LISTEN TO THIS

There for Tomorrow is a group of boys from Orlando, FL (the best place to live on the planet). They just released their sophomore album. Well sort of, it's an EP with more to come soon. It's one of those albums where you don't have to skip to the good songs. They're all pretty strong. Right now they're touring all over the southeast, but that's the beauty of the internet. You can get their album right now. Give it a listen and let us know what you think.

ONE MIC - THIS SATURDAY

this saturday directly after service (8:00) Join us for our first ever open mic night "one mic". We'll have a cafe set up with tables, chairs, a coffee shop and bakery. bring a friend and join us for this free event.

summer camp at UCYC

we went on a scouting trip to check out the new camp that we'll be using this summer. It's an awesome place called UCYC in Prescott, Arizona. Here are some pics from our trip.

this is you if you break a camp rule (or a window in the girls dorms)

awesome hide out on the paintball course

old school games in the rec room

sweet paintball course

cafeteria

As American christians, this quote is hard for us to understand. The christian life is difficult at times, but it’s not a bad life by any means. If Christ never returns and it’s all a hoax then the conclusion is this: you’ll miss out on some parties, some spring break trips and some substances. In return you get a good amount of support from church leaders, a nice trustworthy group of friends, and you’ll be known as a generally ‘good‘ person. So why this choice of words from Lewis? Or better yet why does Paul say, in one of the most pivitol books of the Bible for the young church, “And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world“ (1 Corinthians 15:18-20). Paul is basically saying that if the Bible is a hoax then we are the most unfortunate group of people on the planet. Why is it that these two speak in such extremities? If Christ is nothing then, yes, we’ve been fooled, but our lives are still good. Most of us would probably still come to church, and attend small groups, and maybe even sing worship songs together because if for nothing else it’s fun, right? So why then should we be pitied?

Logic would say that if we disagree with the conclusions of Paul and C.S. Lewis then we are not living the type of lives that they are speaking of. In fact, our lives are very different from what they are describing. Lewis goes on to say that if Christianity is true, then it is of “infinite importance”, and then he finishes with this, “The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

So according to Lewis the reason why we would not experience the disappointment that Paul describes, is because Christ is only moderately important to our lives. He is very near neutral. In other words He makes little to no difference in our lives. Therefore, if He does not exist then we can continue on in the life we have chosen as if nothing has changed. The only thing that would differ is our title.

If Christ is of importance to us like we say he is, then our lives should look so very different. We should look like the student who decides that acting is everything to them. Someone who decided along time ago that if their life is not spent as an actor then it is all a waste. We should look like the athlete who spends thousands of hours devoted to perfecting their skills, leaving aside time with friends, schoolwork and even family to pursue their goal. The conclusion looks something like this; if we’re not intending to be completely and fully devoted to making Christ everything, then there is no point in following Him. After all, this was Christ’s stance; “If any man would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

This leaves no room for mediocrity. It leaves no room for sometimes. There will always be grace for the times we fail, but Christ is all or nothing. So before we decide how much we want to apply this Bible to our lives, we first have to decide whether or not we believe that Jesus is who he says He is. Before we sing our favorite worship song, we have to decide if we fully trust who it is we’re singing to. Before we pray one more prayer, we have to decide if someone is even hearing it. We have to decide that He is everything that we need, because if He’s not, then we are “more to be pitied than anyone in the world."