Monday, August 15, 2011

LONELY ME?

Yesterday we talked about our deep need for "community" and meaningful relationships.

Genesis 2:18 (NIV), The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone.

That phrase, "It is not good for the man to be alone…" blows me away. It's an amazing statement.

Keep in mind, God's assessment of Adam's "lonely" condition took place before “the Fall.” God made creation perfect… At this point, sin and disobedience hadn’t entered the picture… Nothing existed that could mar the relationship between God and man…

Adam lived in a state of perfect intimacy with God… But the word God used to describe Adam was the word “lonely.” And God said, Adam's loneliness was "not good."

IT'S CRUCIAL THAT WE GET THIS REALITY: Adam wasn’t lonely because he was imperfect. Adam was lonely because He was perfect. God created us for community, and it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone…

Here's what this means to us: The ache and longing we all have for community and connection is the only ache and longing we have that isn’t a result of SIN… Every other ache we carry is a result of sin… The ache created by guilt, shame, sickness, rejection, fear, you name it… All of that is a result of sin. The ONLY ache and longing we have that isn’t a result of sin is our ache and longing for community, connection, relationships and friendship

This is stunning! God created paradise for us to enjoy with our friends! In fact, after checking out all He had created, God’s verdict was, “Adam will never be able to fully enjoy all of this without a friend… He needs a companion…” (Genesis 2:18).

This is one of the reasons being a part of a SMALL GROUP is so essential! We need to connect. We long for deep-level, life-giving community.

Pastor Steve DeWitt over on the Biblical Counseling Coalition blog has an excellent post on loneliness, written from the perspective of a pastor. But regardless of whether you're a pastor, the post resonates with what a lot of us feel.

You can read Steve's entire post by clicking here.

In the mean time, if you're a part of a2 Church, look for the coming info on Small Groups. Prayerfully consider hosting or leading a Small Group. Contact Dan Butcher at groups@a2church.org or 205-370-0541 for more info.

Keep in mind: YOU WERE CREATED TO CONNECT! "It is not good for the man to be alone…"




Thursday, August 11, 2011

"Love The Way You Lie? You've got to be kidding me?"

This Sunday, August 14 as part of our morning worship experience our band will cover the song, "Love The Way You Lie, Pt. II" as recorded by Rihanna featuring Eminem.

Personally, I'm not a Rihanna or Eminem fan... And while I can respect and appreciate Enimen's obvious abilities when it comes to rhyme and verse, I'm also disturbed by some of the thoughts that seem to plague this rap superstar.

"Love The Way You Lie, Pt. II" isn't a song we would ordinarily cover in a weekend worship experience. (Some of the language used by Eminem is harsh and vulgar, to say the least...) It's a song about a toxic, destructive relationship that is literally destroying the people involved... According to Eminem, the song is not autobiographical. It's fictional, but it's real... How real? Well, the song has become a worldwise hit garnering more than 400 million hits on You Tube (this doesn't include the mp3 downloads from iTunes or Amazon).

Why is this song so popular? Evidently, a lot of people — probably even people within the confines of our church walls — can relate to the emotional and relationship pain this song describes.

"On the first page of our story the future seemed so bright,
Then this thing turned out so evil. I don’t know why I’m still surprised.
Even angels have their wicked schemes, and you take that to new extremes.
But you’ll always be my hero, even though you’ve lost your mind."


In an excellent post about this very song, Matt Smay writes: "...why all the interest in songs that portray life from a broken point of view? For me, something seems to be missing from the church culture. Perhaps it's that the church has lost its identity as a place of safey and refuge, where followers of Jesus and [people who don't yet know Jesus] can bring their confessions without condemnation. Instead the church has been pushed aside from deeply troubling and authentic conversations, and now looks outside in shock — even horror at the depth of our culture's issues..."

"Unfortunately, all the heavy issues are not absent from our churches...not unless we've been so judgmental to drive out all but the most disciplined Christians. Songs like these amplify my frustration with the church that is not wading into the deep, creating opportunities for dialogue. The dialogue in itself doesn’t fix anything, but it’s a great place to start DEALING with the toughest of life’s struggles. If we can trust the gospel of Christ to save us, why do we lack the confidence to dive into the conversation with both feet?"


Wow!

This Sunday we'll dive in with both feet... We'll talk about "controlling, unforgiving, reactive, shaming and ego-centered" relationships.

We'll also talk about relationships plagued by "cold shoulders, demeaning comments, explosive arguments, destructive habits, verbal abuse, physical abuse. You name it..."

More importantly, we'll talk about the only thing that can transform our relationships: the gospel of Jesus and the extravagant grace of God.

When it comes to culture, the church should never become trivial or "cute" and use songs, movie clips, etc. for the sake of being "cool, hip or relevant." Our mission is way is too important for that! The gospel is way too important for that!

When Paul entered Athens in Acts 17, he was "...deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere..." (Acts 17:16). The culture of the city bothered Paul. It burdened Paul. But he still quoted some of that culture's poet's in his famous sermon on Mars Hill. In quoting that culture's poet's / artists, I can't imagine Paul doing it for the sake of being "cool, hip or relevant." He did it with a deep burden and as a means of building a bridge, so that he could point people to the only hope we have: the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Mark Driscoll has written an excellent post on a Christian's response to culture over on The Resurgence blogsite. According to Driscoll, there are three possible ways Christians can respond to culture.

Receive – There are things in culture that we can receive as a part of God’s common grace. Whether it’s great music that celebrates a healthy relationship, a movie that is inspiring or uplifting or the Macbook that I’m typing this email on…

Reject – There are some things in culture that are sinful and not beneficial at all… For instance, pornography has no redeeming value and has to be completely rejected by sincere followers of Jesus.

Redeem - Finally, there are some things in culture that are not bad in and of themselves, but can be used in a sinful ways and need to be redeemed by God’s people.

This Sunday, we're going to attempt to "redeem" a song that poignantly speaks to a lot of the relational pain many people are experiencing. We'll use that song as a lauching pad to talk about our only hope: the gospel of Jesus and the extravagant grace of our great God.

Invite a friend to join you this Sunday at a2 Church for a worship experience that could change their life.

Love The Way You Lie, Pt. II (Rihanna featuring Eminem)
The Eseential Every Relationship Needs: GRACE

PLAYLIST - Part 2
Sunday, August 14, 9:45 am
a2 Church
600 Montgomery Highway, Suite 208
Vestavia City Center (Just behind Pet Supermarket)