SURGE Winter Retreat Film Festival 2017

This year on our winter retreat we tried something new. Our students were broken up into four teams and had to choose a theme for making a movie trailer in just a few hours. The first video was voted the winner of our first annual SURGE Winter Retreat Film Festival. Every team did a great job!

 

5 Lies Social Media is Telling You

The impact of social media cannot be understated in these modern times. With over two billion people on this planet connected via various social networks the global societal transformation of the last decade is nothing short of remarkable! With these new frontiers of communication and relationship come many challenges, especially for the discerning Christian.

With the arrival of so many new modes of communication we are now bombarded for a plethora of messages every day. What is true? What is reality? Sadly the Information Age, ironically, has in many ways clouded the truth. Scripture commands us to cast our thoughts on certain things,

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8

Is social media helping us to this end or hurting us? What thoughts have you allowed social media to bombard you with this week? Many of these thoughts are outright lies. Here are five of these lies:

1. Life is Good

It is a rare occurrence to see a picture into the real difficulties of life on social media. It is mostly proms, date nights, vacations, filtered selfies, and perfect sunsets. How much of our mundane (read: normal) lives do these snapshots represent? Very little. A married couple will put up happy pictures as they celebrate an anniversary, but when you have seen a public divorce announcement? Baby pictures. Enough said. Miscarriage posts? Few and far between.

Social media has become a dishonest picture of most of our lives. Instead of representing a “true” picture of reality it distorts reality into alternative universe in which pain or failure are close to non-existent or are only shared if they include a victory or redemption aspect and beauty and happiness are our perpetual existence. Life is not always “good.”

2. Likes Make Right

Social media rewards anything that goes ‘viral.” Web-traffic and popularity online does not equate to a person doing the right thing. We need to ask ourselves if what we are posting is edifying, does it impart grace to those who read it or see it (Ephesians 4:29). The amount of likes does not make it right. Maybe it was gossip? Maybe it was inappropriate? Don’t let the desire to increase your “reach” or “followers” destroy the integrity of what you put on social media.

3. They look Perfect

Filters and Photoshop. What you see online is not reality. Just like what was already said about how life almost always appears to be good so do you rarely see a bad hair day on Snapchat or Instagram. I once watched a woman after walking off a plane at an airport stand in a terminal for over ten minutes in the same place trying to get the “perfect” selfie. None of her followers know it took ten minutes to get that “quick and candid selfie.” This behavior distorts our perspective of beauty and also can slowly destroy your perception of self.

4. It is not an Argument, It is a Discussion

Sure, on the surface many comments and forum discussions take the form of a discussion that would resemble a verbal conversation. But picture that verbal conversation being broadcast for thousands or millions to see. You cannot say that that does not change the tone, intensity, or civility of the discussion or conversation. All of the sudden, you are performing for an audience. If you want to have a serious dialogue take it into private messages, a person will rarely admit they are wrong in front of an audience of all their friends. It also is a great way to avoid coming across as insensitive or proud.

5. It is just a picture/message

Something about the medium of communication via text message or various social media apps lessons the seriousness of communication. Wouldn't it be weird to write handwritten letters, dozens of them, to someone of the opposite sex if you were married? But somehow regular texting is appropriate. The medium has changed but why has the appropriateness followed. I cannot count how many affairs and immoralities I have heard about that began through social networks or messaging. For this reason we need to be on guard and realize that all communication digital and not has power and is affecting our relationships with people. Is it moving us closer to Jesus?

Are we discerning what thoughts and ideas are assailing us through social media as followers of Jesus? Have we spent enough time in the Word renewing our mind (Hebrews 4:12; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6) that we can see the lies that are put before us? Social media can and should be a tool for improving communication, capturing moments for others to see, and spreading the gospel of Jesus.

Guard yourself against the lies of social media!

Lies Kill - Part 2 - Racism

In this second part of our "Lies Kill" series, we are going to look at the idea of racism and its root in falsehoods and its being incompatible with a Christian worldview. The last several years have seen more outrage driven by a racial divide in America than the previous several decades combined. Protests and riots, discrimination and violence have been a seemingly every day occurrence as one watches the news cycle. The lie that "my people" are better than "your people" or that a person should not be judged by the color of his skin and not the content of his character is literally killing people. What is proper Christian response to this cultural division?

Love.

The gospel of Jesus Christ has always had at its core the tearing down of cultural or societal divides. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). As the adage says, "The ground is level at the foot of the cross." Income inequality, ethnicity, gender, class, or family, all of them are peripheral in the context of the good news of Jesus. The gospel is that ALL come as sinners and any who receive Christ by faith are then reconciled to God through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, adopted into a new family, a holy nation, a chosen people (Romans 10:13; 1 Peter 2:9). For this reason, racial discrimination or any prejudice based upon a person's background, culture, or appearance has NO place in the body of Christ, in the heart of a Christian. 

Theologically, the idea of racial equality is common sense. Adam and Eve were both created in the image of God and from them came all the people of the earth (Romans 5:12). Though this has always been the teaching of Scripture, scientists, including Darwin, have not always agreed that all modern day humans come from a common human ancestor. Such wrong beliefs prompted political movements such as Nazi extermination and even the hunting of many tribal groups including Australian aboriginals. Such racial injustice and violence is not compatible with a Christian worldview. It is based upon a lie, the belief that your value is dependent upon your appearance, or your background, or your abilities or education and not from your being created in the image of God.

Christians should be agents of reconciliation when it comes to societal racial conflict. We should be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), and spread love for all people, "red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight." Jesus died for every person on the planet, every person in your city, and every person who has ever existed. Jesus' last words echo His heart for all people:

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

The words "all nations" literally mean "all ethnicities." The gospel is meant to transcend culture, country, and race. Thank God it did for the average white American Christian as none of the original followers of Christ were Caucasian!

Jesus consistently tore down the barriers caused between the rich and the poor, the privileged and the under-privileged, the Jew and the Samaritan (the hated race in the Jewish world). We too as the global Church should be agents of multi-ethnic unity. We should be looking forward to the day when followers of Jesus from every ethnicity worship the Lord together as is described in Revelation:

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb.”

(Revelation 7:9-10) 

This is the TRUTH that flies in the face of any lie that prompts racism or discrimination. Let us love on another no matter the color. 

Small Group Leaders Are The Most Indispensable Part Of Our Student Ministry

For SURGE Student Ministries our small group leaders are the most valuable resource or asset. Many Youth Ministries are driven by a celebrity/show complex. In these performance driven ministries, students show up to see the music, lights, fog, and "TED talk-like" speaker!  Some aspects of this are not inherently wrong, but we believe that student ministry should be driven ultimately by mission and discipleship and our small group leaders are the primary catalysts for this to take place. We value our leaders for the following reasons.

Our Leaders Are People

Every one of our leaders has their own story. Their lives come with a wealth of different experiences, successes, and failures that they can and do share with the students in their small groups. NEWSFLASH: None of our leaders were born Christians! Their stories are of broken but changed lives that declare the grace and glory of God. When these lives and stories are put in close quarters with teenagers, powerful influence and impact can occur. Our leaders are all people, but what makes them amazing is God...

Our Leaders Have Faith

Every one of our leaders has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They are not just people, they are new people. "Old things have passed away, look, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). The most significant thing about our leaders is that God is at work in and through them. "Apart from me you can do nothing," Jesus said (John 15:5). As followers of Jesus who have embraced Him as their Savior and Lord they are empowered by the Spirit and filled with a purpose, the expansion of God's kingdom. Our leader's believe that God is changing lives and they long to see this in the next generation of young people. This motivates each leader to pray for the students in their small group every day, something we find of the uttermost importance. However, the faith of our leaders would by no means be as attractive to students were it not for their love...

Our Leaders Show Love

Every one of our leaders is passionate about students. They are not serving in student ministry because of a sense of obligation. They serve and love students because this is the specific ministry for which their hearts are burdened! Some have teenagers themselves and understand the gravity of this season of life. Others recently graduated from this transitive time and long to help guide others through it. For whatever reason our leaders love teenagers. They express this love weekly through countless texts, calls, athletic events, smiles, and prayers. Students are more likely to come if they feel loved, if they know someone will miss them. In a ministry that engages a few hundred students annually, a few student ministry staff could never provide this kind of care.

Thank you Leaders!

We need to do better about acknowledging and appreciating these leaders. They are the most indispensable part of SURGE Student Ministries. So if you are one of the individuals who we are writing about, one of the soldiers in the trenches, know this...

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all [your students], because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth (Colossians 1:3-6)

Thank you, leaders!

Are you interested in serving in SURGE as a Small Group Leader for students from 6-12th Grade? Apply Here.

Lies Kill - Part 1

At the very nature of the person of God is the quality of truth (James 1:17; John 14:6; Numbers 23:19). Perfect truth. To follow Jesus is to know the truth and to be set free (John 8:32). In opposition to this truth at work in our hearts through Jesus is both our flesh and Satan who seek to fill our hearts and minds with lies (John 8:44). 

From the very beginning the serpent sought to draw humanity into sin through the use of lies. 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:1-6)

It started with a question: "Did God actually say...?" Temptation begins with ideas and propositions that put God's Word and His truth in question. Where in your life are you being tempted to doubt God's voice? Questions and doubts can be instruments that lead us to truth but they can also be a slippery slope into sin. We ought not rest in the slough of doubt for too long.

From questioning the serpent then moves to deceit: "You will surely not die...when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God." God said they would die, the serpent said they would not. God said sin would separate, the serpent said they would be like God. Every sin is based upon a lie.

Every sin starts with a question, finds life in a lie, and then destroys you when acted upon.

Racism is birthed from a lie about the superiority of races. Suicide begins with a lie that you are better off dead than alive, that God made a mistake making you. Abortion is justified based upon the lie that the unborn fetus is not a human person. Addiction starts with a lie that something will fulfill and satisfy you, if you only have a little more, and more, and more...

Do you know what this means?

That the battle for holiness, the conquering of sin, starts on the inside. It starts with addressing lies in our hearts and minds.

This makes perfect sense when we look at the many Scriptures that address the heart and mind.

“You shall love the Lord your God with 

all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)

For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within. (Mark 7:21-22)

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

These are just to name a few. The strongholds that we are to wage war with as followers of Jesus are not physical, they are spiritual. We are in a battle of ideas, a battle for truth. Inception is a remarkable movie. In it, the protagonist named Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, seeks to place ideas in minds of certain people through "shared dreaming." This process is called "inception." Cobb says that the most resilient parasite is an idea, 

"An idea. Resilient... highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed - fully understood - that sticks; right in there somewhere." 

Cobb says further,
"An idea is like a virus...and even the smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define or destroy you."

Ideas are powerful, and the difference between an idea that is true and an idea that is false can be the difference between the Holocaust and the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

We think that our thoughts don't matter.

But they do.

We are commanded to meditate or think upon things that are true, noble, just, and pure (Philippians 4:8). We are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:1-2). Jesus commanded that we clean the inside of our cup first, speaking of our hearts (Matthew 23:26). And His prayer for His followers was that they would be sanctified (made holy) in and by God's truth (John 17:17).

Lies kill. Truth gives life.

What lies are you believing? Lies, even the smallest untruths can destroy your life a little bit at a time.

Hirō Onoda, a Japanese soldier
who continued fighting for 29
years after the war was over.

Hirō Onoda was a Japanese soldier during World War II. He continued fighting on an island in the Philippines through guerrilla warfare for a full 29 years after the Japanese had surrendered!

He would not believe the pamphlets dropped from airplanes, the Japaneses newspapers left for him to find, or the Japanese dignitaries who marched through the jungle announcing on loudspeakers that the war was over. In his mind it was all a ruse. A tactic by the enemy seeking to persuade him to surrender.

He did not believe it until the Japanese government sent his previous commander who had been working in a bookstore for decades after the war and had him go into the jungle to tell him personally that the war was over.

What a waste of his life! Hirō, I am sure, spent every day of his life regretting the years he wasted because of a lie. He believed that Japan was still at war with the Allies. What lies are causing you to waste your life? 

Do we play hours of video games a day or binge-watch Netflix thinking that it is worth the majority of our free time? Do we believe that some sin is not a big deal, that God was just kidding when he said that sin leads to death (James 1:15)? Do you believe that you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139) or do you think that you are worthless? Do you think that you are good enough to please God? Or have you embraced the truth that every day you fall short of the glory of God and our in desperate need of Jesus (Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23). 

Lies kill. 

Fight them. Destroy the thoughts, ideas, and lies that set themselves up against the Word of God. Cling to the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life (John 14:6). 

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)