Are You Experienced?

Last week I spent the better part of 5 days with 33,000 Lutherans in New Orleans (not to mention 3 days traveling).  This was a part of the ELCA's National Youth Gathering, a huge event that happens every three years.  Now if you read our most recent blog from Neil Christians you read a little bit about how huge this event is.  From rock concerts to servant projects, from dances to devotions this is an event intended to make an impact on these young people (and the adult leaders) that will help shape their faith.  It is an experience.

Experiences shape our lives like nothing else.  Take Christmas for example.  Do you remember what you received for Christmas last year?  What did you get for your kids?  Contrast that with a trip you took or a family reunion you were a part of.  Those event, those experiences, the ones that we share with others, have a far greater impact on our lives than any Christmas present we have ever received.  Those experiences shape us more than sitting at our desk or in a classroom.  Our experiences define us.

Now the challenge: have you had any experiences lately?  Have you been able to break free from your desk and the endless list of emails to actually have a life changing experience.  All of us want those types of experiences but if we never step foot out of the office how will they ever happen.

This is what Jesus did for his disciples.  When he called them to follow him he invited them to experience life.  They were invited to be a part of everything he was a part of and those experiences shaped their lives.  It was because of those experiences that they were able to continue his mission and expand this new faith.  They were experienced.

My question is are you?

Greetings from New Orleans!

I am currently in New Orleans and I thought last week was HOT AND HUMID in Charlotte. Wow!

I'm in New Orleans for the National Youth Gathering awaiting the arrival of 32,000 high school students from across the world. We will be experiencing worship, fellowship, bible study, and a lot of service for the community here. I'm overseeing all of the young adults known as Servant Companions. They serve as the guide for all the participants as they go into the community to "Practice Justice". It's a deeper understanding of how we serve in the community. It's much more than just painting a fence or building a house. It's about willingly entering into the life of another where you are both blessed by God.

Some people have this view that we do service work to help others out. We as the 'strong' help those who are 'weak' or 'down on their luck'. It's very much a hierarchy mentality. However, Practice Justice doesn't have that view. We understand that we are all poor in some way. We are all broken. We are all in need. Those who have traveled to Third World Countries, comment time and time again how rich the people really are. They have very little in terms of possessions but rich in life, in love, in joy and in faith! We find out that in reaching out to others, we are truly blessed in ways that we cannot begin to understand or express in words.

That's why the theme for this year's National Youth Gathering is "Citizens with the Saints". It's about God tearing down walls that separate us like economic, race, sex, etc. We are all God's children. We strive to build bridges by reaching out to one another in love. It's as it says in Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
I pray that our high school students will return from New Orleans transformed by God as they Practice Justice so that they may return home to lock arms with this congregation to Do Justice here in Charlotte.

You can follow their journey on their blog at: http://clcatnyg.blogspot.com/ Neil Christians

Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and Scientology

Unless you have been living under a rock most likely you have heard about the epic split (third such epic split for Tom Cruise) between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.  Many of the accounts suggest that at the heart of their failed marriage, is Cruise's religion, Scientology, and how it was going to effect their daughter.  Now I am not an expert on Scientology, I have studied it from time to time and spoken with some members of the religion, but I am yet to hear many positive comments about this faith.  Now all religions, faiths and sects have skeletons in their respective closets (for example the anti-semetic comments of Martin Luther that we have dealt with in the Lutheran church) but I am yet to hear a leader in the church of Scientology speak out about their skeletons and how they are working to become a better group.  Instead if anyone speaks out against the church they are threatened with lawsuits upon lawsuits.  

Now this entry is not so much about Scientology but more about how we as a society (Christian and non-Christian) should respond to something, if it seems to be unhealthy for the general public and for those who are involved.  For example: you don't hear many people speaking well of the Westboro Baptist Church.  Anyone who is going to protest the funerals of soldiers who have been killed in combat could quite possibly be the devil's henchmen.  Or polygamist Mormon groups that force pre-teen girls into marriage with men in their 40s.  No one is marching down main street saying, "this is how we should live," or, "these folks have it together."  No, we call these groups out for what they are, expose them and protect the victims.  

At the same time, there is a fine line here.  We can't just go out and condemn anyone who is different from us.  We can't destroy their credibility just because we don't like them.  But, again, at the same time, have we become so politically correct that we don't call out and expose those individuals who are more than a little off?  Do we infiltrate those communities and protect the victims or do we toe that politically correct line and do nothing?  I fear that too often we err on the "do nothing side" but I am eager to hear what you think.  Should we be doing more to expose these groups or is that not our place.

Tell me what you think.

Chris 

Upcoming National Youth Gathering

It’s been three years since the last National Youth Gathering but it seems like only yesterday that my friends and I began our journey down to the great city of New Orleans. Although I attended my fair share of youth events throughout my high school career, the National Youth Gathering will always hold a special place in my heart. Most of the trips I took in high school were about having fun and goofing off with my peers- and granted the youth gathering was no exception- but the youth gathering also had the mission to bring 32,000 Lutherans closer to God. And the crazy thing is, it probably worked for every single person in New Orleans. Going to classes focused around faith, serving alongside other believers, worshiping in the Superdome, and being prayed over by strangers are just a few highlights I remember.

For those of you returning to the National Youth Gathering a second time, I hope you make even more memories than the last and if you’re a youth gathering newbie, enjoy the ride and absorb as much as you can throughout the event-filled week. You may be exhausted physically and mentally when you return back to Charlotte, but I guarantee that your faith and spirituality will be renewed. You will once again be on fire for God and I encourage you to keep the flame burning. As Paul wrote to the Romans “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11

I encourage those of you who aren’t going to the National Youth Gathering to be in prayer for our high school students and adult leaders headed to New Orleans. You can also stay updated about the group’s activities at http://clcatnyg.blogspot.com/.

Grant Huether, CLC Summer Intern

Fallow Ground

Coming from a big farming region in the Midwest, I am familiar with the concept of fallow ground. It’s when farmers don’t plant a crop on a section of their land for a season. They let it rest. During that season of rest, the ground replenishes its nutrients so that when the time comes for planting again, the harvest will be even greater. It is possible to overuse the land, rob it of its vitality and reduce future harvests.

I look at summer at the church as that fallow ground. Sometimes people ask, “Why don’t we have Sunday School, Wednesdays Together, Youth Programming, JOY Fellowship, etc. throughout the summer months?” Part of it is due to members’ and leaders’ erratic summer schedules, but a greater part is the necessity of letting the programs go fallow for a season. If we were to push all our programming year round it would be like that overused land. Our ministry would eventually lose its vitality and the harvest would decrease.

As it is, we now enjoy this Sabbath rest of letting the programs go fallow for a season. But when the planting of the falls season begins, you can expect an abundance that comes from a renewed sense of commitment and passion.

Enjoy this fallow time,  Pastor Scott