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RUFUS?

RUFUS is the Oakdale Park Church High School Youth group. 

Our meetings are every Sunday from 5 to 7 pm (in the church basement), we have Bible Study on Thursdays, and we have special events once a month.

Reflections/Verses

[most recent @ the top....but additional comments added to older entries]

last updated 1.19.04

1.18.04

On this night, we watched Bruce Almighty and had a short discussion afterwards on the things that we found to be good and the things we found to be... not so good about the film.  To see selected script from this movie, click here.  Picking the good from the bad from things that we see in the media can be tricky task, but it is something we need to learn how to do as Christians.

1/05/04

RUFUS Café!  We discussed music at our tables.  The Cool Wests sang.  Most of us agreed that music is a huge part of culture and, generally speaking, our lives (Jason V. was an exception). 

One question was: is music in itself "evil" or "good"?  Essentially, most people agreed with that.  Rob and Heather both played wordless pieces that were not necessarily "Christian" but we could attatch our own meaning to and worship through the songs.

One of the best comments I think I heard was that we all have different tastes and need to be supportive/understanding of each other when it comes to worshiping God through music.  We should not condemn someone who has difficulty enjoying an old hymn, but we should not condemn those who do enjoy the hymn, either.

Another question discussed Westminster Catechism Q&A #1: What is the chief end of man and woman?  A. Our chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever. [b]   This, then, should include the music we make and listen to, right?

Yolanda said that she thought we should not be listening to whatever does not intend to glorify God.  This was a great comment, and I look forward to hearing the group's discussion of it next week. 

In the end, I mentioned how there is something that the world cannot understand when we sing with other believers in one spirit.  Songs from the church to the church can be an awesome way to draw closer to God.  The songs may deal with anything from anger to mourning to injustice to peace...but they are all written with God at the center.  Following this, we sang a spiced-up version of Jesus Loves Me.  (All the theology we need)

where God wants me- this is a pretty cool little slideshow that was recently emailed to me, so I thought I would pass it on.

-Andy

Several weeks ago, we talked about how God isn't necessarily "nice".  We can see in scripture that God is love and God is holy, but scripture also tells us that God doesn't tolerate sin (numerous passages, including Exodus 32) or lukewarm Christians (Revelation 3:16).  In Psalm 45:7, God tells us to love righteousness and hate wickedness. 

To take a closer look at ourselves and make sure that we are watching ourselves to make sure that we are not being "Nicetians" instead of Christians, we acted out a church service that was filled with "nice" behavior......but not necessarily godly behavior.  Everyone smiled and everyone was having a good time, but the service didn't bring glory to God.  The pastor misused scripture, the offering was for a new Starbucks to go in the narthex, and a woman was escorted out because she became angry that the collection wasn't going to go to a missionary visiting from the Dominican Republic.  She was "filled with the evil spirit of anger" as the pastor put it. 

The point is this: sometimes God may call us to a righteous anger.  There are things in this world that are wrong.  People in places like Uganda and India and even Grand Rapids are being treated in ways that we should be genuinely upset and angry about because we are all God's children.  Don't be afraid to be angry over things that you see around you that Jesus would be upset about if He were right next to you.......

12.2.03

On Nov. 16, we continued our series on injustice and oppression.  We asked ourselves a few basic questions, such as:

- If certain problems in this world are so bad, then why haven't our parents fixed them yet?

- If I knew that God had a plan for me, would I respond, even if it was hard?

- What sort of things keep me from thinking about how God wants to use me in the battle against what He hates?

- What do I conform to in this world?

Romans 12:2:
“do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world”

Colossians 2:8:
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ”

Click here to see the powerpoint outline we used.  Some additional thoughts have been added to the slides.  Also, you can look at the bulletin of our FirstNicetian Church, a satire of a fictional church filled with..... purely nice people.

posted 11.23.03

Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the needy;Deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Psalm 82:3,4
I don't know where these kids are from, but did you know that there are more than 11 million AIDS orphans under the age of 15 in Africa?  This number is expected to be more than 42 million six years from now.  Are you shocked yet?  Click here to read a complete story on cbsnews.com.

"We need to move beyond feeling beleaguered to feeling outraged by the unacceptable suffering of children."
UNICEF Executive Director
Carol Bellamy
This is Joyti, a young woman who was taken from forced prostitution thanks to volunteers....... not unlike you.

On November 9, we watched a video on injustice and oppression, dealing mostly with issues like child labor (more like slavery), usury, and forced prostitution in India.  Our scripture, taken from Isaiah 1:11-17, was a stiff challenge to us. 

11 "The multitude of your sacrifices- what are they to me?" says the LORD . "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations- I cannot bear your evil assemblies.  14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; 16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

What were God's people doing?  They were just going through a bunch of motions and not thinking about how to really be true disciples.  You can almost feel God's anger building as his people ignore the needs around them. 

How is God calling you to respond today?                       (11.9.03)

This article provides some interesting insight into how to have a closer, more real relationship with God.    (11.8.03)

Note:  the above article was taken from Relevant (www.relevantmagazine.com), a magazine about God, Life, and Progressive Culture.  Adam and Andy have a bunch of issues at their house for you to check out, or if you liked the article, you may want to consider a subscription.  Their website also has a bunch of great free articles. 

A lot of our RUFUS discussions end up on the topic of "evangelism".  It is what Jesus commands us to do in Matthew 28: 16-20 (the Great Commission); to share the gospel message of salvation.   So, how can we do this?  One easy-to-remember way to share the gospel is called the Romans Road.  Basically, it is 5 passages from the book of Romans that sum up who we are and why we need God.  Here they are:

Romans 3:23   "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

Romans 6:23  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 5:8  "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 10:9-10  "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

Romans 10:13  "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Remember, lifestyle evangelism (glorifying God through how we live) is just as important!

posted 10.27.03

Matt 6:28-30

Dt. 31:6b

2 Kings 20:5

John 3:16

John 21:15-18

posted 9.30.03

the last song.mp3