'Til Death Do Us Part

This week has been more difficult than I could have imagined. I watched the Netflix series "The 100" and was faced with the fact that we are all humans, in a earthly body, and at any point, could not be here in the next moments.
I have a difficult time dealing with death. I struggle when those around me pass away and I struggle in dealing with the fact that we are not meant to be on this earth forever. I am not sure if this is a millennial thing or just a human nature thing.

But because I struggle with death, I struggled this week with feeling the reality of our finite-ness. Each night I walked my dog before bed, I'd look at the stars and wonder what is my last night to view this wonder. I see the stars and I thank God for each day and ask to wake-up to another. The weight this week pulled me down emotionally. Though, at some point on Tuesday night and my nightly stroll with my pup, Psalm 23 came into my head. We all know Psalm 23, "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." I was hooked on how I could use Psalm 23 as my weekly devotional. And yet this whole week I was stuck when faced with the passage. I kept my Bible open to Psalm 23 so each morning and each break I would read this passage and remember what I am struggling with and working with. Once I read, and re-read my assignment for this week, to make an animoto (my video attached above). I had to create a "creative production of a psalm".

As you watch this video, please understand that this video is coming from my struggles of this week. The struggles of our finite-ness, the struggles of losing two grandparents, and yet the hope of Christ being our protector and guide through all of this.
I hope as you watch this short video, you feel your humanity but in a way that enlightens you to knowing the "goodness and unfailing love that will pursue you (and be with you) all the days of your life. (Psalm 23:6)"

I chose Meghan Trainor's song, "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" as the track for this video because not only does it remind me that we're not sure about tomorrow but while we're in today, we need to love like there is no tomorrow, to anyone and everyone. This song, even though it is not explicitly religious, God loves us unconditionally and unending; Like He is going to lose us. The way God loves us should be the example of how we love others, each and every day we are gifted.

Below is Pslam 23, the version from my Bible journaling Bible, the version I sat with this whole week.

Psalm 23
[1] The Lord is my shepherd;
              I have all that I need
[2] He lets me rest in green meadows;
              he leads me beside peaceful streams.
[3] He renews my strength.
             He guides me along right paths,
             bringing honor to his name.
[4] Even when I walk
             through the darkest valley,
     I will not be afraid,
            for you are close beside me.
     Your rod and your staff
             protect and comfort me.
[5] You prepare a feast for me
             in the presence of my enemies.
      You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
             My cup overflows with blessings.
[6] Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
             all the days of my life,
      and I will live in the house of the Lord
             forever.

Don't look back, you're not going that way.

"Don't look back, you're not going that way." ~ unknown

Each of us has something in our past that has broken us a part, piece by piece. And it is hard not to look back on that with hatred, frustration, and sadness. But that is in the past and you're not going that way. Healing begins when we start to look forward, when we grow and learn from the pain.

As a church, we do so well at repeating events and models that were created centuries ago because they are familiar and at that time, they worked well. Church looks back at the past whether there is pain or not and we keep looking back in hopes that it will mend our present and future aches. Don't look back, we're not going that way. Society and culture have changed so whPermalink
y isn't the church. The only way we will be able to grow from our past is to look forward because that's the way we're going. You have to meet people where they are at instead of hoping they'll find their way to the church.

So how do we do that for millennials? How has church changed?
Theology pubs are a great example of how church has changed. Church, faith exploration and growth happens in a bar with a handful of other people struggling and discussing the same things you are thinking about.

For me, music reaches me and helps me feel and worship God. For me, contemporary Christian music, loud, proud, and praise-worthy.

But church can have a lot of different ways of looking in today's culture, especially with younger generations. Be creative and think outside the box, get young adults truly interested, invested, leaders of what their church looks like, not what it's looked like for the past hundred years.

"Don't look back, you're not going that way."

Millennials Opting Out

In a world where the research says Millennials are opting out of their faith (Pew Research: Religion Among the Millennials), I sit at my computer working on an inter-generational summer video study series for my job. As I sit here and watch these videos on God, His Grace, and how He's working in the world, I can't help but feel a little more connected to Christ. I hear and see all that Christ gave us because of His sacrifice and I can't help but feel uplifted, loved, and important.

Go to google for a moment and type in Young Adult Small groups or Bible Studies. Look through your results and I bet you find less than half or even less than a third of the page linked directly to a church that has a young adult ministry.

In the church, they say that children and young adults are the future of the church. But when you enter the field of ministry, you quickly learn that they are not the future, they are the now. It is like saying that the tree I am planting today will be my shade tree in a decade or two only you don't water it or give it nutrients to thrive and grow. So in a decade or two, you are confused because your tree is either dying or dead. Just imagine this in the church. We say the youth are the future but we don't help them grow and nourish their faith, so when the future comes, we have a dying or dead church.

I can understand why young adults choose to walk away from their faith. I understand it because I can see that we are doing very little to help them grow in their faith. It is easier to not do something than to act. It's like when you fill out forms online and you have to put in your email, usually there is a box that is already checked that says I want to receive the emails and promotions.... They check that box because most people do not uncheck the box because it is the easiest option. The easiest choice for young adults is to walk away from their faith rather than face it.

I have a young adult ministry at the church I work at and we meet 3 times a year and we do service projects. Now, no, this isn't technically an "active" young adult ministry because we only meet when college students have breaks but when I know young adults are back, I make sure to gather them around something they are passionate about which in my case, is service. As a young adult myself, I am looking for something more. I want to be able to dig into the Bible with my peers and talk about the world situations, what it means in light of our faith, and where God is in all of it.
I find myself frustrated because we are just watching the millennials opt out of faith when we could be doing something about it.


So if you are a millennial who is ready to dive into your faith, maybe through a bible study or theology pub, please comment! I'd love to start a small bible study group!