Labels

After reading my brother-in-law's blog about getting caught up in the differences in life and faith I decided I wanted to weigh in as well, because it amazes me how so many people hear the good news of Christ but are still so affected by things as basic and laughable as labels.

Now don't get me wrong, I am just as petty as the next guy, but last I checked we serve a huge God, a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever as Hebrews 13:8 puts it. A God that has called us to be one body with many members in Christ. So why is it that things as man-made as political affiliation, monetary gain, and the color of our skin get pushed into the Sanctuary? Why is it that we need to have a small group with people who think exactly like we do? Why is it that money separates believers from communing with each other? Why is social status a big deal even in the church?

The cross was one of the most humiliating ways to die, it was, "The most wretched of deaths. (Josephus)" It was such a horrible way to do that "The ancient philosopher Cicero asked that decent Roman citizens not even speak of the cross because it was too disgraceful of a subject for the ears of decent people. (Cicero, Pro Rabirio 5.16)

The cross was a horrible horrible excruciatingly way to die, yet our massive God, creator of everything you see around us, the being who spoke Half Dome and El Capitan into existence, the being who knew grapes would wither into raisins, the being who filled the oceans and made everything work in a delicate balance, the being, went to the cross for all of us. That being, died one of the most painful and degrading deaths imaginable for us.

And we sometimes have the audacity to talk about churchgoers behind their backs, to stick our noses up at the people who are different than us. The cross was supposed to free us from our sin, our pride, our differences from each other and embrace one another as brothers and sisters united under the banner of Christ. Sadly, we dont always see that happening.

Hey Jude

So I am back in the office this week, well at least through Thursday, and after coming off an amazing spiritual high at MFuge in Glorieta, New Mexico, I sat down in my squeaky office chair and cracked open God's word. I flipped to the book of Jude so I could not only read God's word but get a sense of accomplishment for reading a book of the bible in one sitting. I came across these verses that spoke some truth to me, "20But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life."

What does it mean to keep ourselves in the live of God? What does it look like? What does it act like, smell like, taste like, what does it love like?

God's love is evident throughout scripture, both old and new testament. Everything God does, from the destruction of nations to the sacrifice of His son, is for the benefit of His creation, is out of love.

I haven't had to discipline Cooper yet because he has no clue what is bad and what is good, but one day when he is old enough to understand right from wrong, I will punish him in one form or another, and it will be because I love him. I will not let him go to parties where he will be tempted because I love him, I will ground him when he brings home a sub-standard report card because I love him, he will be madat me at times because he will think I am unfair because I live him.

We don't always understand why God chooses to allow things to happen to us, good or bad, but we do know that everything that does happen to us is for our benefit because it is for His glory. So to keep ourselves in the love of God is to keep ourselves obedient to His word as well as seek His glory first and ours second.

Day 6... Maybe...

I just got back from site and have seen a few kids but we had an amazing thing happen at our site today. First some background info, yesterday we worked at a site called open hands, a non-profit dedicated to building wheelchair ramps for people who are ultimately trapped in their houses. The guy in charge of this place is named Ken and is not a believer but naturally accepts help from anyone who is willing. So we spent the day yesterday cleaning up the area where his office is mowing the lawn pulling weeds, trimming bushes, yard work. He told us yesterday that he had to make phone calls to tell people he can't build them ramps because there was no funding for them. He needed a lot of money and he knew we were believers so he asked if we would pray for him, and we did, we layed hands on him and prayed.

We got back to the site today and were welcomed by a smiling Ken. He told us that he got a letter today from the Governor (maybe Senator, I don't remember which)saying that there is some money from the government stimulus package that just came in, and you are going to get 250,000 dollars of it. A non-believer told me today that he now believes in the power of prayer. Ken is a long way from knowing Christ as his Lord and Savior but God did an amazing work in a man's life today who helps a lot of people. It was amazing!

Day ?

Just a few pics for you all. God is good and our students are responding to serving Him and experiencing His love through loving others. I wish you all could see them in action. Check back tomorrow morning for some stories. Thanks for your prayers we feel them.












We miss you all

God is so cool...

I wanted to let you all in on a bit of what is going on here in the lives of our students. First off let me just tell you how cool God is, when we decided to switch to New Mexico for the trip rather than Mexico, I was bummed and a little bit frustrated. Then I signed up to fill 22 spots for this trip, I knew we were going to hit that mark when we had 5 students show up to our informational meeting. Again, a little bummed and frustrated. I kept thinking to myself that we weren't going where God wanted us to go because nothing was going as planned. We had people drop out with a few weeks left, we had a last minute addition a week and a half ago and our final total was 12, last year we had over 25... It wasn't until a few days before we left that God showed me how incredibly wrong I was about the whole thing. God knew where we would be going and the affect He was going to have on these students hearts when we got to the booming metropolis of Glorieta, NM. Every one of these students is here for a reason, every person who isn't here isn't here for a reason. God has been all over this from the beginning, so let me share some cool God sightings with you...

Katrina told me how she was playing tag with some little kids and one of them was hit too hard and started crying, it was clearly an accident and no big deal so Katrina pulled him aside, nurtured him a bit and began to explain to him that accidents happen, that the other child didn't mean it and so on and so forth. The kid looked up at her and said, "accidents do happen, like me... I was an accident." Katrina's heart broke, when she was telling the story you could tell she was getting emotional. She told the little boy the he is not an accident, that he has been put on this earth for a reason, that he has a purpose. Even my eyes welled up a bit with that.

Marisa had a conversation with a man who had a hard heart in a nursing home and after praying for him opened her eyes to the man sobbing. His heart had been softened by the love of Christ showed by Marisa and her team and he was like a different man after that.

Jeremy had a conversation with a man who is 101 years old for a solid 45 minutes, talking with him about everything under the sun and being there just to show him that Jeremy loves him and so does Christ.

There have been so many cool stories like that that I will let your students share with you later on but it has been a trip that is saturated with the spirit of the Lord. God is showing up in the lives of your students in a huge way and you should be proud of all of them in the way they have stepped up to the plate. Pray for a fruitful next two days for us, for rest, effectiveness, and for God to be the focal point for all of us. Bless God everyone.

Day 4

Things are busy... Good but busy. God is totally softening hearts and revealing himself to the students. Here's some pics...



















Happy Youthing

Day 3... Hoorah

I am tired! Can you hear the whine in my voice from there Pastor Craig? Ministry sites are awesome and our students are being stretched, here is how they are divided up:

Jeremy and Marisa- Creative Ministry (They sing songs to a group and talk with them after, good conversations so far, pray for their words.)

Wes and Jacob- Games and Rec (They are at a Boys and Girls club showing the love of God through their lives)

Cameron and Austin- Social Ministry (Today they were at 2 nursing homes talking with people there, had some conversations with people suffering from Alzheimer's, great stretching moment. Jeremy and Marisa had some conversations like this as well)

Allie and Katrina- Games and Rec (They are hangin out with the little ones, having fun and planting the seeds that hopefully will sprout when God reveals His timing.)

Pete, Denver, Amanda, and Michael- Paint Construction and Yard work. (I don't know why God placed all of our leaders in the same ministry track but it has been a blast rediscovering how great of leaders we have.)

Here is a video for you all...

Day 2

We are having fun and getting stoked. God is totally gonna challenge all of us this week. Pray for team unity and courage to speak to those who don't know the Lord. Happy Youthing!!

We made it!

I will post some pictures later on tonight but I wanted to let you all know we made it safe and sound. Thank you for your prayers they got us here just in the knick of time. The guys have 4 people to a room and the girls have 3 in one room and 2 in the other. Things are great, energy is high, and God is good.

We have our welcoming ceremony/worship/entertainment at 7 tonight. After that we have a bible study time and then lights out at 11:30.

Pray that God transforms the hearts of our students as well as the hearts of those we will be interacting with. Fuge trips can get really "campy" real quick and I want to make sure the focus stays on serving others rather than just ourselves. I feel God is going to do an amazing work in these students lives this week as no one is here on accident. God has a plan for us and will move in a big way.

Thanks for your prayers and support. Pictures later on tonight. Happy Youthing.

Day 1

Hey all we got to Flagstaff about 7:45 and ate at Crackerbarrel on the recommendation of Toby Sheehan. Things are going great, the kids are happy and excited to get to Glorieta as are the leaders. Pray for safe travel and effective ministry. Goodnight.





















Happy Youthing

New Mexico

Sermon Jam

I saw this video and it ignited a fire in my soul... I hope it does the same for you.

Mona Greasa

I had to...

Jr High Promo, Yo!

Hey all you 7th and 8th graders, tonight is your night, we are back and rollin' with our Wednesday Night program. Come on out and hang out play some games, eat some pizza and learn about Jesus. Sounds like a perfect night to me... how about you? Hope to see you there.

Nothingness

That's exactly what I did yesterday... nothingness, and it felt great. Sarah and I hung out and relaxed with our little boy, we watched the Giants lose, and I got about 3/4's of the way through a book called Youth Ministry 3.0 by Mark Ostreicher, the President of Youth Specialties. Now at First I wasn't really excited about this book because I thought it was the new "trendy" book that all the "hip" Youth Pastors would be reading, but after hearing enough about it I finally caved because my curiosity got the best of me. I have to say that after reading the majority of it, I am thoroughly impressed by the amount of knowledge Marko brings to the table, and not just facts and figures but real life experience blended with a matter-of-fact where we need to go mentality. It has been a great read so far and am hoping to finish it tonight.

So between that and relaxing all day yesterday and a great staff meeting this morning I am fired up for today, this week, and the Mission Trip we are leaving for this Sunday. No real pertinent info for you, but God is good and Happy Youthing.

Water Balloons

So I just got done with the first 200 water balloons that are going to be filled for Sunday Night, I am hoping to have about 1000. While filling them I thought about Youth Ministry and the overall goal, I mean I better have filled these water balloons for a reason because my hands were pruney, my fingers hurt from tying them, and I was soaked by the end of the ordeal.

Youth ministry is about more than throwing water balloons at each other and smearing everyone with ice cream and its toppings (Granted there is a place for that). Youth Ministry is about providing an avenue for kids to meet God, a place for God to crack their tough outer shell and let His love pour in. There are a lot of students in the Selma area with a lot of hurt who don't know where to turn, and that is where we come in. Our goal as a ministry is to provide events to engage students from outside the church walls so we have the right to speak truth into their lives.

Students know when people are fake, they know when others have an agenda, they are all too familiar with the he said she said, so we want to provide a place where they are loved unconditionally by leaders, accepted without hesitation by their peers, and met by the one true God. Filling water balloons alone provides a great time to chew on stuff... dontcha think?

Truck

I got a new one... Keep your eye out for it...


Happy Youthing