Today's Reading...

Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your Name give glory; because of your love and because of your faithfulness. Why should the heathen say, “Where then is their God?” Our God is in heaven; whatever he wills to do he does. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but they cannot speak; eyes have they, but they cannot see; They have ears, but they cannot hear; noses, but they cannot smell; They have hands, but they cannot feel; feet, but they cannot walk; they make no sound with their throat. Those who make them are like them, and so are all who put their trust in them. O Israel, trust in the LORD; he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD; he is their help and their shield. You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; he is their help and their shield. The LORD has been mindful of us, and he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; He will bless those who fear the LORD, both small and great together. Psalm 115:1–13

(don't) Check Your Brain At The Door

When you decided to follow Jesus, did you have to take a stupid-pill? One of my greatest frustrations with the problems some people have with Christianity (or just faith in general) is the misconception that faith and science can't co-exist. The crazy thing is that there are many Christians and non-Christians who believe this. Here's how I view this problem:
To some Christians, science is the attempt to prove that God doesn't exist. If there's a rational explanation for everything, then we can't have faith, and therefore, God cannot exist. To them, God is not a rational being.
To some non-Christians, faith is merely an excuse for lack of knowledge. They see people who have faith and wonder why they don't use their (God-given) brains to figure some things out rather than being ignorant. Example: "I was looking for change for the parking meter, and when I reached into my pocket, there was a quarter there! I just KNOW God heard my prayer." (The quarter was probably there all morning, but this person didn't realize it.) This could be why so many people think faith is childish: it takes faith (and ignorance) to believe in Santa, and to them that's the same faith needed to believe in God.
I believe that science and faith are closely tied together. God created everything and He is the master designer. God wasn't ignorant of science, He created science. Being human, we are limited creatures and couldn't possibly understand all the ways of an infinitely wise and powerful God, and so we need to trust Him (have faith) when we don't understand something. This is why Christians don't have to fear science: if all of creation's secrets were laid bare, it would prove how God created everything, not that He doesn't exist; it would prove mankind's dependence on God, not our independence.
We are fooling ourselves if we believe that we can know everything about science, philosophy, or anything in general while we're here on earth, but we're also fooling ourselves if we don't seek to try and understand glaring issues and questions like: "How can there be a God with so much evil in the world?" or "Man evolved from apes, and scientists just found proof!" We can't afford to be ignorant Christians and not back up our faith with a little research. So if you're a Christian, ask "why" and look for answers to tough questions. Don't settle for pat answers you heard somewhere, discover science together with your friends and family. Have faith and know that all true discoveries, scientific and otherwise, will only clarify how God exists rather than show how he is absent!

Christ Is Risen!

I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. The life that I am now living, subject to the limitation of human nature, I am living in faith, faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Question of the Day: Video Edition

So... Where do YOU belong?

Unwritten Rules

There are many unwritten rules in life, that its, rules that are a given, ones that everyone should know: Don't date your best friend's ex, take your shoes off at the door, cover your mouth when you cough, etc.
In the so-called "Christian circle", there are also some unwritten rules like: Don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, don't go bars, etc. I call these "unwritten" because the Bible doesn't directly encourage or prohibit any of these actions. So how should we decide on these issues?

You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is helpful. You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is beneficial. Don't think only of your own good. Think of others and what is best for them. -1 Corinthians 10:23-24

God is good to us; instead of giving us a book filled with do's and don'ts, He gives us a book that tells us how to live. There aren't hard, fast rules for every situation. God wants us to use our minds to make decisions.
When you are making a decision on something not morally "right" or "wrong" (like whether or not to go to a friend's party where there could be alcohol), don't just think about what's good for YOU, think of what's good for EVERYONE. Are you being selfish or selfless? Are you sacrificing the good of everyone just so that you can have a good time? Don't forget to ask your friends, parents and other people what you should do! If you do these things, you'll find that you'll hear God speaking to you as to what your decision on "unwritten rules" should be.

Can't wait for summer?

Well, neither can we! Here's a little video to tide you over:
(note: Ranger does not endorse nor associate itself with any videos hosted on YouTube)

I saw the sign!

I drove by a church today that had this written on their lawn sign: “Like our sign? Try our sermon!” Yep, nothing gets my eyes-a-rolling like a good church sign. When I thought about it, I realized that this sign is how this church is getting Jesus’ message out to Saskatoon.

Let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with lawn signs. I just wonder what the best way is to make people aware of Jesus’ message. T-shirts? Church? Camp? In your opinion, what do you think best lets people know who Jesus really is?

Application Station

Alright, it's the moment you've all been waiting for! We've just updated our website to include our new LIT application, Jr. Staff application and police check/reference forms. So let the applications flow! We've also posted our annual camp tour on our website; check it out to see if and when we're coming to your church.

Same guy, different book

So I was reading 1John today and came across something interesting:

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 1John 3:11-15

In this book, John hammers on this point again and again: Loving brothers=loving God, hating brothers=hating God. Here he's illustrating this point until he makes a quick aside (in bold, courtesy of me!). I'll tell a story that I heard today that will hopefully make sense of John's comment.
I was doing a camp presentation at a church this morning, and throughout the service the youth pastor and others talked about their CRAZY Jr. Youth group. Bananas smooshed in doorways, disrespect for leaders, and on and on... all because they had a great event at the beginning of the year and the community kids kept showing up afterwards. But the congregation only expressed pride when someone referred to this seemingly out-of-control group.
After the service, I spoke with the youth pastor. He told me that one of his church kids actually got beat up during one of their meetings. It sounded pretty bad. I felt sorry for this kid. Tonight, when I read 1John, it hit me. But first off, props to this church for accepting community kids and recognizing the blessing they are receiving through accepting these clearly rough kids. Anyhow, according to the behaviour I heard of, it's clear to me that these community kids-according to John's standards-don't love their brothers. And beating someone up? That's a clear act of hate. "Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you." Why? Because Christians don't act like the world. And I bet that's why that kid got beat up. He was part of a different group, he was identified with loving Christians, and for that he received a beating.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

This church is on the fringe; they're a church that is actually doing what Jesus wanted the church the do. When you do good, don't expect the world to reward you. Trust that through this, God will make sure you are lacking in nothing.

Long time, no post!

Sorry it's been a while since our last post... just wanted to let everyone know that we've updated our LIT and Jr. Staff applications. No more 5 pager for you! We're going to post the new ones on our website in the next couple weeks, so keep your eye on rlbc.ca. We'd love to have you on our staff team this summer!