I consider the word “religion” to really suck.  It makes me feel like there are a bunch of “know-it-alls” sitting somewhere, dictating rules and pointing in all sorts of places… like gnomes. (Man I hate gnomes… they just point in random directions and have no real meaning… but anyways…) THAT’s what I think of when I hear the word “religion”, but then I read this verse:

James 1:27 (NLT):  ”Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

Now that I can do :)  Or at least I’d love to!  Sometimes we consider following Christ as this game of staying within the lines and boundaries in order to please God.  Then what’s the point of Love?  I was reading my bro’s Philly’s blog right before I wrote this one (scroll down and read it if you forget!) and he’s dead on!  We strive to do “right”, but there are going to be times where even as Christians, we fail and fall short of God’s Glory – God knows this and even reminds US of this in His Word (Romans 3:23).  Then, if you read my bro’s Jobby’s post (scroll down again and read it!) he talks about replacing your sin, instead of just trying to quit it.  What’s my point?

I really didn’t know what to write about in this blog, but both of these topics have been on my mind lately and this verse has been crazy on my heart as well.  Then, I come on here today and read both of these guys’ posts and knew that there’s definitely something we can’t let go of right here.  What is it??  Don’t worry about what this world dictates as religion.  Don’t worry about what this world has to offer – forget all of the (short-term) temptations that get you that “suga” rush and focus on what God is asking of us.  Pure and Genuine religion.  Care for the orphans – people who do not have parents, or have been neglected by their parents.  Care for the widows – people who have lost their spouses.  Refuse allowing the world to corrupt you.  You might think “I can’t just pick up and go find orphans and widows at this minute”, or “I dunno what you expect of me, when I have work/school to worry about”, or whatever other excuse there might be… or maybe even “I’m entitled to have a little ‘fun’ and can mess with the world for a little bit longer”, etc… YOU GET THE POINT.  No more excuses!!  Get up off yo feet and start caring.  Start refusing.  Start taking a stand for people who cannot help themselves.  Make this a lifestyle, not just a momentary ‘assignment’.  Do this because it’s pleasing for God, not because of some self-satisfaction!

Honestly?  Don’t even do it because I wrote about it… because next week, there’s going to be a different blog and it may not relate.  DO IT by understanding who God is, and what God is about – Love.  DO IT out of LOVE for others around you.  You might ask “how does refusing the world to corrupt me show someone else love??” I’ll tell you exactly how – there are people around you, that you are involved with right now.  Think about all of your “identities”.  It’s all based on someone else!  You might be a brother, a son, a co-worker, a boss, a teacher, a pastor, etc… but you couldn’t be ANY of those things without another person defining you to be that.  Meaning??  You couldn’t have been a brother without having siblings… if you didn’t have siblings, you’d just be a son.  You couldn’t have been a son, without your parents existing.  You can’t be a co-worker, unless you have another worker in the first place that you are “co-working” with.  You can’t be a boss, without having employees to be a boss over!  You can’t even be a teacher, without having someone to teach, or a pastor, without having a congregation to be a pastor over!!  Why does this all even matter???  Because YOU do NOT DEFINE yourself!  You have SO many people around you that impact and affect your life, and VICE-VERSA.  Don’t let the world corrupt you and ruin the impact that you are to really have as a son, brother, co-worker, friend, boss, pastor, etc… Stand up to this world and refuse it from corrupting/changing you even for the Love of the people around you :)

And that kind of Love??  Is Christ-Love.  That kind of Care??  Is Christ-Care.  That kind of lifestyle, will change this world’s definition of religion.  That kind of lifestyle, will perfect God’s meaning of religion in each of us – a self-less religion, a religion that gives before it ever got anything back.  A religion so perfect and genuine – it’s Love-driven.

God bless you guys.

Here is the post where we are supposed to update you on what happened this past weekend with Project Outreach. There is only one problem with that. We can’t.

There is no possible way we can fit all the testimonies, experiences, and describe the impact we felt this weekend. Stories are still coming in of how groups went out into the heart of downtown Chicago, shared experiences and the Gospel with those who are unfortunate. I know what you’re thinking…yes, we’ve done this before. Last year we learned about how important it was to come together as a community. But this year, that same community has taken a step forward to become leaders and disciple others with that same lesson.

It’s called growth.

We are overwhelmed to see a generation that has a heart for God, and is actually doing something about it. Yes, we were able to serve over 100+ lunches. Yes, we were able to minister to strangers. But this time, we not only came together as a community, we grew together as one. If you weren’t able to experience this weekend with us, don’t get left behind in your spiritual walk with God. We are all in this together.

So to everyone from Chicago and Tennessee who came out, thanks for not making outreach a project, but a lifestyle.

God bless!

This Saturday is Project Outreach! Join ROC322 and New Creation from Chattanooga, TN as we serve and feed the homeless. Rain or shine, we will be in beautiful downtown Chicago at Millennium Park from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. We will be meeting at “The Bean” and dispersing into groups from there. This is a perfect opportunity to break outside the four walls of the church and to invite your friends into an environment where you can serve people and share the Gospel.

For more information, email us at info@roc322.org or follow us on twitter @ROC322. See you Saturday!

get back on the horse

Hey guys..for the past couple of days I’ve been thinking about my Christian life and how I’ve been living it for the past few years. I’d like to call myself a real Christian. Not only do I read the Bible, go to church, listen to Christian music but I also try to tell people about Jesus. However, I have my bad weeks too. There are times when I make the wrong decisions when I know it’s wrong, don’t read the Bible, and not wanting to be a Christian. I’m sure everyone’s gone through this. After I go through this, I put myself down because I should of known better of not making that decision or should of helped someone out when I could. For me, sometimes I feel like I failed as a Christian and ask myself what’s the point in trying again the next day. Then I realize I’m not perfect….we’re not perfect!! Jesus knows this. We ALL have our strengths and flaws as a person. We have to realize we all make mistakes in life but we continue to push through life and pursue perfection. When someone needs encouragement, I usually tell them to dust yourself off and get back on the horse. So I challenge you today not to get discouraged and give up, but rather get back on the horse.

Don't quit sin, replace it.

I’m amused by little things. I can’t help it. One of the things in life I find funny are self-help books and how some random person finds the next secret to losing weight. There are so many things the world tells us we can do to make ourselves better. If you’re one of those people who buy into that, I’m about to burst your bubble.

You can’t.

There’s nothing you can do. Nothing. They’ll tell you to quit this, and stop that. Guess what? You’ll go back to eating that fried chicken as soon as the craving kicks in (guilty as charged). Let’s face it. We cannot quit our vices on our own. Is there a sin in your life that is constantly holding you back? Don’t even kid yourself that you’re going to magically stop it one day and be clean forever.

This is where we as Christians have an advantage over the world. Jesus steps in. So I’m not going to be cheesy and just say Jesus comes in and solves all of our problems without us having to lift a finger. But how we approach sin in our lives must be different if we want to “quit” sin forever.

We underestimate the power of sin and think we can just quit it, when Christ is telling us something completely different. He is telling us to replace it. You need to rid yourself of the chain that is holding you back only by filling in the void with things of God. If you just quit it, and that’s it, you’re going to spend the rest of your time thinking about the sin you just quit.

I had this problem. Before I made a commitment to get involved in youth ministry, I made the decision to get rid of all my bad music. So what I did was pack all my CDs in a box about 6 years ago and stash them in my closet. I told myself I would throw them away, or sell them and give the money to the poor, but I just never did. But putting the music away did help me, because instead of just leaving it, I substituted it with Christian worship music and sermons. Every time I drive, I have God’s word and worship surrounding me instead of negative lyrics. But every now and then, I would see that box in my closet and want to pull out a CD.

Fast forward to 6 years later in the present day. I was listening to Banning Liebscher at the Jesus Culture Conference in Chicago, and his testimony reflected my own. He packed up all his music as well and threw it all away. He talked about giving up everything for Christ. At that moment, I was convicted. I tried to quit sin, but that was only half the battle. I needed to replace it completely and not have a hint of it around. After a night at prayer with my friends, we were driving home and a friend of mine asked me what he needed to do to get closer to God. We talked about this concept of replacing sin instead of just quitting it. At that very moment, we pulled up to my house, I ran inside and grabbed the box of CDs that hid in my closet for the past 6 years.

We drove to the dumpster that night and I chucked that box into it, never looking back at that sin again. Now I’m not sharing that to boast. I actually wish I could tell you I made that move years ago. But I say that only because there are sins that are holding us back, and we fool ourselves that we have quit them, when they are actually creeping around us, or hiding in our closet. Don’t just quit sin. Replace it.

God bless,

Jobbin