Unity, what does this look like?

As much as we as Christians speak about unity and desire to see change; we face the reality of the price that must be paid for Unity. I find myself today, with the honor of wrestling with some of NYC's great youth leaders to move toward a new wineskin of what Unity can look like in NYC. What would NYC look like if we began to pursue Unity for the Kingdoms sake and not just for unity sake.

Santana At His Worst; Yankees Beat Mets, 15-0






















Yankees put a beating on Santana. Giving him the worse loss of his major league career. Yanks win series 2 games to 1. Lets hope they can continue this great hitting into their next series as they attempt to close the gap with Boston.

Is Body Art Part of the New Christian Sub-culture?













As American Christianity attempts to re-brand itself for an emerging generation, has it embraced art forms, that at one point in time was considered a defile of the "temple of the Holy Spirit". Today many churches are being intentional about reaching a younger demographic than in prior generations. Much of this is due to the decline of most US churches as well as the reality that emerging generation has no interest in church in its traditional form.

Many leaders, who once preached against body art, are now finding themselves retracting their words and are attempting to appeal to those who once would be considered outcast from traditional church frameworks. Weather you think its right or wrong, body art is a huge part to today's culture; and if you are a looking to reach emerging generation you will find yourself ministering to those with body art. How will your church reach them? treat them? and empower them to reach their generation?

My little Rockstar on her b-day / 3 yrs old

My view on Commercialized Christianity

by Skye Jethani
The apostolic African leaders typify the primary function of the gift—the extension of God's kingdom. Beasley sees this exemplified by Paul in the New Testament. "Initiating new works to bring people to Jesus is apostolic. You see evidence of that in Paul's desire to go to places where no one has yet preached the Gospel. He didn't want to build on someone else's foundation."
To read this article in its entirety click on the text or go to the Leadership Journal website

PRICELESS!
The face of F. Rodriguez as he watches his teammate, Castillo drop a routine fly-ball that cost Rodriguez the save and the Mets a win, as the yankees pull off a game 1 win.

Prodigal God by Timothy Keller

"The Prodigal God is essentially an exposition of the parable in Luke 15, commonly known as The Prodigal Son—except that, as Keller points out, this title is not adaquate to describe the story Jesus is telling. The parable is in fact a tale of two sons, and Keller explains to us that the story is as much about the older son as it is about the younger. He goes on to argue that for the most part people in this world fall into two categories; either the irreligious free-spirited rebel (the younger son), or the religious responsible moraliser (the older)—and that both are equally lost to God".
Review by http://www.Ianjukes.org

What an Emerging Generation feels about Religion

Over the past 3 months I have had the opportunity to conduct a survey with young adults from the ages of 19-30. This was an extremely diverse group, made up of 50% men & 50% women, mixed races (Blacks, Hispanic, Whites, and Caribbean), mixed social and economic backgrounds, and mixed religious backgrounds (Christian, Muslims, Agnostics, and just those who have never explored and faith)

It was amazing to find most young adults are very open to the idea there is a supreme being (God) however they are turned off by the idea of, what most of them called "organized religion". Those that had a background in Christianity felt "the God of the Bible is not the god in most churches". One young man stated "I stopped going to church because I was looking for that God of power but the church did not have the capacity to reveal Him to me...So I would rather search for Him on my own then sell out to a religion that can't offer Him to me" When I asked if he considered himself a Christian he stated "No, I would say I am a person seeking out for the real God, and if I find Him I will follow Him not religion".

Even several young adults who practiced Islam felt their religion lacked something. In this case, many of the young women felt that Islam lacked to ability to make their faith relevant to this current generation. One specific young women shared "Islam is a great faith, but I feel it can't help me when I am dealing with my real life issues. I don't agree with everything its about, I feel women are looked down at and are discriminated against. How can I wholeheartedly embrace the fullness of this religion when it conflicts with my personal morals, ethical practices, and world-view".
I believe, as this generation grows into its identity and calling the framework of religions institutions will change in America. The question is, is America ready to see this change?

The Encounter is a night of Prophetic Worship and intercession led by youth & young adults. This powerful event will take place on Friday June 26th @ 8pm at Gateway City Church - 267 Bay Ridge Ave, BKLYN NY. For details please call 718.921.4673