Stamps, comics, pokemon?

I recently discovered that a new friend of mine is a regular blogger. I started reading a few of her earlier posts and realized that she has something that I do not have. She is a skilled writer. I made the comment to one of our pastors today that I wished that I was a better writer... he simply said, "start writing." So here I am.

Usually I read blogs and am either entertained by the humorous ministry/"Christian" based jargon or challenged by a theological/ doctrinal thought. Sadly, I do not currently sustain the wordsmith-ness to allow the sliver of humor I do have to be revealed. Therefore, I will simply share what God has been laying on my heart.

I have been teaching through the Gospel of Luke for over a year an a half now. In the past four weeks we have looked at Jesus, the long awaited Messiah entering Jerusalem and going straight to the temple, running the leaders out and stating pretty clearly that he is bringing a Kingdom that is unlike any other.

Jesus Leaves three options...
1. Accept him as true King, ruling a kingdom unlike any other and follow his teachings
2. Reject him as king and ignore him
3. Stand by and watch... but only for a while. At some point one must pick 1 or 2.


Now, #1 seems pretty simple to us today... at least the idea of it. We like to say that Jesus is our Lord, or King. Right?
yea.... right. Good.

#2 is a bit harder to pin down for us today. Yes, There are some who say "No. Jesus isn't real" or "I don't care" and reject Jesus. But I think that many more of us are in danger of doing #2 without realizing it.

We may not be bold enough to reject Jesus totally but often we do a dance around it that looks like this....

Jesus says Turn left and we don't want to (for any number of reasons) So, we turn right..... over correcting.

For example, Jesus lays on your heart (through prayer, reading or numerous other ways in which God speaks to us) to Love your neighbor... the one that constantly parks in front of your drive way, lets trash blow in your yard, allows his dogs to poop in your yard, turns the music up WAY to loud at 11:30pm.... you know the one...
You don't want to do that... so you commit to going to another LifeTeam meeting... or joining a coffee ministry at your local church. You go a direction that God didn't ask you to go simply because you didn't want to do what he asked.

Or we get in our heads that God wants us to be happy... and if God wants me happy, he wouldn't ask me to do anything that would make me unhappy... SO I make up a fake Jesus.... (mine would be wearing a floral shirt and drinking a Margarita) that is only concerned with my happiness.... He doesn't ask me to do things that I don't want to do and He only wants to bless me (aka. make me rich and happy) The problem with this Jesus is that he doesn't exist.


Sadly, we live in a culture and maybe a country where Christianity is displayed more like #2 than #1. We might come to church every week and do all the "right" things, but we have no intention on allowing God to change and mold our hearts. We have made Christianity a hobby. We put in our time, watch, listen but have no intention of allowing God to change our hearts.

One can stand back and watch as Jesus moves throughout his church today, but at some point one must decide to either accept him as true king or reject him.

Christianity is the worst hobby in the world. It doesn't pay or improve with time. Try collecting stamps, comics or pokemon. At least you'll have something to show for it.

Mumford and Sons

I have traveled two hours and will soon travel two more hours to see Mumford and Sons in Concert. You may be asking, "Who is that?". Well, I'm not really sure. I have heard five of their songs. They seem fun. They seem energetic. They seem like the type of music I like. So I'm going.

The funny thing is that I don't know much of their music. I don't know much about what they believe. I don't know anything about them. Yet, I am driving a total of four hours to see them.

A friend asked me to join her. That's why I am going. And admittedly, most of my motivation in going is because of her. But I wonder how much the church can learn from this.

A few things.

1. All it took was for her to ask and I was willing to drive four hours. (again, a bit drastic for a concert that I don't know anything about the artists.) What if inviting people to church was that easy? I was stopped this past week by one of my students parents who was shocked that his neighbors had agreed to join him at church this coming weekend. He said, "I was shocked, all I had to do was ask and they were very happy to join us." What if we simply asked those we came in contact with?

2. There is something energizing about concerts that are promoted well. There is something that causes people to drive several hours for concerts. Part of it is because there is passion involved with the artists and the fan base. What if we accepted the natural energy that comes with the Gospel? What if we quit pushing away from the contemporary culture and once again accepted the passion of the Gospel that we have lost in the name of "reverence" and being "set apart"?

Just a few thoughts.

Great Times!

I am so blessed!

As I type I am sitting with two of my best friends in the world. I'm just relaxing today. They are recording some music.... because thats what they do... And I am listening... because thats what I do. For about three hours now, I've been thinking about how incredibly blessed I am.

Here is why.

Yesterday I returned from a week of service in Maytown Kentucky with about 40 of the best students and adult leaders a youth pastor could ask for. I mean seriously. They are simply amazing. One student decided to follow Jesus... Clearly the high point of the week. I was also able to see some of the students really truly act like Christ. I am so proud and impressed by these students! There were no issues with the students that are even worth mentioning. It was simply an amazing week.

I have to say... its been a long year. I thought that being a year long intern would be much easier than it has been. There have been days where I felt I was on top of the world and then there are days that I felt like a bum. Its been hard living with a family and staying in their house, Simply because it makes me feel like a bum.

The good news is that Its almost over! The plan is to go full-time in June! That means that I can have my own place! Woo whoo!

I am blessed!

More than that, I am able to work with some of the best adults and youth in the world. After spending a week with them, I am convinced that this is the place where I need to be. I cannot wait to be settled. I cannot wait to see what God has in store!

I need to be better at this.

So Christmas is coming up and I am in such a foul mood! ha. I don't get it.... Christmas.... yuck.

I am very thankful that we have challenged our youth to give up Christmas this year and give all the money they would spend/receive to a guy named Bernard so that he can become a physician and do amazing work in his village in Uganda. That means that instead of satisfying ourselves this season, we can help someone else... and make a huge change! That will be cool.

It hit me the other day, I need to do more. I am barley living right now. I make plenty of money, I eat as much as i want, I have no fear. Why? because I don't live by faith. Bottom line. Sad huh?

I never think about the fact that almost EVERY time I buy a candy bar, I am supporting slavery in some other country. Most of the time when I drink a cup of coffee I am supporting slavery. Yet, more often than not, I'll support slavery because of accessibility and lack of knowledge about what I am buying.

How sad is that?


I was made for more than this....

weekend

I have had such an amazing weekend. can I tell about it?

Friday my twin brother came into town and I was able to hang out with him, his girlfriend and a new friend of mine. Such a good time!

Saturday I got up early and spent some amazing time with my Granny! It was great to see her.

I then preached Saturday night and Sunday morning. It was great fun.

Here are my thoughts about preaching.

I realized how much it wears you out. Monday morning I got up, after preaching three services and not taking enough time to rest, and went to work. Let me tell ya, I was in a daze for most of the day. I had to go home and take a nap.... that usually doesn't happen!

I really enjoyed preaching this weekend. Here is the thing. Since the weekend, I have been worried about getting my true message across. There is a burden that I have felt. A good burden, but still a burden. I hope I can preach again at HCC.

I had a good convo Sunday night with some dear friends about Covenant Membership and Jesus vs. The church.

That was great fun.

I like the idea of covenant membership. I think it is important to educate about what it truly means to join THE Church. I think it is important to hold ourselves accountable to the church, since THE Church has no form of an institution that can do so.

I think its pointless and stupid to transfer memberships from church to church.

I think that if that is all we consider when thinking about membership, we are missing the point.

When we join, we join something much larger than any institution here on earth. we are joining THE Church.... those memberships are either valid or invalid... they don't transfer.

anyway. it was great fun.

today, I'm going to try to be pure in through and action... if anyone reads this feel free to join me.

crazy love

It's been a busy summer. A few camps and trips have kept me pretty busy... or at least away from my "normal" life. One thing that I regret is that it has taken me all summer to read one book. I'm terrible!

Well, I finished it today. "crazy love" by Francis Chan. At first I didn't want to read it, simply because everyone was. There are some books that just aren't that good, yet everyone reads them because they are "it". I didn't want to be that guy. But I am... so i read it.

The biggest thing that screamed at me throughout the entire book was one question. "how would my life look differently if I was not a christian?" Sadly, I'm afraid it wouldn't look much different. I would hopefully have a full time job... but that's about it.

I am sad, and embarrassed, to say that I do not rely on God all that much. I have a decent job at a good church, I don't get a full time salary but I am paid plenty to live on since they are providing me with housing. I don't worry about food, water, money, anything... I don't go without. This is not because of Gods provision, its because my life is safe.

It leaves me asking what else I need to be doing. What do I need to give up more of? how can I be dependent on God daily? Who do I need to love more?

God punched me in the face....

Its amazing how there are times when I have read a passage 10,000 times before but then I read it and unexpectedly get punched in the face.

This morning I was reading Philippians in my quiet time. (I'm at a lake resort with a group from my new church.... I know... pretty sweet huh?) I got to Chapter four and read, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

It punched me in the face because I'm pretty sure that I do everything in an anxious way. Its what pushes me.

that stinks.

If anyone reads this and sees me being anxious, you can punch me too.