5. We said goodbye to Pastor Keith. Weird to put a “goodbye” on a Top 5 List? Well, think about it. For a lot of our youth, this was the only pastor they had ever known. Keith was such a blessing to our youth and our church family, bringing us all together and building us up for whatever happens next. Now he’s focusing on some writing and music projects and we can’t wait to hear how God uses his gifts next! So saying “bye” to Keith meant that we get to support him in his next season of ministry. What a great way to say how much we love Keith!

4. We welcomed Pastor Wade! Wade Griffith came to us from Trinity UMC in Tuscaloosa. He’s already joined us scraping paint off of a house in Woodlawn and on our rafting trip.  He’s also a big gamer, so look for him on XBoX Live!

3. We scraped, primed and painted several house across Birmingham. What a blessing to be used by God to help neighbors in need. Tons of our youth participated throughout the summer. Big thanks to Urban Ministries for helping us make this happen.

2. Vacation Bible School was a hit! Kudos to our youth who did such a great job in skits, running video and sound, and leading groups of children all week long. We’ve got great leaders in our group.

1. FUN!! The scavenger hunt at the mall, Zombies vs. Humans, swimming at Liberty Park’s pool, the Relient K concert, the swim party with the youth from Genesis UMC, dodgeball versus the youth from Mountain Chapel UMC, video games in the youth room….we’ve had a lot of fun throughout the summer.

As much as I loved this summer, God has great things in store for us this fall. I cannot wait to be a part of it. I hope you’ll join us!

Still In One Peace,

Bart

Tuesday, June 8: Painting Ms. Haynes’ home. Allison Morhard and Bart Styes will lead a team of youth to our first day of work on this home in the Avondale/Crestwood area. It’s not too late to sign up! Contact Bart asap!

Wednesday, June 9: Mallrats Scavenger Hunt. We’ll meet at 11 am at the Brookwood Village food court. Youth will divide into teams and be given a list of pictures to take around the mall for points.

Saturday, June 12: Bushel Ministry Pickup Week 1. We will make sure members of our church who sign up for East Lake’s Bushel Ministry get their baskets of fresh produce.

LinC (Living in Christ) – Sundays @ 9:30 am – we’ll discuss the latest music, movies, news and current events through a biblical lens

Youth Band Rehearsal – dates/time TBD – for musicians of all levels, meets in the Worship Center

Youth Night – Sundays @ 6 pm – fellowship, games, and light group discussion with food, meet in the youth area

God of Rock Series – dates/time TBD – youth who want a “no experience/no talent/no problem” environment are welcome to attend. We’ll make music or just listen while we learn more about rock and roll and its influence on Christian music. Each day we will also explore a topic found in our favorite songs using our Bibles

Urban Ministry – Tuesdays June 8, 22 & July 19, 26 (tentative) – we’ll be working on a home in the Birmingham area through Urban Ministry. We will need at least one adult volunteer each day

Market Basket Ministry – on Saturdays, begins June 12 – we’ll pick up bushels of produce from East Lake and deliver to members of our church. Each bushel purchased by our church supports East Lake’s inner-city market and community

Do you ever turn into the “Me” Monster? Someone else is talking and instead of actively listening, you’re really just waiting until you can tell them something about yourself? Or anytime something bad happens to someone, your immediate thought is, “Wow, I’m glad that didn’t happen to me.” Or something bad does happen to you and you cry out, “Why does this always happen to me?!”

We can do the same thing when Christ asks us to do something that we don’t want to in our lives. We don’t want to love our enemies. There is a great reason why they are our enemies in the first place! We don’t want to stand up for our beliefs if they are unpopular. Why take the hit when we can keep silent and fit in? We’ve made it to the top of the heap and we want to stay there. We are popular, powerful, attractive, well off, secure, loved. And we don’t realize how ugly that makes us or how far that is from Christ’s final moments.

In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
Matthew 27:41-44 (NIV)

“Too often, especially among Christians, we become insular and sectarian. Our faith fortifies our prejudices instead of expanding our reach towards others. When matters turn for the worse, the ugliness of our souls is too often revealed. We scapegoat and, forgetting the lesson of the Good Samaritan, we become indifferent to the suffering of others.” – Eddie Glaude, Jr.

The ugliness of my soul is too often revealed. I have to admit that when I am challenged, I can get nasty. I fire off an email written while I was angry. I figure out a reason why I am right and they are wrong and then I use that to justify my behavior and condemn theirs. And I put myself above all others.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Luke 23:34 (NIV)

This painting reminds me that even as Christ was mocked, he was still Christ. Concerned for his mother and his friends, blessing the thief at his side, even forgiving those who gambled for his clothes.

Too often Jesus suffers without me. I disregard his teachings. I abandon what I see as his lost causes and hopeless cases. I turn my back on my friends. I scheme at how to get back at those who have wronged me. I put myself first, which is me at my worst. I give Jesus every reason to come down from the cross and tell God that I am not worth saving. But even still….he lays down his life for me. And he lays down his life for you.

At our worst, Christ is at his best.

This caricature would always take some view point that didn’t seem very Christian but then explain it in such a way as to justify it as being the God’s honest truth. All of this would lead in to an argument with the show’s host. But after the host had torn apart their argument, the Christian would always sneer back to the host, “Guess what….God loves you. DEAL WITH IT!”

It was like they were saying, “God is rubber and your the glue, whatever you don’t believe about Jesus bounces off of him and sticks to you!”

When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answers.
Matthew 27:12

When Jesus was on trial, he was asked to explain himself, to defend himself. It was as if by finding the right words, some air tight legal defense, that he would be able to wow the authorities, convert them to his cause and win his release.

Jesus didn’t roll his eyes, exhale an exaggerated sigh and say, “I could try to explain it to but you’re just too dense to get it.” He didn’t say, “It’s a Christian thing you wouldn’t understand.” He didn’t roll out a chalk board and say, “OK, I’ll outline this one more time and go slowly.” His closing argument to the earthly authorities was basically, “Look at how I have lived my life then tell me who you think I am?”

I love the band Switchfoot. Here is something that their lead singer John Foreman had to say recently, “If I view the truth as my possession to keep safe, I might feel the need to protect my faith. But if I am possessed by the truth, perhaps this protection is no longer needed. Maybe I am set free from the need to defend the truth, rather the truth defends me.”

Last night I got to see Switchfoot perform. It was amazing! They are great musicians who know how to rock out and get the audience pumped. But I’ve seen other bands that have those same qualities. What makes this band unique? Their sense of joy in what they are doing, how they delight in being with each other, how they care for their audience, the causes that they promote, and how their lyrics reflect both their struggles and their faith in God…it all comes together in a band that is set free. They are possessed in the truth. They are defended by the truth. And because of that, they rock.

Jesus didn’t need to defend the truth. Jesus was the truth. He lived the truth.

Can we live our lives in such a way that we don’t need words to justify ourselves? Can we live our lives in such a way that our actions mirror God’s truth? Let’s live in such a way that people won’t ask us if we believe in Christ. Let’s live so that they’ll say, “Look at how they live. Look at how they love each other and even those who don’t get them. Yes, they are Christians!”

One Sunday we come to church and wave palm branches. Jesus is entering Jerusalem triumphantly! The next Sunday we come to church and we see Easter lilies. Jesus is risen! But what happens between those two celebrations?

I wish we didn’t have to live from one Sunday to the next because what happens between those two occurrences is awful to recount. He’s beaten, mocked, nailed to a piece of wood and killed in a painfully slow manner. What’s to celebrate?

Yet if Jesus did not endure these things, which we collectively call the Passion, then he wouldn’t be….Jesus! We can’t have Jesus without the Cross. We can’t have Christmas, Palm Sunday or Easter without the Cross. We cannot be Christians without the Cross.

The disciples said “See, Lord, here are two swords.” That is enough,” he replied.
Luke 22:38 (NIV)

We find Jesus with his disciples. They are on alert because they are afraid that Jesus will be arrested soon. Many travelers in that region carried swords to protect themselves from bandits. So that makes sense to carry them for security. But it also seems that he gives them permission to defend him with swords if they are attacked. Does he?

Are two swords enough to stop the Roman military if they want to take Jesus by force? Does Jesus mean, “That’s enough to get the job done”? Or does he mean, “That’s enough, I’m tired of folks using violence to get their way”? Maybe he’s being sarcastic: “Hey Jesus, we’ve got two swords!” “Oh yeah, THAT will be enough to stop a legion!”

“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
Matthew 26:52 (NIV)

One of Jesus disciple’s draws his sword and cuts off the ear of one of the soldiers sent to arrest Jesus. Jesus doesn’t just say that this wasn’t the way to act. He then heals the ear of the soldier. I wonder if this same soldier later tortured, mocked and crucified Jesus? Does it make you mad to think that Jesus may have healed someone who then turned right back around and tortured and killed him later?

I found this as a way to explain why all this happened this way:
“God has no need of our services, much less of our sins, to bring about his purposes. Though Christ was crucified through weakness, it was a voluntary weakness; he submitted to death. If he had not been willing to suffer, they could not conquer him.” – Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

I want Jesus to call on angels to protect him. I want the disciples to become generals and lead the people as an army against the Romans. I want the motion picture epic story line with a rousing speech on the battle line and a musical score by John Williams! I love Jesus so much I want to pick up my sword to defend him!

But Jesus asks me to put down my sword. He’s got this one. He asks me to trust him.

The week between Palm Sunday and Easter is Holy Week. Jesus is going to triumph, we’ve already flipped to the last page of the story and read the ending. But let’s take this week to reflect on just what it cost Him to bring us Easter.