If Romans 1 is true…

…then everyone knows the truth about God, then everyone can see His invisible qualities through the earth and sky and everything He made.

And if that’s true, then each person really does have the choice to respond to that truth or not respond to it.

I think of my family, of countless other people who haven’t responded to the truth.  They don’t acknowledge God, they don’t claim that He is real.  I often get something like this from one of my brothers, 

“The big bang is just as easy and difficult to believe in than believing that some God set everything in motion and governs it all.”

So Romans 1 doesn’t make complete sense to me.  I mean, if God has revealed Himself to EVERYBODY then why doesn’t everyone believe in Him?  To me, that’s like this story. (but on a much different scale.)

Tom opens a gift.

The gift is a baseball.

Tom sees the baseball.

Later, Tom claims that the gift wasn’t a baseball.

That is completely absurd.  If God does reveal Himself and His invisible qualities to people, then why wouldn’t they choose to believe Him?  I understand people not wanting to give up their life to follow Him, but I don’t understand people who claim there is no God.  I suppose the only explanation for them is that they would say that the Bible is fiction, thus negating Paul’s charge in Romans 1.  But as a Christian who believes the bible is non-fiction I am frustrated that my brothers don’t acknowledge that at least God exists.

Joy

In the midst of life it is easy to lose joy.  Relationships, work, God, and (fill in the blank) all have the ability to suck joy out of life.  I have had this overwhelming sense that whatever is going on in my life, and over the past year a lot has been going on, that God is still the same.

It doesn’t matter how bad relationships are, or how good, or how bad my job could be, or how good, or how good my relationship with God is,

He.  Remains.  Constant.  Everlasting.  Never changing.  Desiring to rain down joy on me.  He wants me.  He desires me.  He wants to fill me.  He wants to transcend life.  He wants me to be leaping with joy.  For Him.  For His purposes.  For His desires.  He.  Wants.  To rain down JOY!

What I’m learning is that there is constant joy to be taken in Him, regardless of what is going on around me. 

 

 

He remains outside of circumstances.

Acts 15

This passage makes me happy.

Paul and Barnabas are running all over the place, preaching and teaching the Good News, and Gentiles are accepting the truth about Jesus left and right.  The church is serving it’s purpose.  For real.

And then all of a sudden some pharisitical punks decide that these Gentiles must follow the Law of Moses EXACTLY and must be circumcised as a requirement to be “saved”.

Imagine being Paul and coming so far with these people, these people who recognize their need for a Savior.  You spend time with people and then some others come along and try to impose religious order on people who have no real idea what the Law of Moses is.

So Paul and Barnabas get sent to a council of religious leaders and at first the elders agree that they should be circumcised.  And then this happens, this monologue that I love:

After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.  God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.  Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?  No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

Paul gets to the heart of the matter, and he doesn’t screw around.  “They have the holy spirit and that has cleansed them.”  And the last verse, in the NLT it reads, “We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the UNDESERVED grace of the Lord Jesus.”

BOO-YEAH!  VICTORY!  GAME OVER!

This makes me think.  What am placing importance on that doesn’t really matter?  Do I have expectations of Christians that aren’t realistic or are meaningless to their faith?  Do I harbor guilt inside of me because I am not doing something that I think I’m supposed to do but don’t really need to?

Or do I daily allow the grace of God and the cleansing and redeeming work of the Holy Spirit to allow me to live in freedom with Christ?

Ahhh…I’m free!

Thanks Jesus.

A nice surprise

There are some surprises that you really don’t expect.  And this is weird for me because I am usually really good at sniffing out surprises.  But this one, I had no clue about this one.

After our bible study this morning I was coaxed into talking “seriously” with a couple of students about the summer tour.  They seemed upset and wanted some answers.

Meanwhile, 10+ pizzas and a large cake were brought into the Warehouse to celebrate the day I was born.

When I walked back into the Warehouse thinking it was time to go to Dynasty Buffet for lunch I was in for a big surprise.

How awesome are you guys?!!  I love getting to do what I do.  What a huge blessing you all were today!

So thanks again for the pizza and cake.  It was a great birthday!

Hiatus…again

I know, I know, I’ve been missing over the past couple of months.  I’ve not forgotten, but I have ignored.

Things that have happened over the past couple of months:

The Cubs are 20 games over .500.

It is summer, which means my ministry schedule is a bit lighter.  I get more time with students and less time planning.  YES!

I have gained 18 lbs.  (Yay for Creatine!)

I’ve been wrecked repeatedly by God.  If I’m not careful that ball is going to come back and hit me again.  (Bring it on!)

I sold my motorcycle.  So sad.

I am again looking to purchase a house.

I have less figured out then when I stopped writing months ago.

I don’t want to have everything figured out, unlike 2 months ago.

Joy has been restored, at least somewhat.  This one is a daily journey.

I suck at golf now, which makes me mad.  I used to be able to swing a golf club decently well.  Ahh, crap!

I am tan.

I’m wrapping up year one of ministry with high school students.

Let’s spend a moment there.  This year has been quite the year.  Nothing could have prepared me for what I have experienced over the past 10 months.  It has been exciting, depressing, joy sucking, joy building, hard, fun, unsturdy, difficult, challenging, exhausting, exhilarating, and the best thing I’ve ever been a part of.

The biggest thing I’ve learned is that in order for me to be in full-time ministry, I’ve got to be so deeply connected to the Father that I almost don’t want anything else.  Ministry will chew you up and spit you out if you aren’t solid in Him.  (ex. my first year in ministry.)

All the rewards seem greater when I am deep with Him.  All the lows seem less low when I am deep with Him.  All of the trials aren’t as hard when I am deep with Him.

Here is the trouble, though…

When “normal” isn’t happening (haha, as if “normal” ever happens in ministry) time gets short.  And when time gets short you have to say yes a smaller amount of requests.  And if you don’t start saying no, it’s easy to get into a rut of saying no to God.

It has never been my intention to neglect my relationship with the Father.  It just happens because I suck at time management and am still learning how to be consistent in every area of life.

But here is what I have figured out:

Everyone struggles.  And there is community in that.  If you aren’t struggling at some point, you’re not alive.  So next time I ask you how you’re doing, if you’re doing crappy, please tell me.  Then I’ll know it’s okay to lean back into you.

Instead of the last session…

Instead of going to the last session today, I’ve decided to take a break.  Because, hey, a conference is supposed to be a time to get rejuvenated and re-energized, right?

I haven’t made time to read my bible since I’ve been here, which was Tuesday night.  So I’ve ditched the last breakout session for the afternoon.  And I was going to use some of this time to write about some of the amazing things I have learned and re-learned and been hit with this week so far.  But I’m going to reserve most of that for a later date, or not at all. (At least on here.)

I am currently sitting in one of the hospitality rooms soaking in some music and thinking about a passage I just read from Joshua.  This is just after Moses has died and Joshua has been given the “reigns” to all of Israel.  He is to lead them on God’s behalf.  Furthermore, Joshua is taking over for one of God’s beloved.  The original human leader of all of Israel.  He is supposed to finish the process of leading the Israelites into the promised land.

Holy crap.  Those aren’t big shoes to fill at all.

And as if Joshua is feeling some sort inadequacy about taking over for Moses, the guy who got to hear from God directly, the guy who got all the instructions and the law for all of Israel, the guy…the head dude…God says,

“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.  Be strong and courageous.”  (Joshua 1:6)

“This is my command–be strong and courageous!  Do not be afraid or discouraged.  For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  (Joshua 1:9)

“Anyone who rebels against your orders and does not obey your words and everything you command will be put to death.  So be strong and courageous.”  (Joshua 1:1

Catch the theme?

God knows that Joshua is probably freaking out a little bit.  He needed some encouragement.

And for me, reading this today, after everything that I’ve taken in these past couple of days, everything that has happened in my life over the past 6 months, everything that’s going on in ministry, I needed to read this passage.

So often I wonder how I ended up where I did.  I am blessed, for sure.  But that blessing has definitely come with it’s share of challenges.  That growth that I consider a blessing has come from hardship, from challenge, from difficult times, from really hard circumstances.

But, my God is calling me.  He is calling me into deeper love with Him.  He is calling me to lead where He has me.  He is asking me to be strong and courageous.

So, faithfully, I am here.  I am going to continue to struggle.  But, better, and more important that that, I am going to grow.  I am going to be better today than I was yesterday, and I am going to be better tomorrow than I am today.  Grace.  It covers.  It makes me better.

My own ignorance (at least what I thought) has led me to this place.  But more probable, God has used all of these circumstances over the past 6 months to draw me deeper to Him and to force me to rely upon Him for everything.

I am thankful for struggles, for they produce growth.

“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:10)

Thank you for making me ignorant, God.

A long time

It’s been a while since I’ve written on here.  But, I’m back.  I”m at the Student Ministry COnference in Chicago right now with an overloaded brain.  this conference is meant for youth workers, although, it has had implications that extend far beyond youth ministry.  The main sessions are so much more global, and the break out sessions have been youth ministry specific.

 

More later…

Importance of wrestling with scripture

I’ve been working this post around in my mind for a couple of weeks now.  I’ve been wrestling with this question for a while now.  Here it is…

Just how important to my spiritual development is it to wrestle with difficult passages in Scripture?

Most of the time I think it’s very important to wrestle.  I can spend entire days thinking about something that Jesus said and wondering how it applies.  Or I can spend hours worrying about my own place in Heaven when you read passages like Luke 7.  Sometimes there are very confusing passages that don’t have concrete interpretations and I rack my brain (and my bookshelf) trying to find answers that seemingly don’t fulfill.

I can find myself very frustrated, confused, and upset.

With God.

Why aren’t there easier answers?  Why did Jesus have to teach in parables and allegories?  Why is it so dang hard to be a follower of Christ?

So, I think it’s important to wrestle because God shapes and breaks and molds us.  But you have to be careful.  It’s easy to get frustrated and upset if the wrestling isn’t done fairly.

When I stumble across something that is confusing or hard to understand, or even something that doesn’t resonate with my soul I employ these rules:

1. Read and study.  But not for more than 30 minutes at a time.  I allow some time to try to “get to the bottom” of whatever the topic is.  But not so much time that I get consumed and lose track of what I should be doing.
2. Tell God I am mad at Him. (if the passage leads me to that) He knows everything anyways, so there is no use in bottling it up.
3. Pray.  Ask God to reveal to me what it is He is trying to teach me as I wrestle.  Often times, it ends up having nothing to do with the actual passage or story I am reading.  (Ex. patience, ability to follow in the dark, grace, etc…)
4. Remember and be thankful that I don’t know and won’t understand everything.  Part of what makes Christianity so appealing to me is the mystery of it all.  If I understood everything, it wouldn’t be as excited.

I’ve found that if I follow these rules I generally get less upset and lose far less time.  Rule #4 helps me the most.  When I get to the end of a study on a particular passage that is confusing, it helps me to remember that there is a great mystery to God and that He wants me to chase Him.

So, that’s what I try to do.  Fair chasing.

Home again

I’ve been home from San Francisco now for three days and this is the first time I’ve had to write a blogpost.  It’s interesting; When you leave on a vacation it doesn’t end up being much of a vacation because the work that isn’t getting done just piles up while you’re away.  And then when you get back, you have to work doubly hard to catch up.  I’m not a big fan of that.

When I got home I was issued the Pastor On Call Phone.  Within two hours I received a phone call from a woman whose husband had just passed away and wanted someone to officiate the funeral.  I’ve never done a funeral before, but agreed to do it for her and her family.  After a day of checking around, they found someone the guy knew to do his funeral.  I was thankful to say the least.

Reality was last night and I had little time to prepare for it.  Big thanks to Ximena for teaching.  She did a great job.

I am teaching in Quest this weekend and am at Panera right now getting ready to write the message.

CRAV is Sunday night from 6-8:30.  I’m really looking forward to that.

Friday night I am having dinner with my leaders.   Earlier Friday I am going to tour a couple of houses as potential investments.

It has been a crazy few days to say the least.  I really do enjoy my job a lot.  In fact, often times it doesn’t feel like work.  But there are days, weeks, and even months that are incredibly taxing on my energy.  Sometimes I feel completely drained.

I know now that going to San Francisco, having a chance to unwind, read a couple books, relax and eat some delicious food was preparation for this week and coming months.  I am so thankful I was able to get away!

Dinner last night

Last night we had:

Tuna and Noodle Casserole. (This is delicious.  You use cream of celery soup mixed with cans of tuna, and then a bunch o’ noodles.  To finish off, you melt cheese on top and add a layer of crushed potato chips.  Mouth sensation!)

Corn.

Bread and butter.

More chocolate chip cookies for desert.

You know you are jealous.  My mom’s a better cook than your mom…