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Image of God

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relevant church
on June 21, 2010
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Two weeks ago, we addressed the difference between knowing about God, and knowing God.
I was given an assignment recently in one of my college classes, and it kinda related to the topic, so I wanted to share it.
I even made reference to Relevant Church, and the difference you have all made in my life:

“Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.” Sad as it may seem, I never even opened the Bible until I was in college! Having grown up in the Catholic church, Catholic teachings were always filtered down to me through workbooks, hymnals, psalms and people. When I was exposed to faiths outside of the Catholic church, I was amazed that some people could quote the Bible, like I could quote a movie!

The image of God was also portrayed to me by the Catholic church, both visually and figuratively. Visually, the image of God, for me, is equivalent to the image of Jesus — a man with long hair, sad eyes and a beard. The picture of perfection that we should all strive to be. But Jesus was the Son of God.

My image of God, as compared to Jesus, is significantly different. Without meaning any disrespect, I see God just as the Wizard of Oz. He can be kind, and he can be punishing. Just as a father to his children, so is God. He offers guidance and support, and punishes his children to teach us right from wrong. The influence of the Catholic church has lead me to portray the image of a God that is very strict, and has many rules. If any of these rules are broken, there will be consequence. God had also been portrayed to me as an untouchable king, someone whom I could never speak to directly, nor could I ever be casual with. I was always very reverent and formal, which created an environment of intimidation and fear.

As I’ve continued to explore more about my faith, it has become less of a religion, and more of a spiritual journey. I feel that the Catholic church, and all its grandeur, has made it to where I’ve always had a very distant relationship with God. I do not believe that I need to confess my sins to a priest in order for God to hear my words and to be forgiven. I believe that I can have a personal, direct relationship with God, at any time of day, any day of the week … not just on Sundays. I’ve also come to believe that church does not always have to be held under a grand display of stained glass windows and a marble alter. The church I attend today is held in the heart of Ybor City. We wear jeans, bring in Starbucks coffee, and feel like we’re at a rock concert. Even still, the message is there, and I receive that message through a channel that appeals to me and that I can understand and relate to.

My spiritual journey continues each day, and there are many things that now influence what my image of God is. My faith and my image of God could be influenced by another individual, a song on the radio, something in the news, or even something as simple as the rays of sunshine peering through the clouds. Each and every day presents a new opportunity to build upon my image of God.

“The Proper Way to Raise the Dead” – Behind the Lyrics

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on September 1, 2009
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Hello church family!
My name is Trey Penton. I occasionally run the cameras on Sunday morning. I’m also a songwriter and I just started medical school at USF. This past week I wrote and recorded a new song that I wanted to share with you because I think that it has a lot to do with what we are experiencing as a church body. The song is posted on my blog here.

I went ahead and posted the lyrics here so you can follow along as I explain them:

“The Proper Way To Raise The Dead”
I went down to the battlefield and found I only had a trumpet in my hand. 
A tiny joke, I thought at first, but now I know that it could be what you had planned. 
But if you don’t need anything 
Why would you ask for help from me again? 

I need a sign, a rock on fire, a jar of wine, some sort of fleece to keep inside my head. 
‘Cuz I’m unsure and will be until I learn the proper way to raise the dead. 
But if you can’t bring anything 
Would you take this cup from me again? 

There’s a peace in four long years, a decade each, that seems to be what you had planned 
Where you could take this mess of arteries and veins and turn it all into a man. 
And I know you don’t need anything 
But could you please just speak through me again? 

‘Cuz when you ask for anything 
It’s just a benefit to me in the end.

As I started medical school two weeks ago, I read through the story of Gideon in the book of Judges (Chapters 6-8 to be exact), and I felt like I could identify with his character and the relationship he had with God. So the first line of every verse has something specific that is related to Gideon’s story but that also means something to me personally.

The first verse starts with a trumpet in a battlefield which is more or less how Gideon defeated the Midianites (Ch. 7). It also explains my own inadequacies of entering medical school with only a guitar in my hand (metaphorically), and that although it seems odd to me, it may be just what God has planned. The last two lines of this verse express an issue I think many Christians have dealt with. Throughout the Bible, it is shown that God doesn’t need anyone, especially humans, to bring himself glory. In fact, He doesn’t need us for anything; we are the ones who need Him. So why does he ask us to do certain things in this life? Does He secretly really need our help?

The second verse starts with the notion that, like Gideon, I constantly feel that I need God to show me signs that He is with me. Gideon’s signs included a rock on fire and a fleece, and I threw in the jar of wine to reference the first miracle of Jesus as you could say it was his first “sign”. The second line just reiterates that without God making His presence known I will continue to be unsure of myself as a doctor unless, like Jesus, I am able to raise the dead. The final two lines of the verse reference Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane where He prays to the Father to take the cup of the crucifixion away. Of course Jesus followed this by saying “Your will be done Lord” but here I only insist that if God doesn’t show me a sign that He please take away this responsibility from me.

The third verse starts with a kind of confusing line if you don’t know the story of Gideon really well. After Gideon defeated the Midianites, there were 40 years of peace in Israel. So it’s a reference to that but I’m also trying to say that these four years of medical school (though they seem like a decade each) will be a time of peace for me if they are in fact something that God has planned for my life. The second line is just an anatomy filled way of saying God may help me grow during this time. In the last two lines of this verse, it does indeed seem as if I have grown up a bit. I identify once more that God doesn’t need anything for Himself but I follow by actually asking Him to use me instead of sort of complaining that He is using me like in the first verse. Why the change of heart you ask????????

It’s explained in the last two lines of the song:
Recently, I’ve discovered something startlingly true about God’s character. Whenever He asks us to do something or go somewhere, it always proves to be beneficial to us personally in the end. And this is the main point I am trying to make to you, my church family. While helping out the local community in practical ways like adopting B.T. Washington Elementary by paying for hundreds of backpacks and cleaning their grounds may seem like a lot of work and an inconvenience at times, but it will benefit us tremendously as a church. If you take away the fact that we are getting an opportunity to help others (which is a benefit in itself), we are still profiting in so many ways! The benefits I myself can see immediately include but are not limited to: strengthening our individual and collective character as a church, becoming refocused on the mission of loving others that was at the heart of Jesus’ ministry, and forming and strengthening new bonds of friendship with each other as we work towards a common goal. And that’s just the beginning! Remember, the Bible says that the plans God has are far beyond anything we can even imagine because His ways are far superior to our own. So the next time you find yourself being discouraged by God’s seemingly strange plans for your personal life or for our church, take heart and be encouraged by the fact that God wouldn’t ask you or us to move in a certain direction if it wouldn’t turn into an incredible blessing in the end.
Love,
Trey

Where He Belongs

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on April 10, 2009
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I learned quite a lot from Paul’s message this week. Sure, I’ve known the story of Holy week since I was a child— people honor Jesus as he arrives in Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday, then comes the Last Supper, the Garden of Gethsemane, the trial, the crucifixion and the resurrection. I know and believe all of those things happened and that Jesus is indeed the Messiah. But I think that my knowledge of those events from a historical perspective has prevented me from really seeing some of the larger “life application” lessons in Luke’s account of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
I love the way that Luke notes how Jesus’ uncle, Cleopas, called him “the man from Nazareth.” (You gotta love the way Luke, the physician, gives attention to every little detail… that’s how I like my doctors, too!) It’s also interesting to me that Cleopas and his travel buddy didn’t have any rebuttal for the man they were walking with (Jesus) calling them foolish for overlooking prophecies. Instead their only response was to beg him to stay the night with them.
I also find it difficult to overlook the parallels between this part of the story and how so many people come to meet Christ these days. Many of us who have received Jesus in our lives have testimonies of hearing the story of the gospel, acknowledging that Jesus is Lord, receiving Him into our lives through prayer, and then not much else happens. We sort of go back to life as usual. It’s almost as if we invite Jesus into our lives and then add him in with all of the other things on our plate.
Similarly, in this story, Cleopas and his friend have to invite Jesus and receive him as a guest. I imagine them maybe giving the undercover Messiah some water to wash his feet and setting an extra place for him at the table, as they would any other evening when entertaining a guest. But, what I think they did differently than many people who have invited Christ into their lives, is that they allowed him to take that place at the head of the table and break the bread right away. Luke’s attention to detail says nothing of the men correcting Jesus when he sits at the head of the table or informing him that the job of breaking bread is reserved for the master of the house. Something within them simply seems to grant Him top honors without hesitation and then BOOM- as soon as they allowed Him to have His deserved place of honor, these everyday followers of Christ (who were not the esteemed apostles) have their eyes opened and they get to see and experience the risen Lord FIRST HAND!
Oh how I wish that we all would have the wisdom of Cleopas and his friend! So often we receive Christ but fail to begin a relationship with Him until months or even years later. And for what? If we would all allow God to take the top place in our life, we could then experience incredible things through Him. But instead, I fear that we all too often tend to add Him as one more thing on our plates of life. Whether it be having quiet time, praying, attending church, or serving others— I don’t think many of us would claim to truly allow Christ to rule in our lives. But I think we would all say we want to experience Him in a more real, first hand way. How silly of us to think that we can have one without the other!
Jesus asks us to remember Him, not on Easter, nor on Sundays, but in our everyday, routine task of eating. It seems as though He wants to be coming alongside us on the road of life, and opening our eyes to His goodness, but He is a polite and honest guest, who won’t force His way to the top (where He knows He belongs.)
I hope that, if you find that you have added Jesus as one more thing on your plate of life instead of taking everything on your plate from Him, that this Easter season will help you rework that equation. I pray that we will all remember Jesus as we break bread daily, and that we would allow Him to sit at the head of our table and fill our plates. If we’re going to invite Him into our lives, let’s let Him abide where He belongs.

- Christina

The Fight Starts Here

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on April 1, 2009
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So I think a lot of us go into this thing with the mindset that once we make the decision to follow Christ our desires will completely change and if they don’t then there’s something wrong with us or the decision we made. Whether we come to this assumption through faulty teachings or our own hopeful spiritual fancies, we are walking into a mental trap. The fact is, the day you accept Christ as your personal savior marks the beginning of a life long battle that will rage quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) inside of you. Prior to this day there was no internal opposition to your sinful nature. It had complete control to direct your actions and steer your life into whatever avenues it saw fit. When you begin to recognize Christ as God however, a new force enters you and contradicts the sinful nature that had once gone without resistance. This force is the Holy Spirit. While His arrival is a sure sign of the ultimate victory we will experience over sin and death thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus, it in no way signals an immediate triumph. I think the most important verse Paul mentioned this past Sunday during the service was Galatians 5:17.

For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

This verse describes the battle lines for the war that takes place in the heart and mind of every Christian whether they realize it or not. The mental trap we fall into when we fail to recognize this shows itself in a variety of symptoms, the most prominent of which include confusion, doubt, and discouragement. We can avoid this mess by acknowledging that the Holy Spirit does not immediately purge us of our sinful desires. Instead, He speaks truth and wisdom into our lives and essentially gives us a conscience with which we derive a sense of how God desires us to act. The beauty of this is that the actions God desires us to take are the actions which will lead to a more fulfilled and abundant life for ourselves here on earth. What I mean by this is not that you will receive material wealth or even physical blessings by following prompts from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not your secret investment planner or internal personal trainer (despite what various televangelists will tell you). The abundant and fulfilled life that Jesus promises through time spent with Him becomes evident when God reveals the passions and ambitions He placed in you long ago and in the satisfaction that comes with knowing you have been reunited with your creator. There is an influx of purpose that occurs when the suggestions the Holy Spirit makes in your heart and mind are used as a foundation for your decision making in everyday life.
As strange as it sounds, this news that the start of our life as a Christian is not an immediate victory but rather the genesis of internal warfare should be looked on as good news. First, it clears up the confusion that comes with thinking there is an overnight change in behavior and desires that takes place when you become a Christian. Second, it promises that if we adhere to the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit our lives will be filled with purpose. If that doesn’t scream hope to you, I don’t know what does.

- Trey

Relevant’s own wins award

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on March 3, 2009
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One of our writers (and tech teamers) got some pretty cool news this past week. Trey Penton, along with many other students on his team, entered and won a film fest put on by campus movie fest. Trey was the Director of Photography, and we at relevant just wanted to take a time out to say how proud of him we are. Everyone be extra nice to him so he stays at relevant forever. Click here to see the film!

Thoughts On Communication

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on February 25, 2009
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I know it has only been a couple of days, but we are giving this whole “ride the train” idea a try and so far I am pretty impressed. It actually happens more often than we realize. Leslee (my absolutely wonderful wife!) and I will watch a movie or read something or see a news story or even just have a conversation with someone. Of course after it is all over she would like to know my thoughts. Always before I would say I didn’t know what to think or maybe I would say something just to satisfy her need. But it usually would end there without any real conversation or thought exchange between us. Most of the time it goes unnoticed, but there are times where my wife really needs me to voice an opinion on something. In these cases we would either come to the conclusion that I am an emotionally repressed idiot or perhaps even an argument would ensue. I have actually lived under the belief that I am an emotional idiot for my entire life.

Now we are able to step back and give me the time I need to process my thoughts without an argument and without me feeling like an idiot. It’s great! I have spoken up and told her that I needed to ride the train on a question she asked and she steps back and is OK with waiting for my train to come back around. I do believe that this is the perfect opportunity to get out of a tough conversation, but whether the man wants to or not the woman will eventually snatch him from his comfy seat on the train. I have done a good job so far remembering that when the train comes back around that I need to tell her what I have discovered. Like I said it has only been a couple of days so the practice thus far has been pretty simple subjects without much importance. I do have a fear that when it comes time that we are in a heated debate (that’s PC for fight) that either she will not want to give me the time I need to ride the train or I will use the train ride to get out of the situation and hope never to return to that station. I do think, however, that this practice of riding the train on the small stuff will help when it comes time for something bigger.

Until then I know that on an every day basis my marriage is enhanced by a deeper and more intimate level of conversation. It feels really good to exchange real thoughts and real ideas with the person I consider to be my best friend.

- Bill

Let’s Get the Party Started (NOT A Gasparilla Story)

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on February 3, 2009
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Last Sunday at church we had communion, which is not in any way an unusual thing for us to partake in, but Relevant does communion a little differently than other churches I’ve gone to. Instead of having a regular service, with a topical sermon or a segment within a series, we use communion to talk about the central message of the Gospel—Jesus sacrificing himself for us.

Of course, it’s always put into a context that is relevant to our modern day lives. This week that meant observations about how Super Bowl mania (which struck Tampa last week) is short lived and how The Passover of ancient Jerusalem was equally celebrated and likewise short-lived.

Then Paul pointed out that the Passover celebration in Luke 22 had a sort of cloud over it for Jesus, since He knew it would be His last. So, in a serious and not totally understood moment, Jesus asked that his friends remember him when they gather at the table and acknowledge that his body would be broken and his blood shed for their (and our) sins.

Yet the disciples didn’t seem to understand what He was telling them and were quickly distracted by the cloud of a debate over who among them was greatest. Paul gently pointed out that we too can tend to focus on “a cloud” and in effect prevent ourselves from really focusing on God.

I think I fell victim to a clouding like that on Sunday morning. And it can be tough not to when you really think about the price that the Lord paid for us. After all, like the song the band led us in again this week (and which has words that I think we cannot hear too often) says, “Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe, Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow— Oh praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead.”

Perhaps you know that in your mind or in your heart, but to really spend time meditating on the price that was paid for us to be washed white can break your heart. That realization can lead even the toughest of tough into a tender and somber moment like our congregation shared on Sunday.

But I allowed this cloud of heaviness to over power another thing that I think is equally as important as understanding the weight of Jesus’ sacrifice: the opportunity to rejoice. Jesus literally wiped our debt away and asks for nothing in return but devotion.

I don’t know much about finance or economics, but I know that if the debt of the world I live in—the financial debt, that is—were to be wiped away, we would rejoice! If America’s deficit was suddenly wiped away, we would be dancing in the streets in celebration! So would people in Africa, folks on Wall Street and from every end of the Earth. Having the weight of financial burdens lifted could unite even the most opposite of humans in celebrations of equally undeserving joy and gratitude.

Why then is it hard for us to apply this same joy to an even bigger debt that was paid millennia ago? Perhaps some of us are numb to the age of this debt forgiveness. Perhaps some of us don’t truly believe it. Perhaps some of us are so focused on the cloud of sacrifice that we miss the sweet forgiveness that it awards us. Perhaps some of us just don’t remember that alongside the depth of understanding and gratitude we feel towards God for giving his Son for us, we should rejoice. After all, that’s what they’re doing in Heaven. (See Luke 15)

- Christina

Baby Steps - Money

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on January 24, 2009
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I’m going to start this blog with a few disclaimers. I am 24 years old and know nothing about money. My parents were constantly in and out of debt growing up, never setting a solid example. I have a job that has constant cash flowing, and sometimes I spend that cash before I even count it. I am the worst person to write on this subject, but I’m honest…to a fault.
My biggest problem with spending is not material possessions. I spend on experiences. Concert tickets, dinners out, trips, you name it. I convince myself that I am making memories, and therefore my dwindling bank account is justified. In fact, I used my stimulus check last year as spending money for my trip to New York. How am I supposed to feel guilty about that?
I’m a woman who is not a huge shopper. I know it sounds like an oxy-moron. I like to think of myself as thrifty (some people say cheap, but I won’t give in to that stereotype). I can spot a clearance rack from a mile away, and won’t pay full price for anything. All of a sudden, I’m walking out with ten items at 50% off instead of the five I really needed. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose? I then go through a mental process that never seems to change. I feel excessively guilty, then convince myself that I work hard and deserve it. I tell myself that I didn’t really need the stuff and could’ve put my money to better use, then remind myself that I don’t do this very often and can go a little crazy every now and then. Whatever happens, I end up feeling empty about the whole situation.
There’s a line from an Everclear song that has stuck in my head for years. “I hate those people who love to tell you money is the root of all that kills. They have never been poor, they have never had the joy of a welfare Christmas.” It sticks out to me because it reminds me of more than one Christmas I have shared with my family. It seems we always say “We did what we could this year, but next year will be so much better.” The next year comes, and it’s pretty similar to the year before.
Paul said that we need to stop “borrowing from the future to pay for today.” I never thought about money in that way. I liked this week’s service because it made me want to set goals. As I get older, I realize that baby steps really are the only way to change. I can’t expect myself to put half of my income into savings each week, but an extra little bit is an easy transition. I can stick to what I need until I’ve reached a few goals, and then reward myself with one thing I want…not ten. This is not a change that I am excited about, but with the recent economic crisis, I don’t really have a choice. I’m young and haven’t figured money out yet. Hopefully, though, God will bless me with the ability to be wiser in my choices. I can then be a great example to my future children and help them to avoid the frivolity I have become so familiar with.

- Tiffany

Harnessing Your Inner Scientist

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on December 30, 2008
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I am a scientist. It’s something that I don’t often admit to people. I usually tend to go with songwriter or filmmaker (both of which I am as well). But the fact is that this May I will be graduating from USF with a bachelor’s degree in bio-medical science. We scientists have a tendency to want to figure everything out and we get frustrated when it proves to be an impossible feat. I’ve discovered that a lot of Christians (including myself at times) look at their faith this way.
This poses a problem when we are confronted with a divine being whose ways are far superior to ours. As the speaker on Sunday emphasized, our God has an unfathomable mind; it would be ludicrous to assume that we could understand it fully. While listening to the message at church, I was reminded of the first chapter in the book Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. The chapter is titled “Jump” and it’s basically about how God is inviting us to follow Jesus with all of our doubts and questions. God doesn’t say “You have to get all of your questions answered before you can come to me”. If you read scripture, God is saying something more like, “Listen, I know you have a lot of questions. That’s a good thing! I want you to ask them! Just know that you won’t be able to figure everything out because I’m a really big God”.
As Christians, we need to learn to ask questions while still embracing the mystery in our faith. Rob Bell put it this way: “Being a Christian then is more about celebrating mystery than conquering it”. Read through the Bible. Abraham, David, Mary; all of them asked God questions and what happened? He accomplished phenomenal things through them. It appears that God likes when people ask Him tough questions; it shows that they are engaged in their faith and their relationship with Him. If you look carefully though, you will notice that these people also acted on faith; even when they couldn’t comprehend God’s reasoning, they obeyed Him because they realized that His intelligence was much higher than theirs.
This idea that faith and doubt go hand in hand is something that I have been dealing with for quite some time. A while back, I realized that God is big enough to handle our questions and doubts. I wrote this song called “My Clever Hands” and one of the stanza’s goes like this:

We could stand around with our hands on our hips.
And try to make some sort of sense of all this
Or we could take a look in a book and find out
That faith isn’t faith if it’s absent of doubt.

Asking questions is something that is not only vital to our relationship with God but it’s also an important facet of our church community. I brought my friend Sarah to church this Sunday and afterwards she told me that she was excited to hear the speaker mention the names of people in Church history who questioned the actions of their peers. It is our responsibility as members of the body of Christ to sort through the traditions and procedures of the church and determine what is Biblical and what is not. We need to discern which ideas are coming from God and which are coming from man. Probably the most notable example of this was the protestant reformation (which the speaker also mentioned). If Martin Luther and others like him had not stood up all over Europe and pointed out what was wrong with the church, the majority of Christians today might still believe that you could get a persons soul into heaven by paying money to a priest. By questioning the practices of our church we purge it of corruption and insincerity. This makes us as members more secure when we worship and tithe and at the same time it shows unbelievers that followers of Jesus are concerned with being as true to His teachings as possible.
When it comes down to it, asking questions seems to be something that is at the core of our faith. When we ask questions to God, we are admitting that we cannot figure everything out and that His ways are too complex for our simple minds to wrap themselves around. When we ask questions to the rest of the church about the way we do things, we are showing people that worshiping with a sincere heart is important to us and that corruption has no place in the body of Christ. You know, maybe being a scientist isn’t that bad after all. As long as I keep in mind that I will never be able to completely figure out this experiment called life.

Trey

The Manger

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on December 27, 2008
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I never really put much thought in to how important the manger is to the story of Jesus’ birth. Like most people, I just assumed that there was nowhere else so Mary and Joseph simply settled for what they had available. We like to say that God has a reason for everything, but until this sermon I honestly did not know of any significance to the manger.
Paul explained several ways that the birthplace of Jesus is deeply meaningful to his purpose in our world. He spoke of the manger being a feed trough for the animals and how Jesus is our spiritual nourishment. We also learned that the word used in the Bible for “inn” translates to “a place where burdens are lifted” and how Jesus is the ultimate burden lifter. Paul also told us of the meaning of Bethlehem (House of Bread) and how Jesus became the bread of life for all of us. I would like to plus these analogies with one more. I learned in Micah 5:2 that the ancient name for Bethlehem was Eprathah (just don’t ask me for pronunciation.) This ancient word means fruitful. There are many places throughout the Bible in which the term fruitful or bearing fruit is used. In the New Testament alone there are over 20 verses that mention fruit. Jesus used the idea of bearing fruit in his parables as well. An example of this is found in John 15:1-8.

“I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.”

So from a place which means “fruitful” a baby is born who will become the man who represents our only method of bearing fruit for the Lord. We must strive to stay close to Him and to work on becoming better disciples. Then and only then will we bear the fruit that will glorify God. I challenge you to do some introspective analysis and ask yourself, “Are the fruits that I produce all they can be?” If your answer is no, the simple solution to improvement is to get closer to Jesus.

-Bill