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Christmas

Published
by
relevant church
on December 18, 2008
in Reaction
. 1 Comment

I was at the mall yesterday and I saw an amazing sight. Among the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, there was a line of wide-eyed children eagerly awaiting their two minutes on Santa’s lap. You could almost feel the anticipation in the air. They were going to meet the man that they were working all year to impress. The one man who could make or break their Christmas. They were going to see magic with their very own eyes. No wonder kids cry, wet themselves, and throw up. The pressure is incredible.
I wonder if that same feeling was in the air on the night of Jesus’ birth? How wide-eyed were the wise men when they traveled to meet the Messiah they had so long anticipated? How excited were Joseph and Mary to receive the most precious gift possible and begin their journey with Jesus? How relieved was the world to finally receive it’s King? If there was ever a night where magic was truly in the air, this had to be it!
I remember telling my friend Stephanie that when you really listen to a sermon, it will almost always pertain to what’s happening in your life that week. God always speaks to you if you’re willing to listen. I proved myself right this week. (Sidenote: I’m a woman, and I LOVE being right!)
I wasn’t planning on going home for Christmas this year. I didn’t want to endure the drive, and do the whole “everybody is full of joy” routine. There is nothing I hate more than being fake. I decided to use Christmas as a free day off of work to catch up on some much needed rest. I’ve been channeling the Grinch, Scrooge and all other Christmas villains to put me in the mood. I’ve been practicing my best “Bah-Humbug” for weeks now!
Of course, God had other plans for me. Paul spoke this week about traditions that made me nostalgic. At the end of the service, the song that the band played kicked me right in the gut. The smallest line “Baby please come home,” melted away the frost that the season had put on my heart. It was as if my mother had said it herself. I’m still not thrilled about the idea of being with my family this year. Almost everything in me is telling me not to go. But then there’s that voice in my head that grows stronger every day. It’s saying that it’s not about me. It’s telling me that the most amazing things come out of sacrifice. It’s telling me to trust.
I’ll be home for Christmas….you can count on me. There won’t be snow or mistletoe. I’m not really concerned with presents under the tree. It will be bittersweet, and exhausting. I will inevitably question my decision to be there. Maybe I’m wrong, though. What if I saw a little magic of my own this Christmas? What if I went home and came back relieved and ready to start next year’s journey with my family and with Christ? What if my visit was the one that was anticipated, and it made the day a little more special for someone I love? What if I really am wrong? Maybe I’ll learn to love proving myself wrong as much as I love proving right. Well, maybe almost as much.

Tiffany

What I want for Christmas…

Published
by
Ryan
on December 13, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

In celebration of the Christmas season, I want to talk about someone who is a big inspiration, a friend, a supporter, a good listener, a pick-me-up when I am down, and someone who always forgives me no matter how badly I screw things up. I want to talk about Jesus, and who he is 2,008 years later.

I often wonder what Jesus would look like if he were walking here on earth today. He definitely wouldn’t be wearing a robe and sandals, but I think he would still have a beard and some shaggy hair. What kind of clothes would Jesus wear? I think he would be kind of trendy, wearing a cool pair of jeans, an awesome tee, and maybe a hoodie if it were kind of chilly outside. Would I recognize Jesus if he walked by me on the sidewalk? We say he knows each and every one of us, does that mean he would stop and talk to me, ask me what’s up, say my name and give me advice on life? Would Jesus eat dinner with my friends and I, just shooting the breeze and talking about whatever? I often wonder what Jesus would do when he walks by a homeless guy on the sidewalks of 7th. I don’t always give them money, but I usually acknowledge them and say hey. Is that the right thing to do? Is that what he would do?

Two of Jesus’ many qualities that I really wish I could show more of in myself are limitless grace and eternal, or ever-lasting, forgiveness.

What is grace? Christians see grace as being God’s unmerited or undeserved favor. However, grace is more than that. It’s courteous goodwill, it’s a polite manner, and it’s even a talent or blessing. How many of us really show people any kind of grace on a consistent basis? Sure, we all have favorite people who we love and hang out with more than others, but that’s not really showing grace. Christians tend to put a limit on Gods grace. We think it’s reserved just for those who love him, and not an amazing gift for everyone. The truth is that Jesus died for everyone’s sins. He died for you, me, the non-believers, the thieves and the murderers. His grace is limitless in that he gives it everyone, no matter their background. I think that if Jesus were here today he would still show unbelievable grace. He wouldn’t just go to church-to-church meeting all the Christians and thanking them for their faithfulness. I think he’d walk to streets, visit the prisons, and get to know those who are furthest for him. Just as Jesus did, we need to stop putting a limit on our own grace. We need to be more polite to others, we need to honor others, and we need love others, even if we feel they do not deserve any of it, for it is when we put a limit to grace, that we have no grace at all.

It is so easy to forgive someone for something small. Someone bumps into you on the street, they turn around and say, “sorry man,” you say, “oh no worries.” You instantly forgave them. But what if instead, someone bumps into on the street right after you picked up your freshly made venti cinnamon dulce latte from Starbucks, and to make it worse, the lid was loose and it spilled all over your brand new, white jacket that you saved up for months to buy? They say, “Ahh! I’m so sorry man”, you turn around and go off on them. What’s really the difference? It was the same bump, same amount of force, but this time you had coffee, and it ruined something of value to you. So what if Jesus was here today? I’m pretty sure that if someone bumped him, and spilled his coffee, he would chuckle, brush it off, and say, “No worries my brother.” Jesus instantly forgives everyone for anything, no matter the size of the crime. Forgiveness is one of the most difficult things to do. When we learn to freely forgive, we rid ourselves of all the negative thoughts and feelings toward those who wronged us that we keep inside. When we are free of all these, we are open to truly experience the joy and happiness that Jesus has in store for us.

Is it possible to promise someone that we will always forgive them, and always show them grace? Probably not, but it is possible to work on those two qualities within ourselves. This holiday when someone asks me what I want for Christmas, I’m going to consider telling them limitless grace, or eternal forgiveness.

Ephesians 3:20-21: “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us…”

Ryan

Dear…..Zach?

Published
by
relevant church
on November 18, 2008
in Pictures and Video
. 1 Comment

Check out a video inspired by our own “Dear Haas”. It may be better than the “original” even. It was shot, edited and directed by one of our tech volunteers, Zach Pearson.

I Grew Today.

Published
by
Ryan
on October 12, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 3 Comments

I don’t know what it is about God, but I kind of think he really enjoys surprises. Has anyone ever told you that God shows up when you least expect it, or you find him when you are not looking? Today was one of those days for me. God and I connected today in a way that I’m not used to, a way that felt good, and a way that made me want to seek him more than ever. He made me see how much I’ve grown in the last month, and I thought it was pretty incredible. 

Last week I sent out a note to my growth group about being stagnant in your faith. The idea of being on the track (having faith/believing) but not actually running (growing in faith). I didn’t tell them this in the note, but I wrote it because I really felt like I was becoming stagnant when it came to my faith. Jamie had asked me to host a growth group months ago. I originally told him no, but I changed my mind when my guilty conscience got the best of me. Then he asked me to lead a study that I really wasn’t too excited about. Again, I said I’d do it, but wasn’t too thrilled about it. I was being stagnant in my faith. I wanted to attend a growth group, but I didn’t want to lead others, even though I could hear God calling me, through Jamie. I wanted to do the bare minimum necessary to be connected to Him (God), without having to give Him more effort than I wanted.

So what’s the point? The point is that God truly knows each and every one of us. He knows when we begin to drift away, and he reels us back in when we begin to look out of sight. The growth group that I didn’t really want to lead has become the highlight of my week. I’ve learned so much and have gained a support group who i know I can rely on. God reminded me that I am here to lead and teach others about Him. I was also reminded that the life that I live is not mine, but rather belongs to Him. I said No, but he said Yes, and he won, he always wins.  

There’s a line in a song that Carl sang today: “Here I am, all of me, finally, everything.” For a long time I gave God most of me, but not all of me. I kept a small part for myself, the selfish part, the part that thought I had the right to choose not to lead a growth group when asked. Today I realized that I need to turn selfish into selfless. Today I finally gave everything. I GREW TODAY. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5

Baptism

Published
by
Ryan
on July 29, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 7 Comments

So this week Paul and the guys asked me to blog about baptism. At first I was unsure about what to write. I couldn’t find the words I needed to express the feelings I have. Then all of the sudden it hit me. This is what I came up with —>                         <— “But there are no words there? You didn’t come up with anything?” Exactly! There are no words great enough to describe the feeling I got when Paul and Jamie lifted me out of the water on April 1st, 2007. To say that it was “a great experience” or “A life changing decision” would be like saying air is pretty good for living. It just isn’t enough!

The best way I can tell you about baptism is by sharing with you, my experience, and my story. So here we go: I had a great, pretty traditional, upbringing in the catholic church. I went to church every Sunday with my family, was baptized as a baby, made my first communion, and was confirmed. Some people may see me coming to Relevant as leaving the catholic church. For me, it wasn’t like that at all. I believe that people should go to a church that they feel satisfies their spiritual hunger to the fullest. Relevant fills me up to the brim, while others may feel that way about other churches, and thats totally great. Coming to Relevant was just switching dinner tables! When I began to think about baptism, I realized that I had so many questions, doubts and fears about this issue.

Questions: “Why should I be baptized again, if I was baptized as a baby?” This one really confused me, even though I had somewhat of a grasp on the answer, I still did not fully understand the concept. I sat down with the staff guys here at church and had a great conversation with them about it. My parents decision to have me baptized as an infant was amazing. If they hadn’t decided to bring me to church every week, I guarantee that I would not be a believer today. By deciding to raise me in a church, they poured the concrete foundation for me to build my spiritual life upon. However, baptizing me as a baby was my parents decision, I wanted it to be my decision. I wanted to be the one to tell God that I loved him. I wanted to be the one to tell everybody that I have a personal relationship with Him, and by deciding on my own to get baptized, I was showing everybody that I could stand by myself on the concrete foundation that my parents poured for me. 

Doubts: A lot of people told me that getting baptized changed their lives. I NEVER BELIEVED THEM! I had so much doubt that doing something as silly as getting dunked in water would change my life. I thought, “I have been dunked and swam under water hundreds of times, what would make this time different?” I am going to be really honest, I had this doubt in my head even when I was walking out into the water, thirty seconds before I got baptized. This was an issue that talking to somebody about, would never solve. The only way to believe that it changes you, is to experience it. All I can say is that the feeling of coming up out of the water, and knowing what it means, is indescribable. It instantly killed any and all doubts I had previously had.

Fears: Before I began coming to Relevant I was attending a church that I like to refer to as “old school”. While they preached many truths that were great, they gave me a bad taste in my mouth about baptism. They saw baptism as salvation. I found myself starting to believe that God wouldn’t love me if I did not make the decision to be baptized, even if I had accepted him into my heart. To make matters worse, I had lost a relationship in my life that meant a lot to me, over the issue of not deciding to be baptized in this church. I left the church and decided to find something new, luckily for me I found Relevant, and realized that God did indeed still love me, even if I had not made the decision on my own to be baptized. The fear for me came when the issue of baptism arose. I feared that if I decided to get baptized, I would be conforming to the ideas that the old church put upon me. Here is the difference; Baptism is a celebration of your faith, not a mark of your salvation. You gain eternal life when you give God your heart, and you celebrate that by being baptized.

I want to end with something that is pretty personal to me. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to write this when Paul had asked me to. You see, my family still attends the catholic church back home, and I was always afraid that if I told them I had made the decision to be baptized, that they wouldn’t understand the difference from when I was baptized as a baby and would be upset with me. So I still have not told them. It has been over a year now. I don’t really know if they know or not, but I assume that they do not because the talk has never come up. I didn’t want to write this because I didn’t want to sound hypocritical in saying that baptism is a celebration of your faith. After writing this I’ve decided that I am going to tell my family, and share with them the excitement that I felt on that day, having full confidence that God will help me find the words to share my faith with them. I want to encourage everybody who is thinking about getting baptized to contact either me or one of the staff guys with any questions or doubts that you are having. I hope that my story can help anyone who is questioning, doubtful, and scared of making this decision. Remember…. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6……

The 30 Day Sex Challenge Book is Here!

Published
by
relevant church
on July 2, 2008
in Announcement and Sex Challenge
. 1 Comment

Relevant Church is excited to announce the pre-release book/workbook, “30daysexchallenge-A Journey to Intimacy” by Paul and Susie Wirth

This is the cover for our 30 day sex challenge book.

With all of the buzz about 30 days of sex, 101 days of sex, and even 365 days of sex, we are confident that those who are looking to improve their relationship for the long-run will find that 30daysexchallenge-A Journey to Intimacy, will provide them with the knowledge and practical help that they will need in order to grow closer, not just for 30 days, but for the rest of their lives together. 30daysexchallenge takes a holistic approach to intimacy and guides the couple into four mini-challenges: spiritual, emotional, sexual, and physical. After each challenge is met the couple is ready to engage in 30 days of sex. However, the challenge is not just 30 days of sex. We have provided 30 days of questions that encourages continued intimacy in the four areas studied, and will cultivate and promote an environment of love and passion.

But don’t take our word for it. Hear what Dr. David Clarke has to say about the 30daysexchallenge-A Journey to Intimacy.

“Do you want to learn how to bond with your spouse spiritually and emotionally? Do you want a better-much better-sex life? Of course you do. I do. We all do. The 30 Day Sex Challenge will help you get the marital intimacy you’ve lost. It’s easy to read, refreshingly honest, intensely practical, and based on the Bible. Best of all, it works!”

David Clarke, Ph.D.
Christian psychologist and author of Cinderella Meets the Caveman


Time to get your “burst” on

Published
by
relevant church
on May 14, 2008
in Sweatin to the 80's and Video
. 2 Comments

Well here it is guys the workout video you have all been waiting for: Paul’s very own “Sweatin to the 80’s” burst training video. Enjoy the video and have a great workout.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Anyone beginning a workout when you have not done so in quite sometime should consult a doctor before beginning. Also, if 20 seconds is too much for you at first just do 10 seconds.

Here is a link to Dr Scotts web site. They have some more informational videos on burst training there s well.

Burst Training

Published
by
Jarrett
on May 12, 2008
in Sweatin to the 80's and Video
. 0 Comments

Hey guys, Haas here. The burst training video will be up pretty soon, sorry for the delay. Me and Paul have been too busy cruising the beach in our Camero listening to the new Scorpions album to get any work done. Check back in a little while.

Sweatin’ to the 80’s

Published
by
relevant church
on May 12, 2008
in Announcement and Sweatin to the 80's
. 0 Comments

Hanz and Franz.  Olivia Newton-John and “Let’s Get Physical”.  Arnold, and of course, Sly Stallone.  The 80’s are full of in shape people, and at Relevant, that’s what we are aiming for.  And we mean TOTALLY in shape.  Not just a six pack, no, we want more than that.  We are working out the body, the mind, the soul, and the church body.  We are excited about this journey we’re taking into fitness, and we hope you join us for the ride.  We’ve already been visited by Max Headroom, we’ve looked into “The Eye of the Tiger” and we got a glimpse of Paul and his glorious rat tail.  Don’t miss a thing, because you know we’ve got more surprises in store!

30 Days Down - my learnings

Published
by
Jason
on March 23, 2008
in Sex Challenge
. 1 Comment

So the 30-day challenge has come to an end and suffice it say, it’s been an interesting journey. I’m not speaking so much about the overall craziness we’ve had over this thing, but more about my own personal journey and learnings. I have always been one who loves to learn new things. As a child I was always taking something apart to learn how it was put together and was asking questions to know why it worked and what its usefulness was. To this day I love learning new things. But when it comes to my own personal learnings, I’ve never been as excited to figure things out. There is something about the vulnerability that comes with taking yourself apart (or allowing someone else to) to find out how you’re put together and facing your shortcomings, broken pieces and imperfections. Honestly, who really wants to do that?

That’s really what this challenge has been about though. It’s not been easy for everyone, including myself. So, here are some things I’ve learned on this journey:

I’ve learned my top emotional needs (a few of which are affection, attractive spouse, honesty & openness). I stepped into this part a little reluctantly because, let’s be honest, most guys don’t want to talk about emotional needs. I’m glad I did it though, because so many things make sense for me now. Such as why I’m driven to act certain ways in relationships, why I react to statements or situations the way I do, why some attitudes annoy me and why past relationships just didn’t work out.

I’ve learned that great relationships take a whole lot of work…more than I think I am willing to put in sometimes. Mostly because I’m selfish a lot. And with that, I’ve learned that I am scared to death of marriage.

I’ve learned that I need to better clarify for my relationships where the line is of going too far physically…and be mature enough to fight like crazy to not go over that line while having the right accountability to help.

I’ve learned, once again, that I am not perfect…nor will I ever be. Which, for a perfectionist is a tough lesson.

Finally, I’ve learned that a lifestyle of saving sex for marriage is not easy…sometimes I hate waiting. But, I’ve learned that sex is most rewarding, unmatched, and truly amazing when experienced in the right context.

These are just a few of the things I’ve learned. My hope is that you have learned some things about yourself as well over these past 30 days. My hope is that you will continue on this journey, continue learning, and turn 30 days into a lifestyle.