Environmental Christian

There are times when we walk around thinking to ourselves, if I could just blend in, if I could just not be noticed, if I could just keep my head down, today will be a good day. I remember being in Jr. High and getting ready for school and thinking, "If I could get through today without sticking out at all it will be a successful day for me."

Is this what we do as Christians, as followers of Christ do we play the role of social chameleon? People today, Jr. Highers, High Schoolers, College aged all the way up into the 90's tend to travel in many social circles, you hit the peak of these circles by about 35-40 years old. We move and shift and now our role in the different pecking orders of whatever clique you find yourself in at the moment. For some it may look like drinking when you normally wouldn't, because that is the socially accepted thing to do at the time, for others it may look like talking about Christ when you normally wouldn't.

Why is it the we are a product of our surroundings, why do we blend in when really we should want to be sticking out?

When I went on a pack trip a few years ago we were ready for the environment around us, we prepared ourselves for what we were to face and we went out to face it.



This is a picture of a ton of mosquitoes on Caleb's hood, the little bugs never bit us because we had some amazing repellent that confused the smartest of the blood suckers. We were ready for what our environment had. We didn't blend in, but we did have to adapt, in the valley we wouldn't have put on mosquito repellent to go out and get the mail, we wouldn't have had to build a fire to stay warm when the sun went down, we wouldn't have had to go to the bathroom outside, but we didn't become animals.

This may sound scatter brained, but my point is that we are supposed to be prepared for the environments that we find ourselves in. Whether it be a school team or a bible study, a friends party or a family reunion, we should be ready to preach the word in or out of season. We don't hide, we adapt and move forward, we evaluate and come up with the best course of action to make disciples of all nations.

We don't stand on street corners and call people sinners, we don't huddle in churches whispering rumors of the big bad secular world, we meet people where they are and love them to where Christ wants them to be.

I Know... I know

In light of Pastor Craig's sermon series I thought this was appropriate.

Gifts From God

Sometimes I get down on myslef for not feeling like i am contributing enough to the kingdom of God, like I could do more but I simply dont due to laziness, apathy, or lack of enthusiasm overall. I feel like some people have incredible gifts and talents and they are able to truly bless the kingdom because of these talents.

I have felt for a long time that having the gift of teaching was something that i should apologize for, was something that was an okay gift but leading worship would be better, or being led into missions work into the deepest darkest places in the Amazon or Africa would be exciting. But I am at peace knowing that God has given me an incredible gift that I need to be using as often as I possibly can, I need to be practicing, to be honing, sharpening and modifying to make my gift the best it can be, so when I see the Lord when I get to heaven one day I can say that I did my all to spread the message of the gospel.

If you read 1 Corinthians 12:27-31 it is very clear that we should not desire different gifts but instead embrace the gifts that we have been given. Regardless of that I want to show this video to you I found on Youtube.

Empowering Lives International

I just had lunch with a man by the name of Dan Perrine, the Public Relations Director for an organization known as Empowering Lives international. Now I don't claim to have to gift of service by any means, but i have come to realize that regardless of what I am good or bad at, we are called as followers of Jesus to serve those that are not as fortunate as us.

I have felt a tugging at my heart recently to raise funds for people in Africa who are not getting the necessary funding or education to set them up to succeed in life. My first thought was to raise money for drilling wells, and I did what any excited 5 year old would do, I thought lets do it now. We will plan it and implement it next month and have the goal of 10-15 thousand dollars by the end of the school year and everyone wins. What I need to realize is that if I want to make a difference on this earth then I need to set myself up for success by taking the baby steps necessary to promote lifelong change in other parts of the world.

This post has turned into me rambling but if you want information about how to help a great organization visit their website at www.empoweringlives.org

Dogs and Babies

This is for Brinda. Because she loves dogs, babies, and because she gave me a hard time for not updating my blog in awhile.