Jonathan Haag

I’m going to cut right to the chase…I own the liscense plate seen on here…as do many other people in the great state of Indiana.  Here is my challenge to all who own this plate (including myself): Drive better!  Don’t cut people off, don’t give dirty looks, and ecspecially don’t give the bird to people driving by!

Remember who you are representing with that plate!

Love,
Jonathan Haag

On July 22nd I had the opprotunity to meet an awesome group of guys about a block away from the White House.  One of them had a masters degree, one of them was a Jehovas Witness, and the other was a well versed political nerd.

You are probably thinking I was in a Senate Office Building right there on the National Mall.  I wasn’t.

I was at Edward Murrow Park.  A small park full of homeless men and women.

That group of guys I descibed above…they are all homeless.

I had the opprotunity to talk to a guy named Anthony for about 45 minutes.  These 45 minutes changed my life.

We talked about life on the streets, how people end up on the streets, his struggles, hot spots to get free food, homeless shelters, faith, college, Bobby Knight, George W. Bush, Democrats, and CNN headlines. 

Anthony helped break every notion I previously had about homelessness and homeless people.  I wont lie…before I talked to him I was under the notion that all homeless people are lazy.

I found it interesting and mind bending when the group of guys pointed to a huge office building that surrounded them and they said “The guys in there are about 1 or 2 paychecks away from being down here.”

Anthony and I are no different from one another.  We both have struggles.  We both need someone to talk to.  We both need water, food, clothing, and shelter.

As Christians we are commanded in scripture to care for the poor and widows…to care for the least of these.  Look at these passages of scripture:

Matthew 25:31-46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

    35 For I was hungry

    and you gave Me something to eat;

    I was thirsty

    and you gave Me something to drink;

    I was a stranger and you took Me in;

    36 I was naked and you clothed Me;

    I was sick and you took care of Me;

    I was in prison and you visited Me.  ‘

    37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?’

    40 “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me. ‘ 41 Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!

    42 For I was hungry

    and you gave Me nothing to eat;

    I was thirsty

    and you gave Me nothing to drink;

    43 I was a stranger

    and you didn’t take Me in;

    I was naked

    and you didn’t clothe Me,

    sick and in prison

    and you didn’t take care of Me.’

    44 “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help You?’

    45 “Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either. ‘

    46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Job 31:16-23

16 “If I have denied the desires of the poor
       or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,

 17 if I have kept my bread to myself,
       not sharing it with the fatherless-

 18 but from my youth I reared him as would a father,
       and from my birth I guided the widow-

 19 if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,
       or a needy man without a garment,

 20 and his heart did not bless me
       for warming him with the fleece from my sheep,

 21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
       knowing that I had influence in court,

 22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
       let it be broken off at the joint.

 23 For I dreaded destruction from God,
       and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

Grace and Peace,

Jonathan Haag

My buddy Jack Meils and I organized a coffeehouse at our church, Northside Baptist, last night and can I just say that it was “legendary”!

We had two bands play, Gray Road and Scott Moran, they managed to fill up about 2 hours and 15 minutes!!! It was absolutely amazing to see how this it all worked. We had coffee, tea, soft drinks, and nachos for sale to raise money for three organizations in Washington DC that I and about 20 other students will be working with this July. We raised $200 to be split between the three organizations!

It was awesome to see that in midst of conversations, board games, and nachos that you could freely worship in song with your friends…its so hard to put into words…its something you have to experience!

In the coming years I think these coffeehouses will play a more vital role in church.  It is a very relaxed and personal place to hear the gospel and to develop relationships.

Not as important but still important these events raise money.  If done right (getting things donated and being overall cost conscious) money can be raised for missions or budget.  Maybe its just me but I really think that these events could be utilized more.

Thanks to all who came out and supported the three mission organizations!

Grace and Peace,

Jonathan Haag

Early this week I asked the question: why do you go to church?  I asked this question because about a month ago I was asked the same question and to be honest it was hard to answer.  I quickly replied that I go to church because I loved learning about a God and hanging out with my friends.

Not a bad answer right!?

To be honest I had not a clue why I was at church on Sunday mornings!  This whole system of church and stuff had kinda become routine and frustrating to me. Something needed to change.

I want to share with you what has been on my heart lately about church and faith.  I need to break this up into two sections…the first one for adults and the second one for students…or if you are an overachiever you can read both!

Adults:

I am convinced that there are two types of church and faith.  One I think of as a car and the other as a bike.

This car church and faith is interesting.  Its interesting because its the predominant church and faith but I believe its causing the church to collapse.  This car is built on sturdy tires…the theology is pretty much on track and the ideas are right but the actual car the tires carry seem to be the problem.

This car is costly.  New cars cost major dollars as you all know.  Then once you have the car you have to fill it up with gas every couple weeks which is costly and then if you get in a wreck you have to pay alot to repair the car or you may have to buy a new one! Church and faith have become this way to many people.  We are spending way too much money on music equipment and donuts and missing the most important things like feeding the hungry, housing the poor, and clothing the naked.  It’s not about how much money the church has or how much they spend its about how much you serve the community!

Cars cant make sharp turns either. How many times have you been driving and then having to swerve (nearly crashing) to avoid something in the road. This is what happens alot of times in church and in faith. A problem comes and it takes the jerking of the wheel and whiplash pain later all because of a little piece of junk in the path.

I have a solution though!

We all need to strive for a bicycle faith and church. A bicycle has so much more to offer!

First a bicycle is inexpensive compared to a car. The repairs are not costly and they do not require gas to be put in them thus making them free to ride anytime! What if our faith and our church adopted that mindset. Faith and church does not have to be expensive…its all about getting to the people who need Jesus. It doesn’t take a luxury car to get to them…its just a bike ride!

Bikes unlike cars, can make sharp turns smoothly when problems come up. A bike sees some junk in the road and we turn the handle bar a little bit and were good. What if we learned to do that with our faith and church. Just move the handle bar a little to help us miss the junk.

Students:

Look at these two statements:

So I know we all like driving in our comfortable cars but I think its time we look at different forms of transportation.

So I know we all like our comfortable church and faith but I think its time we look at different forms of doing things.

Am I too far off in saying these two things are pretty similar?

As students church and faith have become more of a car ride together than an actual relationship. Its like we all hop in a car with one of our “strong Christian friends” and just ride wherever he/she takes us. This is when I think we could use a bicycle faith and church. Where we hop on our bike and drive where God takes us. But that doesn’t mean you should get rid of all your christian friends because the good thing about bicycles is that you can ride in groups…but you each own your bike…you each own your faith.

Grace and Peace,
Jonathan Haag

A little over a year ago the Colossians 1:22 Ministry on Monday June 4, 2007 with a poem about the Face of Christ by one of the first writers for the blog.  The Colossians 1:22 Ministry started after having countless discussions with my buddy Matt about wanting to do something of importance and to help people understand their identity which is in Christ.  We started the ministry with a lengthy web address (http://colossiansonetwentytwo.blogspot.com) …lets just say not many people wanted to type in that whole web address!

On September 19, 2007 we saw that during the months before we had an increase in web traffic, comments, and all around intrests in the Ministry so we purchased the domain name www.youareholy.com.  We choose that domain name because a) it stands out and b) it is completely truthful but many dont understand that they are a holy being with Christ in them!

As we continued on we saw continued intrest in the site.  In early 2008 I contacted 3 people to be the staff of the Colossians 1:22 Ministry.  There duties ranged from web design, to coming up with new and creative ideas, and to help market the site.  They were all a blessing to the ministry and many changes happened since they came on board.

As we move in closer to today we launched two initiatives.  The Walkers and environment+movement.  The Walkers initiative raised $71 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and provided about 8 people to help set up for the walk they had in Downtown Indianapolis.  environment+movement never really gained any intrest by churches but I still have a strong passion for it.

With all this being said God is leading me to a change.  The Colossians 1:22 Ministry has become too wrapped up in trying to do everything.  We lost focus of what is truly the point of our life and that is to share Christ and change the world in Christ’s name.  We became too diluted and spread thin.  Nothing we had to offer was strong anymore…it was all warm because we were trying to keep everything we had to offer warm…nothing was hot!

Ephesians 5:15-17 says “Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opprotunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

As I move on into college I have been called to teach, share the hope of Christ, share about our identity in Christ, and to make a difference in the world becuase of Christ…so that is what I am going to do.

So as of right now the Colossians 1:22 Ministry is no longer.  The initiatives and stuff like that from the Ministry are still with us…they arent just words now…its a lifestyle…

This new blog will feature things happening in my life, stuff God has been teaching me, stuff I am passionate about, and all around random stuff.

If you are interested in continuting the Colossians 1:22 Ministry website I would love to talk to you.  Please email me at haag.jonathan@gmail.com.

Thank you all for your support and love!

Grace and Peace,

Jonathan Haag