If you’ve ever thought that your neighbors don’t want to hear about God, you’re wrong.

Take a look at the list:

1. What is the meaning of life?
2. Is there a God?
3. Do blondes have more fun??4. What is the best diet?
5. Is there anybody out there?
6. Who is the most famous person in the world?
7. What is love?
8. What is the secret to happiness?
9. Did Tony Soprano die?
10. How long will I live?

Are you as surprised as I was? Your friends and neighbors, your family and the people you work with want to know about spirituality.  They are asking questions about God, life, death, love and happiness.  These are huge questions and it can be intimidating to try and take them on.  But we do have the answers and now there’s a new tool that can help you as you share.

Soul Cravings Prequel is an authorized, abridged version of Erwin McManus’ popular book Soul Cravings.  Soul Cravings and Soul Cravings Prequel deal with the search for three things everybody craves: destiny, intimacy, and meaning.

Take another look at that list of questions. How many of them are answered with these three cravings?  You can use Soul Cravings Prequel and the companion site icravechange.com to share your faith in a open, conversational way.  There is a series of videos on the site where you can hear Erwin McManus talk about each of these cravings.  Try sharing one with a friend and have  a conversation about it.

Soul Cravings Prequel is also fully integrated with mentoring.  There are discussion questions peppered throughout the book.  You can use these as conversation starters or encourage your friends to send their responses in to us and a mentor will carry on the discussion.  You can order Soul Cravings Prequel books (just $4 each) from our site.  We also have a Personal Mentoring Starter Kit available which includes the prequel and several other mentoring resources.

People in your world are asking fantastic questions about God. How will you answer them?  Have you used Soul Cravings Prequel? We’d love to hear your stories.

The Crave Resources site has all kinds of resources to help you use Soul Cravings Prequel as you witness. Download discussion guides, learn how to use the book and finding a training seminar.

Watch The Other Six Days video. Explore what this video means to you through “The Other Six Days” interactive online study.

We know that the college years can be a time when young people walk away from their faith, but what about the teen years?

In a recent article for CNN, Kenda Creasy Dean, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, author of the book Almost Christian,  and one of the researchers on the study found that, “American teenagers are embracing what she calls ‘moralistic therapeutic deism.’ Translation: It’s a watered-down faith that portrays God as a “divine therapist” whose chief goal is to boost people’s self-esteem.”

Teens unable to articulate faith

According to the article:

The study, which included in-depth interviews with at least 3,300 American teenagers between 13 and 17, found that most American teens who called themselves Christian were indifferent and inarticulate about their faith.

The study included Christians of all stripes — from Catholics to Protestants of both conservative and liberal denominations. Though three out of four American teenagers claim to be Christian, fewer than half practice their faith, only half deem it important, and most can’t talk coherently about their beliefs, the study found.

Many teenagers thought that God simply wanted them to feel good and do good — what the study’s researchers called “moralistic therapeutic deism.

Dean goes on to say that, “If this is the God they’re seeing in church, they are right to leave us in the dust,” Dean says. “Churches don’t give them enough to be passionate about.”

What about the teens in your life? Are we sending our kids off to college with what Blue Like Jazz author Donald Miller describes as a “vending machine God”?

It can be tempting to assume that if you go to a good church and have a great youth pastor your teens are being taught well.  But as the study also found some churches praise youth pastors for being fun and creative a lot more than they praise them for solid teaching.  Yes, we want church to be a place where teens have fun safely, but that’s not its only function.  So what is a parent to do?

Talk to your teens.  Ask them good questions. Could your teen clearly and accurately share their faith? Do they have a solid understanding of forgiveness? How do they view heaven and hell? Do they believe that all of the Bible is true? How does your teen’s faith compare to your own?

Youth Church

Recently, the Youth Church movement has sought to make church more than just movie and game nights.  Youth Church features an actual church service- with music and a message catered to a teen and young adult audience.  They do still have fun – there are water slides and camping mixed in – but the schedule is focused on solid teaching, accountability in small groups and service to others.  You can go to YouthChurch.com to see if there’s a group in your area.

How do you incorporate discussions about faith in your family? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments.

Ever have a moment when you just need to take a breath?

Steven Slater, an experienced flight attendant was honestly trying to do his job.  A passenger ignored the pilot’s warning to remind seated and stood to retrieve her bag from the overhead compartment.  Slater reminder her that she needed to stay in her seat, for her safety and the safety of those around her.  The passenger refused, later swore at Slater and Slater was hit in the head with the piece of luggage.  (At this point it unclear if that was accidental or not.)

At that point, Slater lost it.  According to the article on CNN he quit, grabbed a beer from the cart and deployed the safety chute to exit the airplane.  Understandable? Sure. Wise? Probably not his best day at work.  There are times for all of us when we really need to take a moment to breathe.

It’s hard in the heat of the moment to take a step back, but it can be easier if you’re well practiced.  What’s true for Slater is true for all of us.  We need to remember to breathe and as Christians we need to remember our spiritual breathing as well.

Dr. Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ describes spiritual breathing this way:

Spiritual breathing, like physical breathing is a process of exhaling the impure and inhaling the pure, an exercise in faith that enables you to experience God’s love and forgiveness and walk in the Spirit as a way of life.

But the average Christian does not understand this concept of spiritual breathing as an exercise of faith and, as a result, lives on a spiritual roller coaster. He/she goes from one emotional experience to another living most of his life as a worldly Christian, controlling his/her own life, frustrated and fruitless.

We need to constantly remind ourselves of who we are and who God is, taking each thought captive, inviting God into every moment of our lives.

Read more about the practice of spiritual breathing.

So how is your day going? It’s unlikely that you stormed off the job today, but you might have felt like it.  Maybe you wished the kids could stop yelling for just. one. minute.  Maybe you’re waiting for test results and tense, perhaps things with your spouse are not where they could be.  Whatever you are facing today, don’t forget to breathe.  Exhale any frustration, anger, resentment or hurt.  Breathe in a fresh reminder of God’s love, His faithfulness, His provision, His forgiveness.  That’s a decision you won’t regret in the morning.

To learn more about spiritual breathing take Dr. Bright’s classic 10 part lesson Transferable Concepts. This timeless teaching was originally written as follow-up for new Christians, but it is a wonderful refresher for all of us.  Skip ahead to lesson 5 if you want to get straight to spiritual breathing.  When you take the lesson you’ll be matched with a coach who will pray for you and walk through your answers with you as you learn.

From a legal standpoint, at least in the US, the rule is “innocent until proven guilty” but that’s only what the law books say.  In the court of public opinion it simply is not true.  We know that something horrible happened to Natalee Holloway while she was vacationing in Aruba.  But we don’t know what happened.  There has no been trial yet.  Our hearts cry out for justice, but do we know what justice looks like?

Balancing the scales of justice

Justice is a tricky thing. One the one hand justice says that a young woman was hurt, possibly killed and someone needs to pay for that.  But at the same time justice also  says that an accusation is not a conviction.  We believe in a fair trial and due process to convict the guilty and free the innocent.

For Christians you would think justice should be simpler, but often it isn’t.  We know that we are all guilty, saved by grace.  We have seen justice and been spared from it.  We know that God cares about justice and also believes in second chances.  But at the same time we know that the world is flawed – that sometimes bad things happen to good people, sometimes guilty men walk free. So how do we balance justice?

Matthew 23:23 says:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

It’s interesting that those three ideas are linked together – justice, mercy and faithfulness. I think that’s where the answer lies.

Justice, yes, but mercy wherever possible.  If van der Sloot is guilty, justice demands retribution.  But until that is proven, he should receive mercy, not because he deserves it, but simply because we did not deserve it either and yet we received it.

Faithfulness can take several forms.  It could be praying for those who stand accused, that they would get their day in court, that they would find God if they do not know him.  It could simply be refusing to convict someone in our minds when the only proof is an accusation.

Justice is supposed to be blind.  Our sense of justice often is not.  If we can temper our justice with mercy and faithfulness I think we can get a lot closer to the way God sees it.

Faithfulness is one of the fruits of the spirit. Try our Bible study on Galations, The fruit of the Spirit is… to learn more about growing a spirit of faithfulness in your own heart.

It can be tempting to think that those of us who grew up in Christian homes, who came to Christ so early we hardly remember doing it don’t have “a testimony”.  But that’s not true.  I have a story of God at work in my life and so do you.

There is a time a place for “road to Damascus”  type testimonies, but they are not the only stories that are effective witnesses.  If you are a Christian, then you have a testimony, it really is that simple.  Sometimes we just need a little help in learning how to tell our own stories.

Often we think of testimonies as very structured things, chronological and order and the sort of story that has a lot of capital letters.  A testimony doesn’t have to be so intimating.  It is simply part of the story of your life.  You and I tell our stories all the time.  We talk about our families, our hopes, our dreams and our losses.  It’s just as easy to talk about how God has been at work in your life – that’s a story people need to hear too.

Stacy Wiebe wrote a fantastic article full of practical tips to help you craft how you tell your story.  I highly recommend it.  You do have a story to tell and we would love to hear it.   Take a look at our submission guidelines and send us your testimony.  You just might see it on the site.

A bomb is meant to kill.  To destroy.

Bombs of various shapes and functions are killing innocents in Africa, damaging oil pipelines in British Columbia, delivering mayhem to cities across the planet.  There’s little room for wavering about the function of a bomb: it is meant to conduct violent destruction to its surroundings.

I’ve had the experience of a bomb going off in close proximity twice in my life.  It disturbs the normal function and routines of daily life.  One moment the world is normal – plans can be made and the expectation is that those plans will be fulfilled.  The next moment, it’s difficult to get on a subway or a bus without looking for something that shouldn’t be there.  A small package.  A backpack.  Anything that is out of place becomes malicious and threatening.  Yet I’ve never had the experience of a bomb going off in my immediate proximity (nor do I care to have this experience).

That’s why this article from the Langley Times challenges me.  As a citizen, my immediate reaction is to cry out for justice.  Find the criminal, hunt him or her down.  By any means necessary, justice must be swift and ferocious.  In my perfect world, the criminal will be caught, publicly apologize with profuse crying and groveling, and then sent away to the Island of No-Return.  Forgiveness?  What a ridiculous idea!

And yet the victims of this senseless attack choose this unexpected path – forgiveness.  Where is the retribution?  Where is the hatred?  Whether it’s a physical bomb, or an emotional one given to us by a coworker or a friend or a family member, each of us have the potential of inflicting pain on those around us that can be long-lasting and deep.  And when it happens to us, our default response is to desire – or demand! – some sort of justice.  “I need to have my hurts recognized,” we cry out.  “I need to make sure that the offending party knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have been wrong.”  It doesn’t matter if the hurt is catastrophic or is as insignificant as someone cutting me off in traffic.  I demand justice!  I will roar up on the person in front of me, just so they know that they have done me a terrible injustice, and there!  Now you know that you have wronged me because I am currently riding one foot from your bumper!  Or, “oh family member, you must know how hurt I am!  So I am going to remove my relationship from your life for the next few months/years so you can feel the pain you have brought about!”  There, justice!  It feels so good!  It feels so right!

It feels so empty.

The ridiculousness of God’s idea of forgiveness is that it not only frees me from the shackles of vengeance but it directs its attention outward as an extension of grace.  I love the response from Gary Stevenson, “We have no bitterness, but my heart breaks for this person because they are hurting.”   What began as an act of violence had the potential to create a downward spiral of hatred and retribution for the Stevenson family.  Instead, this family has chosen a posture of forgiveness, opening doors to demonstrate this incredible idea to their community.  And perhaps that’s something that I need more of in my own life.  From the family member who utters an unkind word, to the coworker who causes tension, to the passing stranger who shatters the ideal plan for my upcoming day, God’s intention is that I would live under the idea of grace and forgiveness.  After all, I’m not perfect either.

The real truth is that the act of forgiveness is meant to heal.  It is never meant to harm or kill or bring about revenge.

Forgiveness is meant to restore.  To bring life.

I’m challenged by God’s belief in the ridiculous.

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Dr. Shadrach Meshach (S.M.) Lockridge isn’t a name many people recognize. He was an African American Baptist preacher for many years in the 20th century, but it’s not his name that he was concerned about. His primary concern was extolling the name of the Lord. This audio recording captures his most famous sermon, given in 1976, titled “That’s My King!”, due to Lockridge’s repeated refrain.

As we approach the anniversary of Christ’s death, let’s take a moment to meditate on Christ as King. Let Lockridge’s words stir and renew in your heart the knowledge of, and passion for, our great and glorious King.

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