Pathways Church Blog

How many pastors can pull off talking about taking Jesus into brothels, having a beer with a non-believer at a bar, and riding mountain bikes with a guy who thinks that Jesus kicks a$$? If you were here last weekend, you met him – my friend Ryan Russell. He’ll be back again this weekend to challenge us to “GO” and take Jesus places that confront our own desire for comfort. If you missed the message, pick it up on our podcast and buckle your seatbelt as you prepare for this weekend.

Wow! We are entering into the final message from James. It has been nine incredible weeks and by far one of my favorite studies that I have been through with our community. (It ranks up there with our Story of God series that we did back in ‘06)

James, in his very practical way, will be leaving us talking about three P’s – possessions, patience and prayer. We’ll look at each one in light of his words we saw last weekend about being in sub…mission. If you missed it – our “mission” must be sub, or under, God’s mission. We’ll refresh that this week as well as dive into James chapter 5.

I hope that you’ll be with us.

There are certain words that you are not supposed to say. Why? Different reasons, I suppose. Some, society has dubbed, “unclean”. Some tear down and hurt people. Others, are just plain uncomfortable.

Let’s talk about this last category…uncomfortable words. This is where James chapter four takes us this weekend as James asks us to “submit” to God.

That word…submit…carries a lot of awkwardness for us doesn’t it? Websters Dictionary tell us that it means that it means, “to yield oneself to the authority or will of another : surrender.” Why is that so difficult a concept for us?

Submission goes against my natural bent because it gives someone else greater say in my life than…well…ME. It requires trust. It necessitates acknowledgement that God is more powerful / knowing / able than I am. It calls for a squelching of self. It demands looking beyond my own interests toward the interests of others…wait a minute…this is starting to sound like the life that Jesus called us to live…

Maybe SUBMISSION isn’t such a dirty word after all.

One of the new things we are implementing for the youth group at Pathways, is stressing the importance of a regular interaction with God’s Word. To help with that, we are sending out daily text message devotions. Basically, you will receive a text message everyday with either a scripture reference, or a thought. From that, you are encouraged to go to your bible and look it up and meditate on God’s Word. It doesn’t have to be a really involved thing, but just like everything, the more you do it, the quicker it will become a habit. And in this case, a good one. If you would like to get in on the text message devotions, just click the link below.

Sign up for the Text Message Devotions

Are you serious?

How many times have you been asked this question in your lifetime? How many different kinds of situations have provoked this question? How many different tonal inflections can you ask this question with?

The situation determines how the question is asked:

I just bought one thousand dollars worth of lottery tickets because I had a dream that I would win…
I knew I was going to marry her on my first date…
Two planes just flew into the Twin Towers…

But there is a different way that this question is asked. When someone stops you dead in your tracks, stares into your eyes and asks the question, “Are you serious?” It’s the kind of question that makes you think about your motives. It asks whether you are willing to sacrifice. It asks how committed you are.

James is going to ask us that question this weekend. If you want to read ahead it’s James 2:14-26.

Are you able to trust others with who you really are? Are you able to trust God with who you really are? What would that look like. This weekend, on Father’s Day, I want to invite you to peek inside two different doors. One represents pleasing God. The other represents trusting God. I think these doors might help us to understand why religious people so often wear masks and perhaps lead us to be a community that removes them.

The thoughts this week will be from ideas I have gleaned from a book that has greatly impacted many in our community. It is called, “TrueFaced” by Thrall, McNicol, and Lynch and I’m throwing this link up here because it is worth your time to read.

I’m going to make a simple observation, ask a simple question and then I’m going to ask for your feedback on our website.

James, the brother of Jesus, feels that the things that we see in the world are not the same things that we should see in the community of the church.

If you were to name two or three things that should be common in the community of the church and are not common in the world around us, what would they be? I’d love to hear your feedback.

I hope that you are enjoying our study through the book of James as much as I am. It has been invigorating for me! This week will be no different. The challenge this week is simply this: are you and I willing to look into the mirror of truth and act on it? Or will we be like the man who looks into the mirror and then walks away and forgets what he looks like? What does this mean? How many of us have distorted mirrors that we see ourselves through? How many of us have trouble accepting the truth about how God sees us?

If Scripture tells us the truth about ourselves, what keeps us from allowing it to shape how we see ourselves? Think about it this week and come prepared on Sunday at 10am to take a peek (or a good long look) into the mirror.

Temptation and Evil – now those are some big words with big meaning. How do we understand temptation? How do we understand evil? How do we understand the desires that are at war inside of us? This almost seems too big a concept for us to tackle in one morning – but we’re gonna try! James 1:13-18 gives us a picture of this battle taking place both inside of us and in the world around us. One thing that James is extremely sure of…don’t blame God for the temptation and subsequent consequences of pursuing it.

Last weekend, we took a look at the “Big Picture” of the life of James, the brother of Jesus. It could not have been easy to grow up in the shadow of the PERFECT older brother. If you missed last weekend, make sure that you check out the podcast. (Sorry for the audio quality this week, one cord in the wrong hole makes a big difference.) This weekend, James is going to ask us to take a look at the “Big Picture” of life as we walk through trials and experience doubts. We’ll be reading from James 1:1-12, which is well known for it’s scripture that tells us to “consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds.” Reading this passage is often followed by the eye roll and deep breath while mumbling, “Whatever.” Can this be real? Can we live life with a view of difficulty that embraces it with joy? James, who lived a life of severe difficulty, seems to believe that it can be done. Let’s dive in this weekend and learn from the brother of Jesus.