The Barnabas Group

Hey Guys!

Youth was awesome tonight....thanks so much for coming. I hope we can see all of ya on Sunday at the Barnabas group.....here's all the details if you missed them. I

Love you guys!

Bob

The Barnabas Group!

(Hopefully we can come up with a better name!)

M&M’s (or Skittles) at every meeting!

Would God trust a teenager with ministry? It seems wild. But the answer is yes! Your mom and dad might think twice about loaning you the car, but God has always treated youth as significant people, EVEN LEADERS, who can change the world. And he wants to use you.

When: Sunday Nights @ 6:30pm

Where: Doug and Melinda Gilbert’s House

651 Holiday Lane, Lansing, KS

Who is Barnabas?

Well, his actual name is Joseph, but he was nicknamed Barnabas because it means “Son of Encouragement” (Acts 4:36-37). He is best known for traveling with Paul on his missionary journeys, but his greatest attribute was

encouraging other believers to grow their faith in Christ.

What is a Barnabas Group?

A Barnabas Group is a small discipleship group focused on growing in relationship with Christ. This group will be focused on building each other up in faith with encouragement as well as getting soaked in Scripture, prayer and practical ways to minister to your friends and family!

Is this just another fancy name for a Bible Study?

Ha! I wish I was that creative! This group is not only designed for you to understand God’s word better, but it is also dedicated to making you a leader among your generation – someone that will make an impact among your peers and parents for Christ! All while munching on some M&M’s!

My hope is that you will prayerfully consider this night of fellowship and make this a weekly commitment to your personal and spiritual growth. Christ has some amazing things planned for you! I can’t wait to see you encourage others to walk with Christ!

In Christ,

Brenton (Bob)

Tear Jerker

Hey guys! If you don't feel anything after reading the lyrics from this song then...you don't have a heart! Just kidding. I just think they're super moving.

Her parents never took the young girl to church
Never spoke of His name
Never read her His word
Two non-believers walking lost in this world
Took their baby with them
What a sad little girl

Her daddy drank all day and mommy did drugs
Never wanted to play
Or give kisses and hugs
She'd watch the TV and sit there on the couch
While her mom fell asleep
And her daddy went out

And the drinking and the fighting
just got worse every night
Behind their couch she'd be hiding
Oh what a sad little life
And like it always does, the bad just got worse
With every slap and every curse
Until her daddy in a drunk rage one night
Used a gun on her mom and then took his life

And some people from the city took the girl far away
To a new mom and a new dad
Kisses and hugs everyday
Her first day of Sunday school the teacher walked in
And a small little girl
Stared a picture of Him

She said I know that man up there on that cross
I don't know His name
But I know He got off
He was there in my old house
and held me close to His side
As I hid there behind our couch
The night that my parents died

Titles are for wimps!

So I've been a little lost lately with some stuff, and you guys know what to do when that happens right?! RIGHT! You turn to your trusty ol' Bible and God will always offer something to help. So as far as being discouraged and stuff goes, well, I really like this passage from 2 Corinthians:

"All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Chist. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. So when you are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God's comfort." (3-7)

Sometimes it feels like satan is getting the upper hand on you, weighing you down with a bunch of bad stuff, but just remember God will always be there for us and will take care of us, even through really bad times.

"Oh Lord dont' be far away. Storm clouds gathering beside me, Please Lord don't look the other way. I'm a crooked soul trying to stay up straight, Shine on me, Let my shadow prove the sunshine." ~Switchfoot

Aley

I'm a slacker, yes yes, I know...

Ok, so I haven't done a verse of the day in ages, and since I don't have my bible with me and I have nothing prepared but still feel the need to put something up for today..I will leave you with my FAVORITE verses:

Love is long suffering,

love is kind,

it is not jealous,

love does not boast,

it is not inflated.

It is not discourteous,

it is not selfish,

it is not irritable,

it does not enumerate the evil.

It does not rejoice over the wrong,

but rejoices in the truth
It covers all things,

it has faith for all things,

it hopes in all things,

it endures in all things.

1 Cor. 13:1-7

There ya go all you eager blog readers!

SKIT NIGHT VIDEO!!!

So if you've seen our new video and you weren't at youth group on Wednesday.....you're probably wondering what on EARTH we were up to.

The guys and girls put together a bunch of skits of how they thought Non-Christians viewed Christians today.....pretty interesting and funny if you watch the video!

Obviously.....this is not what ALL Non-Christians think of ALL Christians. Either way, i thought it was a pretty funny insight.....let us know what you think!

For it is not merely knowing the law that brings God's approval. Those who obey the lay will be declared right in God's sight. Even when the Gentiles, who do not have God's written law, intstinctively follow what the law says, they show that in their hearts they know right from wrong. They demonstrate that God's law is written within them, for their own consciences either accuse them or tell them they are doing what is right. The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone's secret life. This is my message.

Paul, in Romans 2:13-16

It's all about the GC, baby!!

Hey Guys.....its Bob,

So, lets get the obvious out of the way.....ATF was AWESOME!!! God was movin like a freight train, and there's only a few things that beat bein in a room with 8,000 other believers.

But now that we've been a couple days back at school...maybe things are different. Maybe we've noticed how many of our friends aren't saved, and we're thinkin.....hmmm.....i wish i could share Christ with them.

This Wednesday, we'll be talkin about the Great Commission and what it means to all of us. But we're also gonna spend a lot of time just...chillin. I can tell you guys just want to hang out and get to know each other better....so i aint gonna be the one to stop ya!

One other thing.....we've been thinking about starting youth at 6:30, rather than 7:00.....still goin till 8pm. A penny for your thoughts?

God Bless all of ya!

Bob

This Wednesday.....

From this photo, guess what our message will be on this Wednesday at X-treme Faith

Saturday

Ok peeps, here's the plan for saturday. We're finally going to have a movie night! YAY! I know, awesome right? So saturday 7:00, be there or be....trapazoidal! Oh yeah, much worse than square fo sho. I have no clue what movie to watch, so comment some suggestions, alrighty? Then...MAYBE, I was thinking we could all go see The Pink Panther sunday evening? Sound good? Ok, well, just comment.

Xtreme Faith 1/11!!!!!!!

"And it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20-21

Hey guys....Bob here,

Tonight at youth we will be talking and debating about my favorite subject......Jesus! I know this is kinda late notice, but if you have a Bible, bring it tonight......you will need it! We will literally be debating to truths about Christ - He is fully human and he is fully divine! I pray by the end of the night we will know more about the Man that means so much to us......come ready and Bibled up to be in His prescense tonight!

Christmas Story

Ok Jon, wow, we have been slacking majorly! I know, I know, finals. So I'm going to make this one so amazing it'll erase all memory of how badly we (at least me) have been slacking!

This is a Christmas Story. In fact, it is THE Christmas Story. And seeing as how I'm probably not going to be able to post much after today (not net and all) I'm going to relate this story today. It's the real "reason for the season" as the song goes, and although everyone has heard it, sang about it, performed it, seen paintings of it...I don't think it hurts to review, just in case some of you aren't quite in the spirit of Christmas yet.

Matthew 1:18-25
Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiance, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quitely, so as not to disgrace her publicly.
As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "don't be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All of this happened to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet: "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel (meaning God is with us)."
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded. He brought Mary home to be his wife, but she remained a virgin until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

So there you have it, the Christmas Story! Hopefully everyone already knows the true meaning of Christmas but if not, be willing to share this story with them, not that is is fresh in your minds. See you all tonight. Lasagna...YUM!

The Shortest Verse of the Day EVER!!!

First go to Tim's blog and read his post from the 15th.........
Man, you guys are SLOW readers! Ok, now proceed!

Luke 6:27-35
But if you are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give what you have to anyone who asks you for it; and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back. Do for others as you would like them to do to you.
Do you think you deserve credit merely for loving those who love you? Even the sinners do that! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, is that so wonderful? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, what good is that? Even sinners will lend to their own kind for a full return.
Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don't be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.


I know you've probably heard that verse a million times, but you can never read God's word too much, so it matters not! And there you have it, love everyone! Simple enough right!? I think so...simple to think about, harder to do, but work at it guys and have faith.

That's it, I give in

Thank you all for your time and patience, but I posted those test posts at like 12-4 pm earlier today, and they just now came up...so the real deal will probably come up at like midnight. Oh well, it will be there at some point, but not anytime soon probably. Love ya guys. You ought to spend some time praying together and do communion anyway. God's good, even if technology isn't. Cya Sunday.

Luke.

Good News!

I know it's getting to be that time where everyone is just about dead. Everyone's stressed and tired (which was completely obvious during worship practice on sunday). Whether its because of grades or homework or just tired of school period, this verse applies to all!

Paul says in Philippians 3:7-11....
I once thought all these things (for our sake, lets think of these things as school related) were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage (rubbish), so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, haring in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!

Whenever you get overwhelmed by all the worldly responsibilities and trying to achieve all your worldly goals, remember....they don't matter! Don't get me wrong, goals are important and if you want to do something with your life, you do need to do decent in school, but in the big picture, getting A's in school, going to college and landing a well-paying job means very little. Think about it, is God going to care if you got a D on an english essay? Is your future job going to have any berring on your enterance into Heaven? NO!!! Everything we are doing now that is not doing God's will, is garbage, or rubbish, as my favorite shirt says.
I know I have always had a problem with trying to overachieve in high school. I HAD to get all A's or I'd just die! I thought that my being in the top 10% of the class and getting into a great college were the most important things. Luckily, I've come to realize that they really don't matter at all. My serving God and worshiping Him is all that really matters. For people that don't have Jesus in their lives, it makes sense that they would be so concerned with worldly achievement, but it makes no sense for us! We have God in our lives! Do we not have more important things to do than read "The Scarlett Letter"?

Colossians 2:8-10...
Don't let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ. For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe.

So, to sum it up: Don't stress out about finals and all those horrid things. Do they matter?...Yes, but not as much as they seem to right now. And if trying to achieve perfection in school takes away from the time you have to spend with God, then stop! (I know, I am the last person to be saying all this, I should be talking into a mirror, but I am taking my own advice, believe me!) So chill out guys, don't work too hard and take a sigh of relief because in the big picture school does not matter at all! (Don't tell your parents I said that)
Peace out yo!

New Post New Post! Yay! Yay! Yay!

I was thinking back to the last time Ali and I did worship, not last night but 2 weeks previous. We had a song that we had a little difficulty getting the timing down on "Strenght and weakness." But we got it. Speaking of strength and weakness...(awesome segway huh) let's see what the Bible says about strength and weakness.

We're all weak in comparison to God, we know that. Without Him, we can do NOTHING! But why would God want a bunch of weak, helpless human beings? I have no idea, but he does. "God blesses you when you are mocked and persecuted and lied about because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted, too. "~Matthew 5:11-12
We are supposed to be happy when we are persecuted, when we are at our weakest. Jesus was persecuted. The only difference is Jesus was not weak when he was persecuted, He allowed it to happen. But, still....
Jesus loves us all the time and that does not change when we have no strength. Just as our earthly parents feel compassion and want to take care of us when we are unable to take care of ourselves (and sometimes even when we can), our heavenly Father wants to take care of us too. Makes sense. "Then Jesus said,'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give is light.'"~Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus actually wants us to come to Him when we are weak, and, lets face if guys, its a good thing. We usually go to Jesus when we are weak and when WE feel we need Him. When we are feeling high and mighty, sometimes we push Jesus to the side, because we feel as though we're in control and we don't need Him, at the moment. But when something happens that shakes us up, we go running to Jesus, begging for help. And because he is so amazing, He still takes us in His arms. I remember a devotion we had during dance practice once. Our leader demanded we dress in white shirts and black pants and beautify ourselves before practice. When we arrived we found our leader covered with mud and "filth." She then proceeded to try and hug us. Of course, we relented, we weren't crazy! Her point was, only our Holy Father would take us covered in filth, as we often are. I thought it was a pretty good devo.
There's a Building 429 song that goes:
When no one else knows how I feel
Your love for me is proven real
When no one else cares where I’ve been
You run to me with outstretched hands
And You hold me in your arms
Again.

Jesus is always willing to take us and call us His own. Our weakness is what allows us, sometimes, to go to Him, with open arms. This is Paul talking: "Each time he said,'My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your WEAKNESS.' So now I am glad to boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weakness, and with insults, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."~2 Corinthians 12:9-10

So don't ever be afraid to admit you are weak and you need Jesus, because even if you won't admit it, it does not change reality. Even when we are at our strongest, we are still unbelieveably weak, and we need Jesus, all the time. Peace out Yo! Comment, PLEASE, some one other than Ali and Luke, well, in addition to Ali and Luke. C'mon you know you want to, all the cool kids are doing it!

Leap of Faith (literally for Indi)

Hey guys!

So I was reading in my Bible on...friday, I think, and this passage jumped out at me:
"But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will al be tranformed. It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have dies will be raised with tranformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die. For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. When this happens-when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies tha twill never die-then at last the Scriptures will come true: 'Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Corinthians 15: 51-54

Then I thought, all we have to do is accept Jesus as our savior...and all that transforming applies to us, we'll get to change into something worthy of going to Heaven to be with Jesus. So why can't some people believe this? Why doesn't everyone believe that, so they can go to heaven? I came to the conclusion it is due to faith. There's a Lifehouse song ( I know I'm obsessed with quoting Lifehouse songs!) that says:" I am falling into grace, to the unknown, to where you are and faith makes everybody scared it's the unknown, the don't-know..." How true?

I was watching Indiana Jones-the Last Crusade on saturday. There's a part when he is in the cave containing the the Holy Grail and he has to beat the three security measures to get to the grail. The last one, the path of God, is a cliff. Indiana knows there's NO WAY he could jump the cliff to the other side. However, as Indi discovers, it only looks like there is no path to the other side. To find this path he must take a HUGE leap of faith and step out into what looks like only air. That's kind of what it's like. We just have to close our eyes and trust that God will take care of us. We're all afraid of things we can't see or hear or experience with any of our senses. I think it's a human thing, not trusting what we don't know is absolute by proven fact. Even though we are afraid of faith sometimes, it is a must in a relationship with God. Hebrews 11:1 :"What is faith? It is the confident assurance tha what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evedence of things we cannot yet see." Then: "So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." Hebrews 11:6

Hebrews chapter 11, as mentioned sunday, is the "faith chapter." If you guys get the chance I urge you to read the whole chapter because it has a lot of great examples of faith. So there's a little bit on faith, hope you can derive some useful knowledge from some of that.

La Post of la day

OK guys, since this is my first time putting up the verse of the day, I'm going to start from the beginning.
In the beginning God created the heavens...
Just kidding. Seriously now, the verse I chose has a lot to do with what we talked about last night at y.g. I don't want anyone to feel like this subject is being over emphasized or like those who weren't involved in whatever happened do not need pay attention. EVERYONE criticizes people at some time or another. We criticize ourselves a lot of times too. So this verse applies to all y'all and me of course.

Luke 6:37-42
"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will come back on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven. If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving-large or small-it will be used to measure what is given back to you."
"Then Jesus gave the following illustration:'What good is it for one blind person to lead another? The first one will fall into a ditch and pull the other down also. A student is not greater than the teacher. But the student who works hard will become like the teacher.'"[work hard and we can be like Jesus!]
"And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying,'Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye."

Now I know what you're thinking. Isn't there productive criticism too? YES! The Bible says this about helpful criticism: "If you reject criticism, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding."--Proverbs 15: 31-32

So, I think those verses are pretty straight forward. Don't criticize others just to be mean or funny; if its not going to help them, don't say it. On the flip side, if some one does criticize you, determine whether or not they are really trying to help you and if they are listen to them. I honestly believe the first step to reducing the number of flaws you possess is realizing what those flaws are. EVERYONE has flaws, except Jesus, so there's no shame in knowing what they are. However, if you're a little better at seeing some one's flaws than they are, and you have no intention of helping them overcome that flaw, hold your tongue.

Sorry I'm so late getting this in, busy morning. You guys rock, I love you all. Hope these verses speak to you and you get something out of them.

Peace Yo,
Aley

Read the daily entries!!!!

Hey,

This is Bob....read the entries and leave a comment, or else i will get very.....VERY mad.

heheheheh nah, i can't do that...but i did want to show you a photo of me last weekend of my cornrows....pretty insane huh!

But you guys do need to blog about this weekend!! I want to hear all about it and how God moved in your life.

Jon is leaving some awesome entries with ripper verses too. They're definately helping me a lot...and i think you should try them all on for size.

Love you guys....can't wait to hear about the weekend!

Pictures from XF 11-02-05

Blogger Central at RCVF.....ummm are they supposed to be on the computer?

Two of the fearless leaders - Bob and Jube

The Usual Suspects......love you guys!

Hey guys,

Your blogs are now up on the site! And hey......what about the challenge i threw down to you guys last night? Well, i hope you're reading the posts....because they're really good. Thanks Jon.

I hope you guys have a great time at the conference this weekend...ill be praying for all of you. Let me know how it goes.

God Bless,

Game Master

Pinch and a Punch for the First of the Month!!! No Returns!!

Happy Novemeber everyone!!! And what an incredible day outside!!

Here's our verse for today!

John 21:18
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."

Lets all have a resolution for the month of November. In the spirit of examining and testing ourselves to deepen our faith, lets also be open to letting Christ lead us into things we may not feel so comfortable doing. Read the Bible everyday! Call someone you haven't talked to in a while! Start a daily prayer schedule! Ask questions about your faith that you would be scared to ask in church!

I believe that God is pulling us in a direction everyday, by our belt buckles, trying to get us to explore the depths of his love even more. How willing are we to stretch out our hands and let Him take us where he wants us?

May November come and be a great month for spiritual growth! I hope all you guys have a great day! And i'm intending to come be with y'all on Wednesday!!

God Bless,
Bob

Verse of the Day 10-29

Hello, and Good Morning to all!

Today is a great day! And what better way to start it with a refreshing dive into the Word. Before i go though...just a quick update on what i've been up to:
We had our first basketball game against the Saint Mary Alumni last night and won by 40 points! It was pretty one sided, but a good game to get our legs running.......I am taking a trip to Homework City this weekend, as i have 2 major assignments due for Monday. I hear the traffic is terrible, but ill take some pictures for ya....ha! I'll probably see some of you there! I'm also on a weekend class this weekend, but don't worry, i'll be there Sunday. Oooh also, you may not recognize me this Sunday.....my hair is a little.......different! That's all I'm going to say.

With that being said, lets take a look at the Verse of the Day

2 Corinthians 13:3-9
I will give you all the proof you want that Christ speaks through me. Christ is not weak in his dealings with you; he is a mighty power among you. Although he died on the cross in weakness, he now lives by the mighty power of God. We, too, are weak, but we live in him and have God's power--the power we use in dealing with you.
Examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine. Test yourselves. If you cannot tell that Jesus Christ is among you, it means you have failed the test. I hope you recognize that we have passed the test and are approved by God.
We pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. We pray this, not to show that our ministry to you has been successful, but because we want you to do right even if we ourselves seem to have failed. Our responsibility is never to oppose the truth, but to stand for the truth at all times. We are glad to be weak, if you are really strong. What we pray for is your restoration to maturity.

I chose this verse today, not so i could explain to you what is meant by it, but that you might read deeper into it and around it and find your own meaning. I will say a few obovious things though:Paul is calling out the Corinthians on their actions and convicting them to test their faith to see if it is genuine, but why is he doing this? That is what i hope you will find out. Get out your Bibles today and see why Paul was so adamant about this for the Corinthians! Find out why this was so important not only for them, but also ourselves. How can we test and examine our faith daily to see the mighty power of Christ working within us?

Let me know.....post a comment!
I love you guys, and I hope i continue to see Christ's power work through you

God Bless
Bob

Verse of the Day 10-27

Hey guys.....its Bob.

I heard there were only a couple of ya at youth last night, but i heard it was excellent. Thanks so much to Mike and Jennifer for coming to help out. I know Luke really appreciated it, and we'd love to have you guys back anytime!

Anyway, im about to dive into the word.....wanna come?

Matthew 25:37-39
"Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will tell them, 'I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'"

To me, this sounds like a call to social justice! "Oh no!! First Bob is trying to get us to ask all our friends to youth, now he wants us to write a letter to our congressman about better care for homeless people!!!" Well guys, i'm not gonna lie......that would be AWESOME! But social justice can mean so much more. In this passage, Jesus is talking about some of the poorest of the poor, but in saying this he is also talking about our treatment of all people. Just stop and think for a second how many people we look at, pass by or talk to each day and treat like they are the least of our brothers and sisters......................................................................................................ok, thats enough thinking, i've thought of too many already.

I know that we all have people in our life that we treat like our dirty laundry piles. We wear them for a while, but when they get all sweaty and dirty we throw them in a pile in the corner of our room. We neglect them for days on end and watch them as they get smelly and moldy in our sight. We only look to that pile when we've totally run out of clean clothes, but when we stick them back on, we are uncomfortable, because we've let the clothes sit for so long and can't stand the smell. (OK, maybe its only me that wears dirty clothes from time to time...ignore that metaphor!). But ultimately, we can change the way we approach these people in our lives. Christ is calling us to take out our dirty laundry and wash up the way we interact with others; approaching them with love, kindness and compassion. This is a call to social justice!

This doesn't mean you have to treat everyone like your best friend.....but giving everyone a smile wouldn't hurt. Not being afraid to sit with a stranger at lunch would be awesome. You guys should come hang with me at the geek table sometime.....you'll find some real interesting folk. Basically, if we can work on acting Christ-like to those we interact with daily, we are not only living out his mission but are serving a higher call to social justice. And i know all of you guys are already awesome in that aspect, but i know that we all still have a dirty laundry pile that needs cleaning.

Ooooh, that was a refreshing dip! Thanks for jumping in with me guys. I love all of ya, and i hope God is blessing ya with an awesome day!

Galatians 5:25
If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.