facebook: It's free and anyone can join

If you go to www.facebook.com and are looking to become a member of facebook you will see that it says there "It's free (and always will be)." It is free to get your own personal facebook page. It does not cost you a thing.
A month or so ago this phrase was different. I assume it was changed because there was a message going around on facebook that it was going to stop being free. If I remember correctly the message said that on July 15, 2010 they were going to start charging a monthly fee for facebook. This got some people riled up and I saw several petitions for a free facebook going around. Either that worked or the message was just a rumor and was never really going to happen.
The phase was changed to "It's free (and always will be)" to calm those worries about having to pay for facebook. The previous phrase was "It's free and anyone can join." I like that one a little better than the new one.
It's free and anyone can join applies to our faith as well. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." Basic translation: Our relationship with God is a free gift. We cannot do anything to earn it or deserve it.
Yet we try to earn it or deserve it. We try to be good enough before coming into God's presence, but God loves us as we are. We can simply come to him to have that relationship. Once we are there I believe God works on our hearts, but that is work for God to do in us and not for us to do to ourselves.
So, our faith is free, but don't forget that anyone can join. I hope you have joined and if not God freely offers you an invitation. All you need to do is receive the gift of a relationship with him.
If you have already joined then I want to remind you that anyone else can join. There are people around you that need an invitation from you to join. I believe God calls people, but often he does that through us. We need to go to anyone and invite them into the family of God. Remind them it is free and let them know how a relationship with Christ has impacted your life. Spread the word, faith in Christ is free and anyone can join.

facebook: What's on Your Wall?

Your wall on facebook is the public viewing area of your facebook page. What is put on your wall is there for anyone to see. If you want to send a private message you can use the instant messaging piece of facebook or send a message like an email to their facebook account. The wall is for the whole world to see, unless you have it set for just your friends to see. But still all the people connected to your life will see what is on your wall.
Your wall has your past status updates. It has your recent pictures posted. It has videos you saw and liked.
By reading someone’s wall you can begin to get an idea of that person’s identity. At least you can begin to see what has their attention, where their focus is. You can also start to learn what is important to that person.
So what’s on your wall? This question could be directed at your facebook wall if you have one. What is the general mood of your status updates? Are they negative, complaining, and making fun of others? Or are they positive, encouraging and sharing about God’s blessings in your life? Are your pictures and videos appropriate?
This question can also apply to your life. If someone looked at your life what would they see gets your attention? What would they see is important to you?
I think about myself when I say my wife and family are my top priority and then I find myself scheduling meetings in place of family time. I may say they are important, but is that really what is seen? I finally decided to schedule family time that cannot be rescheduled because I don’t want to just say my family is important, but I want to live that way.
Look at your wall. Look at your life. Do they show who God has called you to be? If you see changes that need to take place do not put up a false self just to make it look good to the outside, but rather ask God to transform your heart. Once God works on your heart it will move to the exterior. It will be seen in your life and on your wall.

facebook

facebook is a major part of our world today. Over 400 million people use this social networking website launched just 6 years ago. So I thought we would look at pieces of facebook and see what it might teach us about our faith. For the next several weeks I will use something from facebook to start our thinking about how God wants us to live.
The idea is that facebook can be your virtual face. It could be your on-line personality. You choose what your face or personality looks like depending on what you post as your status, what pictures you put up, and all the other things you do on facebook.
2 Corinthians 3:18 says that we have unveiled faces that reflect the Lord's glory. This means that our faces are to reflect God, and I would say that is our real face and our virtual face. We are called to reflect the love, mercy and grace of God in all we do and even what we might put on facebook.
Most of the time I believe many of us have veiled faces. We veil our faces to cover up what is really going on inside of us. We worry that if people really knew what we were thinking or what was going on in our lives that they would judge us, shame us or not want to be friends with us. So we veil our true selves and put on a false face. I think we all do this from time to time to protect ourselves.
However, I believe God wants us to show our true face. God wants us to be real with each other. God desires for us to just be ourselves. Our gifts and talents are wonderful to share, but our weaknesses and struggles are also a part of who we are. If we all were honest and real with each other, we could know better how to serve and love each other. This would allow us a better opportunity to show Christ to each other.
My question to you then is; does your face reflect the Lord's glory? Are you real? Are you the same person on facebook as you are in person? We were created in the image of God, so when we live as God intended we will reflect the Lord's glory.
This is what we will be working on over the next few weeks. We will use facebook to show us ways to transform our faces to truly reflect the Lord's glory.

Free

Galatians 5:13-14 says, "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
This passage is an important reminder after we celebrated our countries independence yesterday. We heard this message in our ecumenical service yesterday morning. The message is that our freedom is not meant only for our personal gain, but is meant to lead us to love others. One way we love others in our freedom is to invite them into the freedom we have in Christ.
I was impressed by my 6 year old son yesterday. We had many people come to our house during the 4th of July parade because the parade route goes right by our house and we are near the beginning where the candy throwers are still generous. I think we had 14 kids running around the house playing together. There were a few times parents needed to intervene, but overall the kids were very good.
I was impressed with Jamison because most of the kids at one time or another played with his Lego's. He really likes his Lego's and can be protective of them from time to time. However, he never was protective yesterday and actually he wanted each kid to build something and take it home. He wanted to give away his Lego's. He thought that each person took joy in the hard work of building their own Lego creation and they should get to take it home to enjoy, but then bring it back some time.
The freedom we have in Christ should lead us to the same kind of expression. Because we have joy in our freedom, we should want to offer it to others. When we see someone struggling or hurting we can share the freedom of Christ with them. We can give to them something that has changed our lives. Let's be about spreading the freedom of Christ all over this world as we express God's love for His people.

What if...this was your last day on earth?

The average life expectancy in the United States for women is 28,891 days and for men it is 26,371 days. That is a lot of days to live. Of course, they are not all guaranteed, but that is the average.
Now think about how many of those days will be days you will never forget. How many of those days were memorable? Weddings, births, deaths, and other life changing moments make days memorable. I still remember the first day I saw my future wife on the seminary campus. I also remember the night my life was changed as I gave my life to Christ.
Now, how many of your days were average and forgettable? Days that you just went through the motions. The days that were routine and you were on autopilot. I would guess we all have more forgettable days than memorable ones.
However, if we decided to we might be able to change that. That is the idea behind the question; what if this was your last day on earth? Would you want your last day to be memorable or forgettable?
If we decide to live each day to God's fullest, each day would make a difference in this world and therefore be memorable. Living for God's fullest means that we have given up living for ourselves and decided to help people become aware of God's presence. If I live each day for God then it would be easier for me to have that be my last day on earth.
I know this is a rather larger ideal, and living each day fully for God is a big goal, but I still dream. I still challenge you and myself to live each day as if it were our last. Don't miss the opportunities God places before you each day. Make the most of those opportunities. It is through those daily opportunities to live for God that we will share a piece of heaven with those here on earth.

What if...God was your go-to-guy?

I thought a good illustration of the way we often look at God is as a hail Mary pass. In football a hail Mary pass is a desperation heave down the field. It is an attempt to throw the ball towards the end zone just praying someone from your team will catch it and score. Every once in a while it works, but most times it does not. (The picture is of Warren Holloway catching a hail Mary from Drew Tate in the 2005 Capital One Bowl Iowa Hawkeye victory.)
I see us relating to God this way when we say something like, "well, I have tried everything else, I guess I could pray." I know I have thought or said that before. We also may not say it, but our actions speak it. We try everything in our own power before turning to God.
What I want to encourage us to do is to make God our go-to-guy. Instead of God being a desperation choice, make God the number one option. Go to God first thing. Make God the first place you turn in good and bad times. God is waiting for you.
If you want to read a great passage about God as a go-to-God read 1 Kings 18:22-39. This story is about Elijah and his trust that God would show up when he needed God.
I want to be a Christian who turns first to God, instead of waiting until I feel I have gone as far as I can go and now God can help me keep going. I still tend to do this as I try to fix things myself. I often jump straight into Mr. Fix-it mode. Instead I need to slow down, take a breath, pray and then go where God leads. When I have taken the time to turn to God first the situation seems to go better.
Where have you seen this work in your life? When has God responded as your go-to-God?

Did you know that only 5% of Christians tithe? According to a Barna study that has been true since about 2000. And the average United Methodist gives under 2% of their income to the church. Tithing is giving 10% of your resources to God's work. So if all Christians tithed there would be a big difference in resources available for God's work.
Just within our medium sized church there would be a large increase in resources. The average net income in Williamsburg is around $45,000 a year. We have 200 families in our congregation. So if every family tithed on that average amount, we would have $900,000 a year for God's ministry. Our current general budget is $265,000.
Noticing the extra $600,000 I went to the United Methodist Advance webpage, which lists ministries around the world that need support to continue God's good work. You can check it out if you want at The Advance. You can look by ministry type or by region. We could support hospitals in foreign countries or clinics here in America. We could support orphanages in Haiti, teach farming in underdeveloped countries, and get fresh drinking water to people all over the world. We could work towards ending malaria or other diseases. The possibilities are endless.
However, I also know there is more to tithing than just the numbers. If all Christians tithed that would let me know that all Christians have a better understanding that everything we have actually belongs to God. 100% belongs to God and yet He gives it to us to use. We then make the decision on how God's resources are used. And when we tithe we can change the world. We can direct God's resources to His work. And we do this because we were created in the image of a generous God. God gave his Son for our salvation. God believes through giving the world will be changed and we can make that happen as well when we are generous and give.
Let me know if you have any questions on tithing, and imagine the possibilities. We could change the world if we all decided to tithe.