April 14, 2008 - Gardening for God
On Saturday, April 12, thirteen youth and parents from Brentwood Oaks joined forces with the Gracywoods Neighborhood and Austin Parks Associations for the annual "It's my park day". Numerous projects were completed in the various parks & greenbelts near the church building. We had the privilege of repainting a gazebo on Lincolnshire Drive. If you get the chance, drop by and check it out. - Shay
April 7, 2008 - Thanks for a Great Weekend
A big thank you goes out to all of the students and parents who participated in the retreat with the Turnpike Church of Christ youth group this past weekend at Latham Springs. The weather was gorgeous, the food was good, the company was great, and the overall retreat was grand! We'll have to do it again next year. - Shay
March 10, 2008 - Meaning...less
Unlike the nihilistic, reductionist, and materialist philosophers of the age, Christians affirm that the universe and all it contains was created with both purpose and meaning. We believe that the grand narrative of history reached its climax in the life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We confess that God's ultimate purposes for his creation will one day be fully realized at the appearing of the Son and the bringing together of things on heaven and earth. We also affirm that we are a part of that plan and purpose. Being reminded of this is important, because although we profess that the world we live in is full of wonder and meaning, we so often allow ourselves to get sucked into the shallowness and banality of our culture. Instead of living lives full of purpose and meaning, we can easily get "numbed" into living lives that are at the best, not very meaning...full and at the worst, meaning...less. - Shay
February 25, 2008 - Cherokee People...
I'm sure that the Cherokee people never actually inhabited the area just west of the Colorado river in the Texas Hill Country, but there's a small creek and a small community named for them. Half-way between Llano and San Saba sits a tiny town filled with big hearts. Cherokee, a place I had seen on signs and maps, but never actually visited until last year is small enough that one can literally blink and miss it. But, the Cherokee people the BOCC youth group have had the opportunity to get to know over the last year or so are some finest one could hope to meet. Just north of town, right off of Highway 16, is the Cherokee Home for Children. It's a safe refuge for young people whose current situation is not ideal. It really is a home, not just an organization or a facility. The house parents, the administration, and of course the young people themselves are the salt of the earth. They opened their home to some of our youth this past weekend and I only hope that they were as blessed by our time spent together as we were. We look forward to joining them again in the future. - Shay
February 5, 2008 - The God Who Has Acted and Will Act Again
Fear and anxiety is present in our world and since the age of enlightenment, our world has offered any number of idols to deal with the problems people face. People want something to put their trust in, but unfortunately, people far too often put their hope in things that ultimately cannot deliver. Over the past 100 years, we've seen the rise and fall of the communist ideal. After periods of recession and depression, we've been reminded that capitalism doesn't solve all of our economic problems either. We've seen that military might doesn't always make right. The war to end all wars only led to more wars. Technology was supposed to make our lives easier and more efficient, but people are busier today than ever - lives are chaotic and out of balance. Science has discovered amazing things and has given humanity numerous benefits, but it has not created a perfect world. And the materialist/reductionism which science spawned is merely a new kind of Pantheistic idolatry, whereby people worship the laws of nature, rather than nature itself. Politics are still politics, and in an election year, need I say more? Just like the old, this neo-paganism isn't about conforming to God's will; it's about creating a god who can be conformed to our will. But there's a problem with this sort of god - it's only as powerful as we are and we soon find that we're not nearly as powerful as we thought. Human self-sufficiency has been found insufficient. By now it's obvious that the age of reason didn't solve all of our problems, but neither will an age of so called post-modernity. And neither will a new age of pluralism and moral relativism. These new idols are no more persuasive or powerful than the old ones, because like the idols of old, these idols are propped up by human methods and as we have seen in history, they inevitably fall. We are at times tempted by the illusions of our modern idolatries. On the one hand, we're tempted to put our trust in these man-made institutions and on the other hand we're discouraged as we look around and it seems as if God's Kingdom isn't really coming. Like the people of Judah, it seems we've been in exile a long, long time and when we see the world through merely human eyes, things appear to be getting worse, not better. But God has another word in all of this and it's not simply a word of judgment, but also a word of grace. And this word of grace could only come to us from a God who is more powerful than we are - a God who is not bound by our circumstances - a God who can step into our lives from the outside and act on our behalf. Hope in a dark world can only come to us from a God who can enter into space and time and make a difference. This word of grace could only come to us from the God who revealed himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. He's a God whom we didn't bring down, but a God who has brought us up. This is the message we need to be reminded of and this is the message that our world so badly needs to hear. The God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the personal God who was at work in the history of Israel and he's the personal God who is still at work in our world today - in our past, in our present, and certainly in our future. This God did not forget his promises to Abraham. He did not forget his promises to the slaves in Egypt. He did not forget his promises to David, or the Judean exiles. And this God did not forget his promises to his own Son. He did not abandon Jesus to the grave and he will not abandon us either. The God we know and serve isn't a god of wood or stone. He isn't the god of Greek philosophical speculation. He isn't simply the god of Pantheism, or Deism, or reductionist materialism. He is the God who has acted and will act again. He will not abandon or cast off either his people or his creation. This is the message we need to be reminded of and this is the message that our world so desperately needs to hear. Hear God's word to his people from Isaiah 41:10, "Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." May God bless us as we live and proclaim this word. - Shay
January 21, 2008 - For Such a Time as This
Unlike many contemporary Christians, I don't believe that every minute detail of our lives is prearranged or preordained. I'm a strong believer in free-will. God certainly has a plan for each and every one of us (more on that in a moment), but within that overarching plan, God gives us the freedom to choose between any number of bad, good, better, and best choices. We can also choose to reject God's will for our lives. It's hard to fathom, but the creator of the cosmos allows his creation to choose or reject him. Even those of us who've chosen Christ, can at times fail to do his will. God allows himself to be vulnerable by inviting his creation into an unforced and free relationship. Having said that, God does have a plan for our lives. He wills us to be faithful to his Son and to make every decision that we make in light of our relationship to him. Not only that, God is very much at work in our lives and in the situations that we find ourselves in. Esther found herself in a very precarious situation some 2400 years ago. An orphan, but a very attractive orphan, Esther was incorporated into the harem of King Xerxes of Persia. By the end of the story, we realize that God was at work all along in the circumstances Esther found herself in. As a result of her exaltation to Queen, she was able to help save her people from annihilation. But, she could have just as easily rejected the opportunities that God placed before her. When given the opportunity to intercede on behalf of the Jews in the Empire, she could have refused to do so. Of course, God would have saved his people in some other way, but Esther would have missed the opportunity to be apart of what God was already doing. She had attained royal favor "for such a time as this." As we gaze out onto the horizon of our particular space and time, may we be as discerning as Esther and seize the day. May we make the most of the opportunities that God places before us. Who knows, maybe we've been put here at this moment for such a time as this? - Shay
January 7, 2008 - As Loyal As Wee Greyfriars Bobby
There's a story that claims that when Edinburgh policeman John Gray died in 1858, his wee Skye Terrier, Bobby refused to leave his grave (other than for food and other natural necessities). The dog became so well known that the citizens of Edinburgh had a golden dog collar emblazoned with "Greyfriars Bobby" made for the pint-sized pup. The dog was so loyal to his deceased master, that he spent every night sleeping on his grave until the very day of his own death, 14 years later. Now that's loyalty. About 1900 years earlier, even greater loyalty was demonstrated by the aged Polycarp. Arrested for his Christian faith and sentenced to death, Polycarp's fidelity was unquestionable to the end. After being told that if he would only renounce Jesus Christ and proclaim that Caesar was Lord instead, he would be spared a gruesome death, Polycarp proclaimed, "Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" For this, Polycarp was burned at the stake. Now, that's really loyalty. May we be as loyal as Polycarp and wee Grayfriars Bobby! - Shay