I wish more young believers would so artistically present their faith in, and love for, Christ. Jeff Bethke is to be commended for his wonderful example to other young believers. He has so many catch-phrases cleverly woven through his poem that Christians have used to share with others why we think Christianity is so uniquely beautiful. "Religion says DO - Jesus says DONE." Amen.
Religion is merely the 'ordered' expression of devotion to God. 'Ordered' means that there are 'rules' about how this is done. It also involves guidelines for ceremonies, service, occasions (births, deaths, marriages memorials). Read through the New Testament and you'll notice these guidelines. Thus, Christianity is a religion in this sense that James commends in James 1. But it is not another of the merely man-made religions.
In his video, it seems that Jeff Bethke criticises churches that are concerned about how they are ordered when there are so many people outside of these churches that are suffering and hungry. This commits the all-too-often-made "either / or" reduction. It assumes that if a church is ordered well (including how it is led, where it worships, how it worships) it can not concerned for the unchurched needy. To be sure, it is all too easy for churches to be too concerned about leadership structures and titles, buildings and mortgages, and what takes place in its meetings. When these things become the sole focus, churches die. But this is a false dichotomy. It's not a matter of a church being either well ordered OR concerned for the poor. In fact, most churches I'm aware of are concerned about being well ordered AND showing concern for the poor. Most.
Father, help us to be better representatives of Who You are. May we display our love for You with greater passion - greater devotion - greater sincerity. Give us a soft, tender, sensitive heart that responds quickly to Your Spirit's leading, correcting, and whispers. May we become who we are not yet but realise we need to be. We pray that You would enlarge our hearts to care and show that care to those who need it most. Let our hearts be inclined to serve away from the craved spotlight of others' approving looks, and serve well the one You've put before us. In Jesus' Name, Amen.Andrew Corbett, 27th January 2012
The old King James Version translation of this verse uses the word "strait" for the modern word "narrow". For us Tasmanians, we are very familiar with what a strait is (as distinct from something that is "straight"). It carries the idea that there is a narrow way through bounded by barriers. Jesus said that eternal life was like this. As we walk with God the path is bounded by two great barriers: 1. Love for God, and 2. Love for others. Upon closer investigation we discover that both barriers bear both barrier markings. God has bounded the path of those who follow Him with these two great safety barricades. Step over either one and the follower of Christ is no longer loving God or people. Keep as close to the middle of the strait and you can only love God and others. So who would want to live on the edge of the strait knowing that the closer to the edge you get the further away from fellowship with God you get at the same time? But is it wrong to go up to the edge? I actually think this is perfectly the wrong question. The one who wants to love God, live for Him, walk closely with Him, does not ask how close to the edge they are allowed to get before it's "wrong".
Money? Health? Happiness? Certainly these were the respective wishes of Japanese, European and American parents for their childrenaccording to a recent survey. But I have an advantage over my Japanese, European and American survey respondents. They only gotone wish. I've got three! I could trump them all and wish for all three of their wishes! But should I?
Who would make irrelevant wishes? When it comes to all things beneficial, and therefore helpful, relevance should certainly be presumed. This is especially true when it comes to wishes. But it's also true when it comes to any claim of helpfulness such as churches which claim to help make life better. Any church daring to make such a bold and public claim would first have to be relevant to its claimants. 
A young man wondered though. He was 'forced' to accompany his parents to church. "Irrelevant!" his body muttered. But then he witnessed his parents marriage very nearly disintegrate. Confused, despairing, fearful, he did not know what he could do to help his parents. What happened next changed his life. It was something the boring and irrelevant preacher said during one his boring and irrelevant sermons in his boring and irrelevant church that totally rescued his parents' marriage. The young man was forced to reconsider how he understood "relevant" and "irrelevant." That same young man grew up to become a preacher!
Each week I have people contact me who want help making their lives better. Some of these people turn up on a Sunday and discover that what they previously thought was irrelevant is now very relevant. From the acceptance shown by those who greet them to the love they experience from those worshiping around them to the strange sense of the transcendent as the music begins to the inner whisper of the Spirit of God they hear as the preacher speaks. Relevant and helpful.
When God called Abram to leave where he was, God wasn't speaking to Abram at Ur of the Chaldeans (he'd already left there) but rather at - Haran! Initially God called Terah, Abram's father, to leave Ur of the Chaldeans, along with his family - which included Abram, Sarai and Terah's Grandson, Lot. He was on a divine mission to reach Canaan. But instead, Terah compromised his mission and camped at a place he named "Haran".
It could have been difficulty that halted Terah from completing the mission God had given him. But God would have known the mission was going to be difficult. Surely God wouldn't ask someone to do something that would be difficult for them to do? If you're hoping the answer is, "Of course God wouldn't ask someone to do something difficult!" - don't ask William Carey for his opinion! When he arrived in India in 1793 as the first British Baptist Missionary to India, he faced opposition from the British Government, the death of his young son, the nervous breakdown of his wife, and no converts for the seven years of his ministry! Carey's mission was difficult but he knew that it was also divine.
History has become tired of proving to the world that comfort and comfortableness are the obstacles to greatness and achievement. Becoming seduced by Comfort's mistress-call will always mean that its victims become unwilling to achieve their potential. Could it have been comfort that led to Terah abandoning his divine mission? Do a study of Christ's "Beware" statements and notice how most of these fall under the category of comfort. Terah had reached a point in his journey where he didn't want to go on any further.
Terah's late son's name was Haran. In Hebrew, this name means mountaineer. The place where Terah camped was coincidentally named Haran but in the Hebrew it is a slightly different word meaning parched.
However, even though Terah failed, God redeemed His mission. All the while He was preparing Abram. God will always see to His mission. As F.W. Boreham has written, the impossibilities of God's mission are remedied by a baby. That is, we tend to look for full-blown solutions while God nearly always provides potential solutions in the form of seeds, babies, or children.
Somehow, Terah's dream of reaching Canaan had died. The camp at Haran (later referred to as Padan Aram) as "parched" as it was, seemed more appealing to Terah than the Promise of Canaan. Sometimes our mediocre spiritual state (either individually or as a church) seems more appealing than the mountainous path yet-to-be trod to our fuller potential. Maybe it wasn't difficulty, weariness, or comfort that enticed Terah to stop? Could it have been fear? Was he afraid to proceed into theunknown when the known at least gave him some sense of security?