Our Blog

Student Ministry - February

Dear Church Family,

What’s so great about the Bible? That is a question that many people are asking today.  Unfortunately our culture no longer has the same reverence for the Holy Book that it once did. There are many reasons for this, the primary ones being the popularity of skepticism and belief in subjective realities. In one sense these things can be very bad and lead people into hopelessness guided solely by their sinful hearts. But in a positive light, they can be tools to get people to think about why they believe what they believe and then point them to the hope that is found in the one objective truth that is God’s Word.

People are skeptical about things that they are told to be skeptical of. In our world, which is dominated by a naturalistic worldview, people are told that the supernatural doesn’t exist, so believing a book that claims to be supernatural is foolish. Therefore you must critique it with a naturalistic worldview and try to explain away any spiritual or supernatural aspects within it. That is how people approach the Bible today. Christians obviously know better than that. We are open minded to the reality of the supernatural. When we see it and understand it properly, we accept it, rather than try to explain it away because we don’t want to believe. That is what a true scientific mind would do… pursue truth, no matter where it leads… even if it leads to  belief in a Triune, all-powerful Creator.

I believe that the Bible leads us to the truth. But why make such a big fuss about the Bible and not some other book? What’s so special about this book? Well, one of the biggest reasons is that the Bible actually answers our questions. Instead of ignoring us or giving us unsatisfactory answers, the Bible tells us the hard truth. Question: Where did we come from? Answer: God made us in His image to glorify and enjoy Him forever. Question: What’s wrong with the world? Answer: We rebelliously sinned and fell short of His glory and deserve His righteous wrath. Question: How do we fix this? Answer: We can’t fix this, but God can, and He did when Jesus the Son came and died for our sins taking on Himself the wrath we deserve. Question: Where do we go from here? Answer: After we turn from our sin and turn to Christ, we are forgiven of our sins and given the Holy Spirit, and our desire is now to live for Jesus and proclaim the good news to all. We eagerly await His return and renewal of all of creation.

No other worldview, religion, or book makes sense of our world like the Bible does. And, historically speaking, no other book is as reliable as the Bible is. No other book has stood the test of time like the Bible has. No other book explains good and evil like the Bible does. And no other book reveals our Creator to us like the Bible does. That is why this spring the Student Ministry will be asking the question, “What’s So Great About the Bible?” And we’re going to answer that question by digging in and seeing for ourselves how truly amazing this book and its Author really are.

Please be praying that through this study, students’ questions would be answered, their faith grown, and that some would come to saving faith.

Sincerely,
Brian Van Doren 

Student Ministry - January

Dear Church Family,

Another year has already passed, and, if you’re like me, you probably feel like last year flew by while simultaneously creeping along. I don’t understand how time can work like that, but I do understand that every year we tend to look back and ask ourselves how we can make things better. We come up with “New Years Resolutions” of all kinds. Most often they are things like going to the gym more or being more disciplined in one area or another. We often think of things we can do that we hope will make our lives better. And there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. Many times we do need to make changes. Maybe we do need to eat better. Maybe we do need to study more. Maybe we do need to read more books. But have you ever thought that maybe instead of doing more we actually just need to do less?

Consider the possibility that the most effective improvement to our lives would come with proper prioritization of our time. Seriously, how much time do you spend doing things that wouldn’t even make your top ten priority list? Do you feel like your time is spent in proper proportion to what your top priorities are? The truth is, the use of our time will tell us what our priorities are. What if you were to sit down and write out the ten things you spend most of your time doing throughout the week in the order of how much time you spend on each thing. Do you think that list would reflect what you would want your priorities to be? Likely you will find that some things in your life take up more time than you would want them to. A non-negotiable would be something like work. That will certainly take more time than you want it to. Within that, however, I would hope that providing essentials for you and your family would be a fairly high priority. But what about the time that is solely at your discretion? We often feel like there are many things we “have” to do. But do we really? How often do we sacrifice truly important things for the sake of lesser joys?

How much time do we waste on more-or-less trivial matters when the true priorities of life are left unattended? The Bible actually has much to say about this topic. In Luke 10, Martha was very busy attending to things she thought was most important, while her sister sat at the feet of Jesus. When she complained to Jesus about it, He responded, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Similarly Psalm 127:2 tells us that “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” It seems to me that God desires for us to spend our time wisely on the most important things while trusting Him with the lesser matters. There is much more that could be said on this, but for sake of space, let me just encourage you to take an inventory of your priorities this year. Is God and His will for your life at the top of the list? Are you spending your time on things that aren’t that important in the grand scheme of things? What are some things you can do less? How can you arrange your time so that you aren’t busy with “anxious toil,” but are instead choosing the “good portion” and enjoying life more fully? I pray the Lord would fill you with rest and enable you to focus on those things in life which truly matter. Do less better, not more anxiously.

Sincerely,
Brian Van Doren