What do young people believe?  What is the difference between those young people who continue to be a part of a Christian congregation and those who leave the church when they become adult? Who has the greatest influence on the faith of children and adolescents? What can parents and other church members do to nurture Christian faith in young people ?

These are just some of the questions that are addressed in the interview entitled Almost Christian? A Conversation About Adolescents and Christianity .

I want to encourage every person in the congregation to take 45 minutes and listen to Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary interview Kenda Creasy Dean, professor of Youth, Church and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary on the subject of young people in the Christian faith. I guarantee that you’ll learn a lot about what our young  people think about God, Jesus, and the Church. It’s also interesting to see what it’s like when a conservative Southern Baptist like Albert Mohler, and a liberal United Methodist like Kenda Creasy Dean find themselves in almost complete agreement on what is wrong with youth ministry and what churches can do in order to reach children and adolescents with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You can find the the interview in MP3 format HERE.

You can find a transcript of the podcast HERE.

I have made this request to the people, and friends of Peace, by letter and on this website in the past.  I am making this invitation again in the hope that it would enhance our shared ministry, especially as our Lenten focus is on how Jesus frees us up to experience Koinonia  or Life Together.

Christ enables us to overcome our natural tendency to resist correction and instead to learn to welcome criticism as a blessing from God and a means of personal growth.
Because I believe that constructive correction is a sign of genuine love, I am writing to ask for a favor. As you know, we all have areas of weakness, areas where we need growth in character and in the ways we relate to others. I recognize that I am a sinner who is usually blind to my own weaknesses. So I am turning to those I minster to, and with, to ask for candid advice on where I need to change and grow. I am asking you because I hope that you are committed to my ministry, the ministry of this congregation, and the ministry of the entire Body of Christ. I want to hear from you because I believe these promises: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses” (Proverbs 27:6), and “Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness” (Psalm 141:5).

As my brother or sister in Christ, please take some time to prayerfully answer the following questions. Please don’t be afraid to wound me! I know I will not like it but your candor will help me to grow. I will take your thoughts seriously as I ask God to help me plan for spiritual growth in the months ahead.

1. What characteristics do you see in me, or what areas of growth have you recently observed in me, that enable me to serve and relate well to others and have a positive witness for Christ? (I want to thank God for the gifts and strengths he has already given me and continue to build on them.)
2. Please describe three character qualities, attitudes, or behaviors that have disappointed, annoyed, or offended you or others, or seemed to undermine my witness for Christ. Please give specific examples if you can.
3. I believe that lasting changes in behavior require genuine changes in the heart (Matthew 15:19; James 4:1). Please click HERE to read the online article Getting to the Heart of Conflict. This article explains how our desires control our behavior, and describes a biblical dynamic called “the progression of an idol.” Reading it will help you to answer the following three questions, which will help me to identify desires that may be ruling my heart.
a. What things have you seen me make idols out of? (An idol is any desire–even for good things–that I have elevated to a demand, become excessively preoccupied with, looked to for security, had to have in order to be content, or allowed to control me.)
b. How have you seen me judge or criticize you or others when my desires were not satisfied?
c. How have you seen me manipulate or punish you or others in order to get what I want?
4. If there were just one change God would bring about in me in the next six months, what would you pray it would be?
5. I know that I am dependent on God’s grace. I am in great need of God’s wisdom and encouragement, especially when I stumble. What word of promise or hope from God’s Word would you suggest that I keep in mind as I seek to grow?

Thank you for your help. Please pray for me as I seek to understand myself more fully and glorify with God as he works to free me from worldly desires and help me to be more like Jesus.

If you believe that you cannot give me this feedback directly then I invite you to send me an anonymous note or letter. While  anonymity is often a sign of great anxiety, and opens up the possibility of nurturing a grumbling or divisive spirit, I trust  God will grant me enough  patience and wisdom to process it appropriately.

Finally let us remember this admonition from the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:

¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Maranatha
Pastor Dan Vojta ..Click HERE to send me a message by email.

Address

Rev. Daniel Vojta
Peace Lutheran church
349 Wegge Ct
Burlington, WI 53105

A Conciliator’s Prayer by Ken Sande, President of Peacemaker Ministries

Oh Lord God,
Today I am called to be a peacemaker, but I am unfit for the task.
By nature I am a peace-faker and a peace-breaker, so I myself need help.
Others ask me to understand and guide them, but my ears are dull, my eyes are dim, and I lack the wisdom they need.
But you, Lord, have all they need, so I come to you for supply.
Make me fit for your purposes, so I might serve them and honor you.
Cleanse me from my own sin so I will not add to their problems; 
take the logs from my eyes, so I can remove the specks from theirs.
Fill me with your Spirit so they may benefit from your fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Give me wisdom from above so I might be pure and peace-loving, considerate and submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
Open your Word to my eyes and to my heart, so I will have a steady lamp 
to light our path.
Strip me of my own agenda and desires, so I might look only to others’ good and be absolutely worthy of their trust.
Help me to model everything I teach, so others can see the way.
Give me humility to admit my weaknesses and confess my wrongs, 
so others might do the same.
Draw me again and again into prayer, where you can strengthen and correct me.
Make me submissive — help me to show that I myself am under authority.
Help me to treat others as I want to be treated, so they may see the essence of your Law.
Make me creative, versatile, and adaptable so I can adjust to the surprises ahead.
Help me to accept others as you have accepted me, and thus bring praise to your name.
Give me faith and perseverance so I will not doubt your provision or abandon your principles, even when others fight against them.
Grant me the gift of encouragement, to give others hope and help them believe 
that our labor is not in vain.
Help me to model your forgiveness so relationships are healed and your Gospel is revealed.
Grant me discernment so that I may read the deep waters of others’ hearts, sort fiction from fact, and know when it’s time to act.
Give me boldness and courage, tempered with kindness, to confront others in love so they might see their errors and find their way back to you.
Help me to prepare thoroughly and not presume upon your grace.
Make me just and fair, so that even if people disagree with my counsel they will believe that I treated them well.
In short, Father, please give me the Spirit of Christ so that I might walk in his steps 
and guide your people into the path of your peace.

“You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

In one fell swoop Jesus takes the world’s way of looking at honor and turns it upside down. No longer is true greatness defined by our ability to exercise power and control over other people, rather it is defined by Jesus Christ himself, who lived as the perfect servant by taking on our sins at the Cross. Jesus puts our welfare and needs ahead of his own and shows us what real greatness, leadership, power, authority are all about. And because Jesus was the perfectly humble servant, we are are lifted up from the quagmire of sin and death, and we are freed up to live lives that are focused on honoring, serving, and blessing others.

Reflections:

In Romans 15:5-7 the apostle Paul challenges members of the congregation in Rome to “Accept (welcome, appreciate, include) one another as Christ accepted you.”  In what ways has Jesus Christ accepted you? What particular burdens has Christ carried for you? As you look around the church, at work, and in your neighborhood, who are the people that seem most burdened to you? Who are the “outsiders” and the “losers”?  How can you reach out to them and include them in your life? How can we reach out to them and include them in the life of our congregation? What are some of the ways we can do this so that Christ gets the attention and glory rather then us?

In 1 Corinthians 12:20-26 Apostle Paul is honest in reminding us that many people have gifts (e.g. speaking ability, intelligence, leadership ) that tend to attract greater honor in the world. What are some of the gifts and abilities that you value most? In what ways does your way of valuing people’s gifts reflect the priorities of the world? In what ways does your way of valuing people’s gifts reflect the priorities of Jesus Christ ? The apostle Paul also challenges the members of the congregation in Corinth to “have the same care for one another”. In what ways can you show equal regard for people, regardless of the gifts they bring to the congregation and the larger community?

In James 2:1-7, James the apostle, and brother of Jesus, forbids showing favoritism to the rich over the poor. To what extent are you tempted to seek out relationships with people who have more money and power than yourself? What cliques exist in your workplace, larger community, and our congregation? Who are the insiders? Who are the Queen Bees and the Wannabes? Who are the Queen Bee Moms and the King Pin Dads? Do you understand how rich you are? Do you understand how powerful you are? Really, if you are reading this note on the internet and living in the Burlington/Waterford area then you are rich! What are some of the ways that you as an individual, and we as a congregation, can reach out and make our homes, and our congregation, places that are welcoming to people no matter how much money they make?

An Observation:
It’s kind of refreshing to see James and John be so upfront about their desire for honor and power. Let’s be honest, we live in a world that values high-minded rhetoric, and people who are honest about their selfish desires are uniformly condemned. It’s quite easy for us to question the motives of others, and as a whole, we humans are quite fond of doing so. However, when it comes to looking into our own hearts and examining the extent to which we are cloaking our self-interest behind words that are beautiful, noble, and lofty, we are sadly lacking. In the end I think it’s fair to say that all of our actions are made up of a mixture of good and bad motives, and the pretense of complete purity rarely glorifies God or serves the common good. It takes a strong faith in the authority of God’s word and the mercy of Christ to look at ourselves honestly. It’s a struggle to be honest about the self-righteousness that hides out in the shadows and deep recesses of our sinful selves. However, God’s word is clear in telling us that when we struggle against sin, and struggle for holiness, it is a sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in us, drawing us closer to Jesus Christ (Romans 8:1-39). And let me assure you that any struggle that brings us closer to Jesus Christ is worth it- Blessed are all who take refuge in him (Psalm 2:12).

I pray that God would be gracious enough to us to open our eyes to the complexity of our motives, and to fill us with the kind of Christ centered gratitude and humility that truly honors God and brings blessing to others.

Hospitality

We must relinquish our passive approach to friendships. That’s the bottom line. We’re too passive in cultivating meaningful affection for one another. We wait for the relationship to come to us. We want it to be “natural” and to “just flow” or “click.” I suppose there is a thing as trying too hard, but I think most of us are far from that. We perhaps try too little. We’d rather the coziness of being alone with our own thoughts, interests, and “friends” from some yesteryear like high school or college. We don’t like the toil of getting to know others and opening ourselves up (much less prying into their lives) in a substantive, transparent way.

One correction to this is an active hospitality ministry.  The Scripture commands us to “show hospitality” (Rom. 12:13).  By hospitality, I mean the cultivation of a wide network of relationships in the church through any number of invitations, engagements, and entertainments. The emphasis here is on the wideness of the relationships, not the particular activity over which you build them. Some part of our people’s time must be given over to meeting as many fellow members as possible, especially members not like them (i.e., different age, social/economic class, family backgrounds, ethnicity).

We must teach our people to open up their lives by opening up their calendars and their homes. If our churches are going to be healthy enough to survive difficulties, then our people must have enough credit with one another—drawn from the tenderness of sharing meals and meaningful conversation—to trust and assume the best. We must know one another broadly enough and deeply enough to know when someone else’s apparent anger is really deep hurt, or when someone’s resistance is masking pride, or when a brother’s disappearance from the fellowship is likely a sign of trouble with sin. And we can’t see beneath the apparent in one another’s lives if we don’t actually cultivate friendships with others. An active hospitality ministry in the body is one way of doing that. Of course, church-wide fellowships are another. But the point is that we don’t want to “professionalize” fellowship and hospitality by reducing it to only those church-sanctioned events and failing to discourage active hospitality member-to-member, up-close and personal.

Discipleship
Most churches I’ve belonged to have not had active discipleship efforts in place. Some people in “natural friendships” find time to encourage one another, pray together, or have regular accountability meetings. These tend to be some of the more mature members who find their way to each other. But the majority of people are not in that kind of relationship, at least not with members of their church. They find a lot of encouragement and love from Christian friends at work or at other churches. But they find little stimulus and nurture from the people with whom they covenant together in the local church. In other words, when our main source of spiritual care (apart from sermons and public gatherings) comes from those outside our church, our affections are likely to be stronger for those outside the body than for those inside. This makes it easy for us to “quit” on others because they’re not the source of nurture and love anyway. This is why some people can easily leave the church at the first sign of trouble and find a home in a church across town. Their hearts were already elsewhere, with people that they loved more than their church family.

If hospitality builds wide relationships, then discipleship builds deeper ones. It’s how we teach one another to obey all Jesus’ commands and follow His ways (Matt. 28:19-20).  Given that, is it too much to expect that every member of the church has at least two intentional, spiritually-focused relationships in the church… a relationship with someone more mature that is building into their lives and a relationship with someone as or less mature into whom they are building? And this, I would suggest, should be in addition to those relationships formed in small groups. So add two to the number of folks in your small group.

We will be healthier if we take some responsibility for one another’s spiritual lives. The membership is to be the frontline of spiritual care. If our affections lie with another country or just with our unit (i.e., small group) then our first line of defense against splits will be easily overrun. The enemy will establish key beach heads, take over key forts and bridges, and lay siege to the city.

What do you think about the points Pastor Anyabwile is making in this article?

With all due respect, what’s harder: to be an idolized rock star who travels around the world touting good causes and chiding governments for their lack of foreign aid, or to be a line worker at GM with four kids and a mortgage, who tithes to his church, sings in the choir every week, serves on the school board, and supports a Christian relief agency and a few missionaries from his disposable income?

Until we are content with being one of the million nameless, faceless church members and not the next globe-trotting rock star, we aren’t ready to be a part of the church. In the grand scheme of things, most of us are going to be more of an Ampliatus (Romans 16:8) or Phlegon (Romans 16:14) than an apostle Paul. And maybe that’s why so many Christians are getting tired of the church. We haven’t learned how to be part of the crowd. We haven’t learned to be ordinary. Our jobs are often mundane. Our devotional times often seem like a waste. Church services are often forgettable. That’s life. We drive to the same places, go through the same routines with the kids, buy the same groceries at the store, and share a bed with the same person every night. Church is often the same too — same doctrines, same basic order of worship, same preacher, same people. But in all the smallness and sameness, God works — like the smallest seed in the garden growing to unbelievable heights, like beloved Tychicus, that faithful minister, delivering the mail and apostolic greetings (Ephesians 6:21). Life is usually pretty ordinary, just like following Jesus most days. Daily discipleship is not a new revolution each morning or an agent of global transformation every evening; it’s a long obedience in the same direction.

I encourage you to read the entire article HERE.

These are both excellent books that everyone from Peace Lutheran should read..or listen to…….

Use the coupon code MAR2010 for Bonhoeffer, and the code MAR2010B for Piper. Go here for more details.

In his article The Economy of Anger, Mark Galli explores tome of the ways that our current economic crisis is eating away at the church and how we need to turn to the cross of Christ to restore our sanity:

But there is an unhealthy anger churning within a lot of us right now. It may be grounded in righteous anger — for there is a lot of blame to share in this sad economy — but it is not leading to anything righteous. Instead, it’s an acid eating away at the soul, a quiet rage that is morphing for some into depression and for others into the sweet promise of addiction — to food, to porn, to alcohol.

I encourage you to click Click HERE to read The Economy of Anger in its entirety.

Jonathan Dodson explores anger in everyday life and make some interesting connections between anger and unbelief in his article,  Anger: The Image of Satan:

When I grow angry I find myself losing belief. I lose faith in God’s goodness amid my circumstances. I lose belief in his promises, that "he works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose" (Rom 8:28).

This unbelief arises from sinful discontent with God’s wise providence, a failure to trust in His perfect will to do me good, whether through bad weather or good, emotional intimacy or none, apology or no apology. From emotional outbursts to weather complaints, anger arises from a failure to believe the truth, and belief that God owes me something: better weather or better marital intimacy or whatever.

Belief in this false promise is unbelief in God’s promises.

Powlison points out that we express our anger towards God in three main ways. First, anger either ignores or rejects the sovereign freedom of God. Second, it’s a refusal to believe God’s promise to work for our good in all things, even drastic changes in climate. Third, it enthrones our will for comfort over God’s will, effectively assuming personal supremacy over God. It puts God in the dock.

I encourage you to click Click HERE to read Anger: The Image of Satan in its entirety.

You can access the summary of the lecture HERE, download the entire lecture in MP3 format HERE, or read a brief interview of Melrose HERE.

Melrose, who led Toro from near-bankruptcy in 1981 to a 30-fold increase in the company’s share price and a doubled price-to-earnings ratio when he retired in 2006, centered his remarks around a faith-based vision for servant leadership grows out of his relationship to Jesus Christ and which that puts people first. Matthew 20:20-28

Being a  disciple of Jesus Christ is intended to be both compelling and transforming. Yet all too often our walk of faith becomes just another obligation that we must juggle along with the latest deadline or meeting at work, or the next school activity. Thanks be to God that it doesn’t have to be that way. When we live each day with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is at work in us to bring all things under Christ our walk of faith takes on a renewed sense of urgency (Revelation 11:15-17).

  We can get a real sense of that holy urgency whenever brothers and sisters in Christ run into each other during the week.  For example – when you run into a fellow disciple of Jesus Christ take time to share a few words about how it has been going for you lately as a follower of Jesus Christ. Have you been thinking about a particular Bible verse? Well then tell someone about! Have you been praying for someone or something? Then share our prayers with a brother or sister! That sense of holy urgency will  be amplified even more when we ask our brothers and sisters in Christ about the rewarding and challenging parts of their journey as  disciples so far this week.

The Apostle Paul said: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;  (19)  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? How does the Cross of Christ effect how you live your everyday life with other people? In what ways do your desires, anger, bitterness, fears, worries, or frustrations destroy the gift of peace that God has promised you (John 14:27, John 16:33, John 20:21)? How can the people of Peace be more faithful disciples by being Peacemakers in our  community? These are just of few of the questions we will address throughout the fall in the weekly sermons and adult Bible study.

God willing this sermon series will equip us to be more effective as we work hard to  carry out Christ’s ministry of reconciliation to our community and point others to Jesus Christ .

Click HERE to read a previous post I wrote on Peacemaker Ministries and how their work relates to being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I am convinced that being CHRIST Centered CROSS Focused PEACEMAKERS is so important for our mission as the people of Peace I will be leading the Peacemaker Bible study twice each Sunday:
During Sunday School 9:15 AM and after the second service at 11:30 AM

September 21st: Real Peace
Key Text: Colossians 1:15-20
Bible Study:  Conflict is an opportunity to glorify God.

September 28th: The Powerful Witness of Unity
Key Text: Ephesians 4:1-6
Bible Study: Living at peace with one another, and with our enemies is a key to our Christian witness.

October 5th: Finding Peace through a Prompt “You Turn”
Key Text: Luke 12:13-15
Bible Study: God uses conflict to reveal our idols.

October 12th: The Silence that Stifles True Happiness
Key Text: Psalm 32
Bible Study: Confession brings us freedom to live for God and others.

October 19th: Criticism and the Cross
Key Texts: Proverbs 9:9, Proverbs 12:15, Proverbs 13:10, Proverbs 15:32, Proverbs 17:10 .
Bible Study: Constructive correction is a sign of genuine love.

October 26th: Discipline is God’s Gift and Blessing to the Church
Key Text: Matthew 18:12-22
Bible Study: Discipline is God’s gift and blessing to the church.

November 2nd: The Welcoming Father and His Three Sons
Key Text: Luke 15:1-32
Bible Study: Our forgiveness shows what we think of God’s forgiveness.

November 9th: Our Church: A Dwelling Place for God?
Key Text: Ephesians 2:19-22
Bible Study: Christ overcame evil with good and he empowers us to do the same.