simply need to say what I feel the Scriptures are saying to me (about Authenticity, not a presidential candidate). Please Comment as I desire your feedback.

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What's so BIG about Authenticity? Pt. 1

The "emerging culture" today is all about authentic, real, honest and frank discussions. No more can Christians hide behind their "Christian-eize" (the language of Christians that uses words people outside the church don't understand). We must be open, honest and real with people. In fact, I believe that Christ has called the church to this type of authenticity since the inception of our faith.

1st John 1:5-2:14 shows us this truth. Where the author (John) challenges us to confess our sins to one another, to admit we are sinners and discusses how we should be honest about our junk. The chapter is entitled: Walking in the Light and being authentic is a HUGE portion of walking in the Light!
The culture today is hungry for people to be open and honest with them and by the same token to allow them to be open and honest with you...without you judging them! This is a difficult road for us Christians, because we'll have to hear (without judgment) non-Christians being honest with us and saying such things as: I'm gay and I live with my husband...

Our "knee-jerk reaction" sometimes is to tell this person what sin they're in and how they need to repent now. However, if we give in to this auto response...we will actually turn people away from Christ. If we are people of love, as Christ was. We will simply allow ourselves to LISTEN and also share some crap in our lives...because it's there! When we build a relationship with the person we may find that they've been sexually abused, so left the idea of a heterosexual relationship by the way-side because of their wounding, or whatever the story maybe.

Authenticity is a big deal because people nowadays need something real, not just an "idea" or simply a "though provoking theology" they desire a connection to a bigger than them story. They desire to really experience love, true intimacy so they seek it out vigorously.

To be truthful, the only REAL love and intimacy is found in Christ...if we aren't portraying it...where will people run to? Sex (yep), drugs (yep), gangs (oh yeah), the list goes on. We need to be the Light of true love, because we hold the key to the real deal...we just need to be Real ourselves...

There will be more discussions on being Real. Please respond to this series, I want to know what your thinking...

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Jr. High this week...

Sorry for the "tardiness" of this post! I should've posted it yesterday, but I was working on my October 12th sermon all day because my brother and sister-in-law will be in town next weekend and I wanted to get it done (mostly anyways).

ANYWAYS...this weeks Jr. High Youth Group was one of the best I've experienced in the last...IDK 4 weeks! Now, I didn't try to sit them down and have a lesson, but they still were more respectful, attentive and all around in good moods all night!

Every month that has a "5th week" in it, I do a game night (Jr. High only usually... because the Sr. Highers tend to think that game night means "lame night"). This October, as you will notice has 5 Wednesdays in it...so I had a game night in the BEGINNING of the month. Plus, one "tid-bit" my only other MALE leader had a meeting, so he could not be in attendance...I figured it would be best to have game night whilst he was gone, so that when we do have another lesson, he can be there to help "maintain control" (I really like putting phrases and words in quotations, so sorry if it bugs you...)

We played some really FUN games! We played first a game called Who Cares? which is a PowerPoint game in which the students break into team and had to be the first person to tap my shoulder in order to get the chance to answer. Most of the questions were ridiculous, but fun.

Next we played what I will now call a "dough flow" (which means you can win money). The game was called Total Recall, in which I played a 3 minutes clip of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and they had to answer my "in depth" questions from the movie. The prize was $5 (dough flow)!

We then went into probably the best game of the night, which is called Smackdown! In which the kids can beat each other senseless!! *That was a joke* No, really we had a soft object, in which the person in the middle of a circle (where teens are in chairs in a circle) would use the soft object to hit the knee of their intended "target" which could be anyone they wanted it to be. Then they needed to place the soft object (a hockey pad in our case) on top of a box and get back to their chair before the "target" could hit them with the object. It was a BLAST!

Lastly, we played a youth group favorite called cat and mouse, which is just that a cat chasing a mouse.

*Thank You Simply Youth Ministry Staff for 3 out of the 4 game ideas!*

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Sr. High, this week...

Here was the ending of the theme for September, which was: Releasing Your Burdens. Marko was the man in charge of games for the evening and he put together an amazing game which was like scrabble, but different. What you did was take letters, cut them out and roll them into balloons which then you'd blow up. The two teams had to go, get the balloon, pop it, take the letters out and try to spell something on their "board". The team with the most words, with the most letters used won.
Sad to say my team did not win :(. However, after the game, we went right into the talk. As never before, I will put my talk "outline" here on the blog, because I think it's important for those who read this to know exactly what was discussed, so here it is:

Releasing the Burden of Shame:

When I was a kid, I didn’t always think through my decisions. You’ve heard me tell many embarrassing stories, but this one takes the cake. I was around 4 or 5 and I got a Mickey Mouse drum set for Christmas. I was so excited about it and would play all the time. Well, the drum set came with a WHOLE lot of plastic wrap and shortly after Christmas, my friend and I came up with a GREAT idea, or so we thought. We placed all the plastic on the floor and decided that it was OK to pee on. I am NOT kidding when I say we said in our heads: this is just like a bathroom urinal, let’s go pee. So we peed on the floor. My dad came in FURIOUS. I was so ashamed of what I did, then he spanked me in front of my friend and the shame was enormous. (SHAME, pre-repentance, post-repentance)
You’re probably asking why I told you such a crazy, weird story and the reason is because of Shame. I felt a lot of shame after this day with my friend. I did something really stupid and was punished in front of my friend. And I know all of us have been burdened with shame. Maybe not the same kind, but we’ve felt like unworthy, ugly, horrible people. We’ve felt the hot breath of shame calling us no-good, saying that I can’t believe you did that and wrecking our lives with shame. Peter felt it when he betrayed Christ after saying he wouldn’t. David felt it when he allowed his body to rule over his head when he had sex with Bathsheba a married woman. We do wrong things and we feel shameful after they are done and our shame causes us to cover up our sin. God will forgive us our sins, we HAVE to bring them to him. Don’t allow your shame to block you from the Grace of God.
After Christ rose from the dead, Peter was still ashamed and he decided to go fishing, something he hadn’t done in a long time. So he and the guys go for some fish, when they are interrupted by Jesus. Jesus doesn’t scold Peter for being a lousy cuss who needs to get over it, no he welcomed him over for a hot meal of flame broiled fish. He sat Peter down and asked him 3 times if he loved him. Peter answered yes all three times and Jesus in that moment allowed him to leave his shame behind and embrace Christ once again. Peter was a transformed person from that moment on. Psalm 23:5 says: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”. What does that have to do with shame you ask? Well, he is setting you there at that table and they can’t touch you!
When a shepherd prepares the field for his sheep, he scours the area for predators. (snake and oil). He covers his sheep with protection. We don’t have to fear those lies, because once we repent, the shame of our sin goes away. When Christ made that meal for Peter, he wiped away the shame. It’s a burden we’re not meant to bear, a tool of Satan to beat us down and make us feel like trash, something God doesn’t want…but guess what…He wants to dine with you! He’s got a plate of your favorite dish, waiting to prepare a table for you! Nothing can touch you with him here! NOTHING!

We then broke off into small groups to discuss, and God brought a freshman to me, who wanted to get rid of his shame and confess what was going on! It was a powerful night and I know God used the story of David (Pre-repentant shame) and the story of Peter (Post-repentant shame) to touch their lives!!

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