I keep finding it interesting that throughout our current Sunday youth study, “Another World is Possible,” we keep falling back to Acts 2.
In this chapter we see the apostles forming the first church (group of Christians). The first couple weeks of our study looked at poverty. When we looked at Acts 2, we focused on verses 44-47. These verses talk about how the early church would take care of those in need so that they “had all things in common.”
Last week, by no plan of our study, we participated in The Village Chapel’s potluck dinner. We remembered Act 2:42. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Each Sunday we listen to teaching and we pray, but this last Sunday we also hung out with each other (fellowship) and ate (breaking of bread). These were the four things the early Christians dedicated their lives to!
Now as I prepare for my lesson this week, I find myself going back to Acts 2. You will have to attend TVC Youth Bible Study to find out why it is coming up again.
The most interesting thing is the lesson is called “Another World is Possible.” It’s a title that sounds like its telling us we can do something entirely new. Yet as we study, we realize it is a plan that has already been made. I guess over time, we have just forgotten the plan.
- Peter
January 25, 2008
January 17, 2008
Frustration
I was soooo frustrated last week. My internet was not working properly. I felt a bit stranded as I was having a hard time sending and receiving emails. I couldn’t do research or go shopping from the convenience of my office chair. I tried posting last week’s blog entry as I was continuously rejected. (If you look below this entry you will see I finally posted it.)
After my internet was working again, I calmed down and realized how silly my frustration was. We have been in the middle of a study on poverty. I was reminded that people around the world travel miles a day on foot just to get water or work very hard to obtain food for the day. Here I am annoyed that I can not post a journal entry for everyone to read. Crazier yet, I was annoyed by the thought that I may actually have to go to the library to look up some information or use the telephone or postal service instead of using my email.
I hope our current study has inspired you to take a look at your life and rethink the way you think and act. I know it has for me. I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion this past week. I have posted some of the scripture and quotes we talked about in case you would like to look back at them.
- Peter
“We can not understand the poor until we understand what poverty is like.”
– Mother Teresa
“In the poor we see Jesus in his most distressing disguises.”
– Mother Theresa
“If someone steals a person's cloths we call them a thief. But shouldn’t we give the same name to the person who could cloth the naked, but doesn’t.”
- Basil the Great
“There is enough for the world’s need, but there is not enough for the world’s greed.
- Gandhi
“The tragedy is not that the rich don’t care for the poor. The tragedy is that the rich do not know the poor.”
– Shane Claiborne
Matthew 25:31-46
1st John 3:16-18
I Corinthians 13:13
After my internet was working again, I calmed down and realized how silly my frustration was. We have been in the middle of a study on poverty. I was reminded that people around the world travel miles a day on foot just to get water or work very hard to obtain food for the day. Here I am annoyed that I can not post a journal entry for everyone to read. Crazier yet, I was annoyed by the thought that I may actually have to go to the library to look up some information or use the telephone or postal service instead of using my email.
I hope our current study has inspired you to take a look at your life and rethink the way you think and act. I know it has for me. I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion this past week. I have posted some of the scripture and quotes we talked about in case you would like to look back at them.
- Peter
“We can not understand the poor until we understand what poverty is like.”
– Mother Teresa
“In the poor we see Jesus in his most distressing disguises.”
– Mother Theresa
“If someone steals a person's cloths we call them a thief. But shouldn’t we give the same name to the person who could cloth the naked, but doesn’t.”
- Basil the Great
“There is enough for the world’s need, but there is not enough for the world’s greed.
- Gandhi
“The tragedy is not that the rich don’t care for the poor. The tragedy is that the rich do not know the poor.”
– Shane Claiborne
Matthew 25:31-46
1st John 3:16-18
I Corinthians 13:13
January 12, 2008
Do Not Feel Guilty
The idea is not to feel guilty but to feel inspired. What does this mean?
Last Sunday we learned a lot about poverty. We learned God did not create poverty but humans did. We learned 20% of people in the world own 80% of the stuff in the world. We learned 3,500 children die per day from starvation. We learned that the homeless are not just drunks and drug addicts but different people facing different difficult situations. We learned that Jesus was homeless and spent much of his time with the poor. If this doesn’t seem like enough, we learned a lot more.
We know that God provides for everyone. It is our duty to share what God has provided for us. There is enough “stuff” in the world for everyone. Please don’t feel guilty. Feel inspired! Think about what you can do. Give a bit of your time. Give a bit of your money. Give a bit of your love. After all, are any of these things truly yours? I am looking forward to our study this next week so that I may feel even more inspired! See you then.
Here is a photo of Ruth, Katrina, and Angelo giving a bit of there time and love at the last Parking Lot Ministry in East Nashville.
Last Sunday we learned a lot about poverty. We learned God did not create poverty but humans did. We learned 20% of people in the world own 80% of the stuff in the world. We learned 3,500 children die per day from starvation. We learned that the homeless are not just drunks and drug addicts but different people facing different difficult situations. We learned that Jesus was homeless and spent much of his time with the poor. If this doesn’t seem like enough, we learned a lot more.
We know that God provides for everyone. It is our duty to share what God has provided for us. There is enough “stuff” in the world for everyone. Please don’t feel guilty. Feel inspired! Think about what you can do. Give a bit of your time. Give a bit of your money. Give a bit of your love. After all, are any of these things truly yours? I am looking forward to our study this next week so that I may feel even more inspired! See you then.
Here is a photo of Ruth, Katrina, and Angelo giving a bit of there time and love at the last Parking Lot Ministry in East Nashville.
January 2, 2008
New Year's Resolution
It’s that time of year again. The time to make a new year’s resolution. Many times it can seem a bit lame to do this. Probably because we know we will end up breaking our resolutions or never even begin to follow one. However, I still feel it is a good tradition to have.
I usually pick out one thing to change or pursue and I may do it for a month. This year my resolution is to blog more. I am horrible about blogging. Maybe because the blogging craze hit the high-schools and colleges after I had already finished my schooling. I used to look at MySpace regularly, but this was primarily when I was single and in a band. Now that I am married and no longer in a band, I log into my MySpace account about once every other month. So, don’t bother writing me there.
Now I maintain this blog. As you can see, I might post on it once a month. Whitney has a blog for our photography studio and tries to get me to write more on there. So, I am going to try to make the commitment to blog more. Hopefully it lasts longer than a few weeks.
If we tend to break or not follow our new year’s resolutions, what is the point of this tradition? I think it is just a monumental mark for us to remember that there are things in our lives that we need to change. One great scripture that sticks out to me is Romans 12:2. It says to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is.” If we want to change something about us, we must allow God to “transform” and “renew” us. If your new year’s resolution is a big task, ask God to help you with it. Maybe this task is something that’s even talked about in this verse. Change your thought process. Think the way Christ would think. Do not act or think the way the rest of the world does. What a resolution that would be!
What’s your resolution? Send it to me. If you are a member of TVC Youth, I’ll post it on this blog. By doing this, you will actually be helping me with my resolution! Let’s all help each other out this next year by encouraging each other to renew our minds daily. Maybe we can even see how the other resolutions are coming along.
- Peter
I usually pick out one thing to change or pursue and I may do it for a month. This year my resolution is to blog more. I am horrible about blogging. Maybe because the blogging craze hit the high-schools and colleges after I had already finished my schooling. I used to look at MySpace regularly, but this was primarily when I was single and in a band. Now that I am married and no longer in a band, I log into my MySpace account about once every other month. So, don’t bother writing me there.
Now I maintain this blog. As you can see, I might post on it once a month. Whitney has a blog for our photography studio and tries to get me to write more on there. So, I am going to try to make the commitment to blog more. Hopefully it lasts longer than a few weeks.
If we tend to break or not follow our new year’s resolutions, what is the point of this tradition? I think it is just a monumental mark for us to remember that there are things in our lives that we need to change. One great scripture that sticks out to me is Romans 12:2. It says to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is.” If we want to change something about us, we must allow God to “transform” and “renew” us. If your new year’s resolution is a big task, ask God to help you with it. Maybe this task is something that’s even talked about in this verse. Change your thought process. Think the way Christ would think. Do not act or think the way the rest of the world does. What a resolution that would be!
What’s your resolution? Send it to me. If you are a member of TVC Youth, I’ll post it on this blog. By doing this, you will actually be helping me with my resolution! Let’s all help each other out this next year by encouraging each other to renew our minds daily. Maybe we can even see how the other resolutions are coming along.
- Peter
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