Buddy Christ, from the movie, "Dogma"

Growing up as a Young Life going, Youth group attending, mission trip summering, Jesus Freak (DC Talk) kind of teenager, I was taught many things about my friend, Jesus. I was taught that Jesus was loving, that Jesus saved people, that Jesus could teach, preach, do miracles and led a group of men around. I was also taught that Jesus was in my heart now that he left the earth and would guide me, teaching me what to do and letting me know I was never alone. I wanted to be like the Jesus of the bible, in fact, I even wore my rainbow WWJD bracelet proudly through middle school and high school. But most of all, life was good because I knew that Jesus was there for me and that I always had a friend in him. This was the Jesus I clung to.

Today, after many years of higher education in religion, Jesus still means the same thing to me… but he also means so much more. How can we, as adults involved with faithful youth and kids encourage a more well-rounded Jesus?……… [Read more →]

I had a great experience today at the monthly gathering of a confirmation class I co-teach. In trying to teach the narrative of the Hebrew Bible in one four-hour Saturday morning gathering, we decided to focus on telling the story of the People of Israel through the lens of their relationship with God and understanding of the closeness and presence of God in every part of their life. We ran through the story, from Creation and Noah to the Ancestral Period, from the Judges to the divided Kingdom, exile and building of the 2nd Temple, acting out the parts and moving about the room. We worked through the Ancient Israel understanding of God by looking at the Hebrew names of God and viewing artwork ascribed to that name. It was an interactive and amazing lesson, but without the worship service that we participated in first, I don’t think it would have connected in such a deeply personal way………. [Read more →]