A Word From WCACYouthGroup

Jesus Takes Our Shame


“Living Out the Lyrics: What Does That Even Look Like?”


During youth group and on Sunday mornings we sometimes sing Judson W. Van Deventer’s, “I Surrender All.” The refrain is repeated throughout the song and goes…


“I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.” 


Whenever I sing this song I get a little scared inside. I’m hesitant to commit to my words. Surrendering ALL is an extreme statement. When we sing praise to and worship God we want to mean the words we say and offer them up from the bottom of our hearts, but how can we make such a big commitment without knowing what it means or looks like?


Slowly Read Colossians 2:6-15 
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”


When you think about Christ’s physical suffering and death on the cross, do you see a triumph? Honestly, it’s easy for me to see the shame, the pain and suffering, and the degradation. Yet here the Bible tells us that the powers and authorities of this world were paraded around in humiliation by the cross. I think deep down it’s easy for most of us to look away from the sight of Christ on the cross; a suffering and bleeding savior makes us uncomfortable, so we only think of it when we have to. What should really make us uncomfortable is that Christ’s body reflects our sin and brokenness. Take a good look inside and you don’t have to go very far before you see your own humiliation and degenerateness apart from Christ. However, Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf turned the world upside down. Those of us in Christ understand the triumph that Christ has over sin, over the powers that bound us. We can look at the cross and see that Jesus in being humbled to death absorbed our humiliation and brokenness. Is there any brokenness that you still need to surrender?


In versus 6-10, Paul starts off by reminding us that accepting Christ is no one time spoken proclamation, but a process to be lived out. We forget so often that we are living to glorify God, and in the large scheme of things, nothing else matters. The world might be saying otherwise, but we need to kill the selfish mindset and pointless stress, look heaven-wards, and become alive in Christ. We know that HE is the ruler of everything, and already has great plans for us. HE is the one who loves us and died for us. Take Christ off the back burner, and give everything else to Him, the one who controls everything. What is holding you back?


In versus 11-12, Paul again reminds us of the past when we accepted Christ into our hearts. He gets metaphor heavy and throws two big ones at us; “circumcised” and “buried with Christ.” In the NLT, it does a great job of telling you straight up what he’s talking about, “When you came to Christ, you were ‘circumcised,’ but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.” Also, not all of us have been literally been baptized, but when we accepted Jesus into our hearts, we surrendered our sinful nature and were raised to new life. In 12-15, he stresses the importance of the cutting away, and in verse 14, he explains why we can be alive in Christ. “He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.” We’ve all sinned plenty in our lives but we don’t need to be fixated on it because Jesus took it to the cross and wiped us clean. He loves us and wants to be with us; we shouldn’t be ashamed to go to him. Surrendering shouldn’t be a mundane task we’re hesitant to perform but a joyous one that we are more than willing to do in order to have a closer relationship with Christ.

Be a Light in this Dark World

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. -Ephesians 5:8
Sometimes we wonder, how can we be living in a cruel world filled with pain and sin? We wonder why we have to suffer, why we have to be different. God has given us the answer in His Holy Book; He has called us to be children of light. This passage is very clear and makes lots of sense.
A light in the darkness really stands out. It never blends, and it is the center of attention. God has chosen us to be His light in a world filled with darkness. He wants us to stand out to tell others about Jesus. The Bible says in Ephesians 5:15, "Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but as wise." We as Children of Light must know what to do in times of temptation.
You do not need a sign on your shirt that says that you are a Christian. People must know just by looking at how you dress, how you talk, and your attitude. In a public school, it is very difficult to have courage to be a Child of Light, but that is why it is always good to talk to your parents or any adult you trust. If not, just pray to God. He will be your guide.-Manny" http://www.tddm.org/ 
Along the same limes that this post talks about, you don't have to be ashamed of your beliefs. The world of Darkness wants you to feel like you can't talk about God without someone trying to fight you on it. Well, fight back. And sometimes you won't have the answer. Sometimes you won't feel like you have "won" the fight. But that's ok. Don't feel shame from that. Take that as a victory in itself. Learn from what you didn't know before, and be better prepared. But also, and maybe more importantly, don't let that scare you! Not everyone will be accepting of what you have to say, but those people are there for a reason. Either God has put them there for you to help or the devil has put them there to try and discourage you. So when you feel like you are totally surrounded by darkness, throw off all shame, and let your light shine out. Shine brighter then you have ever shined before! And when the darkness tries to stop your light from shining, just shine right through all that, too.

Wisdom from one of my favorites

Knowledge Makes a Secure Man Humble

by Don on January 25, 2010

Years ago, when I worked at a small publishing company outside Portland, I’d get together every couple days with a former seminary professor named Ross Tunnell. Ross had left seminary work and was doing graphic design, but was widely considered to be one of the smarter Old Testament teachers in Portland. I made a deal with Ross, saying that if I bought lunch, he’d teach me the old testament. And Ross took me up on that offer. We probably met more than fifty times over two years. It was a terrific arrangement.

Ross passed away only a few months ago and I’ve been thinking about those lunches, of all that I learned. But last night I remembered the greatest lesson Ross ever taught me. I was thinking about this lesson because while surfing around on the internet, I saw a minister somewhere speaking very arrogantly about how he had some bit of theology figured out and somebody else didn’t. I think maybe it was a moment of weakness for said minister, but nevertheless it helped me remember something Ross once said.

We were driving back from a conference in Salem and I was going off about some bit of scripture, explaining it to Ross as though he’d never come to the same revelation. I must have talked for about ten minutes, perhaps condescendingly (a way of speaking that prevents true dialogue, and also prevents anybody from disagreeing with you, at least in public) and Ross just sat there and listened. I don’t even recall what scripture I was talking about, but when I was done, and when I looked over at Ross to give an affirmation to my unparalleled intellect, he sat quiet. Finally, I asked what he thought. And Ross just stared straight ahead and said “I think knowledge puffs up.”

I was embarrassed, to say the least. There have been a thousand times since, though, that I wish Ross was standing next to me when I’ve made equally as embarrassing tirades.

Of our fifty or more meetings, that’s the lesson I remember best: Knowledge puffs up.

And I think this is the thing that ruins many a seminary student. Knowledge. It’s not that knowledge is bad, it isn’t, it’s good, very good according to Solomon. It’s just that knowledge is incredibly powerful and dangerous. It has to be handled with care, like a radioactive material. It can easily explode and kill many, pushing people away from the church (unless of course they agree with you.)

A good test for me is to come back to the fruits of the spirit. Is my knowledge producing these characteristics: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control?

If we acquire knowledge before we are emotionally healthy, that is if we are insecure, we are going to use it to boost our own ego and compare ourselves to others. The desire for knowledge will be like a need for a drug, then, pacifying a wounded spirit through comparative associations. Entire theological camps have been built and bolstered by this needy, angry, gluttonous desire for knowledge. But if we have confidence, if we are secure, knowledge humbles us. We realize that we did not invent truth, we simply stumbled upon it like food on a long journey. Knowledge will then produce the fruits of the spirit.

Seeking knowledge, then, is like tending a vineyard. It’s just farming. But you aren’t the one who produced the fruit, God is. You’re just a farmer, just a guy who makes and distributes wine. It’s blue-collar work.

Ross was one of the most humble men I’ve ever met. And he was also one of the most intelligent. Those two combinations are sadly rare. These days I’m wishing I knew what he knew, in more ways than one. Goodbye old friend. And thanks for the lesson.