Hollow Noise

Again, sorry it's been so long, but I should be back in routine now... hopefully...

Lorie and I are finally moved out of the parsonage. We had everything out before, but we wanted to go back and clean properly (it was a little hard to do at 2:30 in the morning) so we did it the other day.

While there I noticed something. It started in the garage, but it was also in the entire house. There was an echo. There was a hollow sound. It seemed like everywhere in the house you were in a cave. Now I hadn't noticed that while all our stuff was there, the physics reason being the sound was being absorbed by furniture and the like. But it made me think a little. Emptiness sounds hollow.

I know that doesn't seem like a great epiphany, but I started to wonder how it fit into our everyday lives. Have you ever talked with someone whose words just sounded hollow? Or more to the point, have you sounded that way? Just shallow, hollow conversation with no substance (generally about oneself)? Perhaps there's a reason to it, perhaps they are empty on the inside.

Do I mean this in a degrading way? No, not at all. But if someone does not know the true meaning of life they will inevitably try to find some other way to fill the void. All too often, it doesn't work and life sounds hollow. If you know someone who sounds hollow, instead of getting annoyed or even trying to avoid them, what about trying to fill the void? Telling them they are loved for who they are, telling them there is Someone who is willing to love them even more? And if you think it's you, maybe it's time to refocus a little and get priorities back on Who they belong.

After all, John 10:10 tells us that God wants us to have an abundant life, or as some translations put it, life to the full. Let's all do what we can to have a full life, and more importantly, help those who don't know there is a God that loves them be introduced to Him so He can start to fill their lives too.

T

My Apologies

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. For those that don't know, Lorie and I moved last week and that has taken up the bulk of our time (not to mention finding the things we need in boxes, so much fun). Add to that our Real World Retreat next week, preaching next Sunday and the pumpkin patch and I'm a little behind, so next week I should be back on blogging.

Thanks for your patience!

T

Lessons From Cooking - Part 3

Sorry it's been a few days. Moving + pumpkins = no time...

Anyway, another lesson from cooking. Do it right the first time.

I know that can't always happen, mistakes are just part of living life, but there are times where we choose the cheap/easy/quick path instead of taking the time to do things properly the first time.

The problem with doing that with cooking, generally there are no second chances, either you don't have time to start all over or you don't have extra of every single ingredient. Instead of skimping on an ingredient thinking it's not important then having a bland meal later (or worse, whatever it was sprinkled on top), why not just do it right the first time?

It's kind of like the last one, follow directions, but anyone can follow directions and still do a sloppy job. If we do it right the first time, try our best at least, it makes things go much smoother.

I was reading this morning from a guy who was re-doing his house. This guy is a park planner so he knows about making sure everything is thought of and taken care of. When he got to remodelling part of the house the contractor not only gave him a quote, he gave him a discount! Why? Because he had already thought of everything and had the plan done. The contractor told him stories about people who have a "rough idea" then in the midst of the construction change their mind or try something different (and those same people can't understand why the cost of their project is higher than originally anticipated).

So instead of doing things so-so then trying to do them well after, or worse yet, fix it, just do things right the first time. It works way better in cooking, trust me (I've made a few mistakes).

T

Lessons From Cooking - Part 2

Another valuable life and faith lesson from the Food Network:

Follow directions.

This weekend my brother-in-law Steve and I were doing work around the house, and he made the joke that real men don't use directions. That was until we couldn't get the microwave to fit or the water to the fridge, the wiring for the fan to work, etc. Usually, if for any reason you are given directions, they probably have a purpose.

Cooking is all about directions. Add the right things at the right time in the right amount then cook for the right period of time at the right temperature. If any one of those is off, forget it. You get burnt mush (trust me, I know).

God has given us directions for life. Not just general good ideas, directions. When I'm cooking and it says to add more milk than I usually do for mashed potatoes (which happened the other day), I can either look at that as a suggestion, or as you need to do it even though it doesn't make sense because someone smarter than you wrote it down. Luckily I did it, even though I didn't understand why until 40 minutes later. With the Bible, the rules for living are not suggestions. If you do them, life turns out better because Someone wiser wrote it down for us. He made the recipe for a good life.

There's a verse in Joshua I hear all the time about reading your Bible. But so many people skip the second part:

Always remember what is written in the Book of the Teachings. Study it day and night to be sure to obey everything that is written there. If you do this, you will be wise and successful in everything. ~ Joshua 1:8 (NCV)

We are to study the Bible why? To do what is written in it!

You don't have to follow the directions, but if you don't, be ready to eat some burnt mush...

T

Lessons From Cooking - Part 1

A little while ago Lorie and I moved out of the dark ages and upgraded from our rabbit ears for the TV. Since then one of our favorite networks has been the Food Network. I don't know who likes it more, me, or Lorie because it gets me to cook. But in watching I've learned a few things I wish more people would get about their faith. Like:

A little goes a long way.

I know I've been harping on this for such a long time, but if people would realize just doing a little would help out so much, I think we would be doing more. Like in Hope Lives, our sermon series on World Poverty we just finished, if all the first world people would give $10, world poverty would be gone.

Well, in watching cooking I've noticed how just a little bit makes a big difference. A little bit of a certain spice. A little less water. Hey, even doing the little things like taking an extra 20 seconds to make a nice design on top of a cake, that little bit goes a long way.

It's the same way with God. A little can go a long way. Do things a little better, a little more prayer, a little more time with God, a little bit more patience, just a little bit can make a huge difference.

Jesus understood this. After all, you only need a little bit of yeast to make bread rise. As long as it permeates the dough...

“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and hid in a large tub of flour until it made all the dough rise.” ~ Jesus (Matthew 13:33, NCV)

T

Dogma Breeds Extremism

It's a quote I read today from Pete McGrath, one of the people in charge of show quality standards at Disneyland Paris (what, you don't read books about French theme parks?) Anyway he was talking about how he builds a show for Disney and how flexibility is most important. Without flexibility, you get stuck in doing things the way they've always been done. He even balances it out by saying "One can have extreme thoughts and inspirations if they are tempered with flexibility."

I don't think he was using the term Dogma in a religious sense. The term can also mean "a settled or established opinion, belief or principle." But I think too often we've turned that into religion. Religion sometimes seems to be more about doing it the way it's always been done, not about new and fresh ways to convey the same (or sometimes extreme) message.

Yes new is harder, different, and involves change, all things people say they hate. But generally, once started, it's amazing how often someone finds out there is an easier, better way once they break from the old mold.

So what do you need to do differently to still discover the same God and convey the same message that He loves you to someone?

T

If Dan Brown Had A Youth Pastor...

Dan Brown is the guy who wrote "The Da Vinci Code" and all sorts of other fiction that for some reason causes people to think the Bible isn't true (I mean, after all, if someone writes a fictitious story that goes against the Bible, we should question the Bible and believe the fiction, right?). Anyway, this is a quote from Brown talking to Parade Magazine about how he gravitated away from God.

I was raised Episcopalian, and I was very religious as a kid. Then, in eighth or ninth grade, I studied astronomy, cosmology, and the origins of the universe. I remember saying to a minister, "I don't get it. I read a book that said there was an explosion known as the Big Bang, but here it says God created heaven and Earth and the animals in seven days. Which is right?" Unfortunately, the response I got was, "Nice boys don't ask that question." A light went off, and I said, "The Bible doesn't make sense. Science makes much more sense to me." And I just gravitated away from religion.

Now the questions about creation versus evolution will go on and on simply because we don't know enough about either one (trust me, for some reason it seems that's all I read about the past year), but look at how old Brown was and who he was asking. An eighth/ninth grader asking a pastor who apparently didn't seem to care that much...

I don't know. Maybe youth pastors around the world are inspiring people like Dan Brown to be people who help others embrace Jesus rather than question Him. Food for thought.

T

Faith Can Be Unstoppable

For a while the NHL has been doing commercials showing teams and their players asking the question "Is this the year?" This year there's a new one.



The tagline is what caught me. "Faith can be unstoppable." It's amazing to me how a sports ad agency gets it, but we seem to struggle with that idea in the church. After all, we should have more faith than anyone, and the Source of our faith is greater than anything. So if that's true, what's stopping us?

I know you know it...

"I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." ~ Jesus (Matthew 17:20, NLT)

T

Hidden Dangers

For those that don't know, Lorie and I bought a house. We're excited, but at the same time I'm having way too much fun (sarcastically) because there is a ton to fix up.

Today we had our air vents cleaned. It was necessary, especially with everything else that we've found wrong with the house. But today we got a little wake-up call. The cleaners found mold in our air ducts. Not a little. Not mild, weak mold. There were near toxic levels of mold all through our vents and in our heater. They showed us on a "mold meter", light green being safe, purple not good. We were past the darkest level of purple on the meter...

But it made me think about our souls. I'm working on a series we will be doing in Sr. High in November about slowing down and taking time for our inner being, our soul created to be in communication with Christ. And if we aren't paying attention, if we are too busy rushing around, we won't notice when our soul starts to get in trouble, just like the house vents. And just like the house, it's not something you can see. No one knew about the mold problem, even the inspection was unable to see it. No one can see into your soul. Only the Person who can clean our soul knows, and we need to be in touch with Him so we can have our souls in the best condition possible.

Psalm 31:6b-7 ~ I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you have seen my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul.

Oh, and get your vents cleaned regularly...

T

Can They Help You?

In the past few weeks we've been doing the "Hope Lives" study at church, a look at global poverty and what we can do to help.

I was reading last night and came across this quote, which kind of fits in with the series:

“Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.” ~ Ann Landers

It's completely true when it comes to this idea of world poverty. If you choose to help these people, there is probably little to nothing they can actually give to you to help you. But I think that is why it's so important to God to help them. It's a true test of our love for our neighbor, how we can love and help people who can't help us back.

Something to think about...

T

Replacing People With Technology

I've heard this argument before, that in our new technological age we are replacing intimacy and relationships with real people with the Internet. Some have said it's because of time spent alone on the computer, where as I always wondered how that was different from reading a book alone...

But today someone told me something that made me look at this in a new light. Think, what do people do on the Internet? The two most accessed Internet categories - pornography and dating sites.

That kind of tells me two things. We long to be loved, but we don't know how to do it anymore. And let's be honest, which is easier? Risking rejection by asking someone on a date, getting dressed up, spending the night out and paying for dinner... or sitting at a computer... ?

But then again, when has easier ever been better...? T

Take Things Calmly

I didn't know this until the day after, but yesterday (Monday) was the International Day of Peace. Maybe we should try going for an international year, or century...

But anyway, in my reading about peace I learned a little fact today. I had always heard that when someone is angry they are more likely to have a heart attack (or stroke). But did you know it's 14 times more likely?? And that danger zone lasts two hours after your angry as well.

So if you feel angry, try to calm down, not just for the sake of others, but your own as well.

James 1:19-20 ~ My dear brothers and sisters, always be willing to listen and slow to speak. Do not become angry easily, because anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants. (NCV)

T

Living Out Your Purpose

Last week at youth we talked about being free to live your life as God intended. How there are people / things / all sorts of stuff that will stand in your way. It's funny how after talking about that, I came across this quote yesterday:

"The sign said, 'This door to remain closed at all times.' Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of a door?" ~ Danny McCrossan

I wonder how many signs we've put on our lives (or allowed people to put on our lives) that stop us from really living out the purpose God intended for it...

Just a thought.

T

Work Harder

Last night I was reading a little about genetics and behavior, the idea that some of who we are and what we do is designed in our DNA.

Now before I get to into this, I should say all of this is still being worked on. Scientists have not isolated an "anger" gene or anything like that. There's only one way they know to test this and it's very hard; through twins separated at birth and brought up in different families. If two people with the same genetic makeup start to act the same despite living in different surroundings, then it could be because of their genetic make up.

Basically, it's the idea that you are designed to act in a different way. Some people could have a gene that makes them get angry easier. There could be a gene that gives you more (or less) patience. But it could also be bigger. There could be a gene that determines what kind of person you are attracted to, one that pushes you toward crime, one that makes believing in God easier or harder...

The "what if's" are endless. But the person writing what I read is a Christian and he thinks we tread in dangerous water if we get too into this, and so do I. Before we thought it could be genetic, if someone was angry all the time did we just allow them to be angry? No. They simply had to work harder at controlling their anger than others.

We all have traits, good and bad, that are learned, genetic, chosen, whatever. For the good ones we are thankful. For the bad ones, we don't simply act on them with the excuse "it's in my nature". Instead we need to work harder at them to to the right thing. Doing what is right in every circumstance is easy for no one, everyone has areas they need to work on. So how about we start being the best we can be without excuses? Doing the hard work that needs to be done?

That is, if your DNA will let you...

T

Knowing It All

We had an interesting discussion at Downpour (Bible Study) tonight with the Sr. Highs. It focused a lot on the resurrection of Christ, which is always good, but eventually we circled back a little to evangelism and sharing our faith.

Here's the interesting part. Almost everyone who participated in the discussion talked about how they don't really feel comfortable sharing their faith because they don't know what to say if someone asks a question they don't have the answer to. They don't feel comfortable because they don't have all the answers.

Now there's two things that make me think with this. The first is why they feel the answers are important. When asked, none of the people in the room thought the reason they started a relationship with Jesus way back when was because of theology. They didn't have the answers when they started their faith journey, instead they came to see and know Christ through the actions and love of others. So if they didn't need the answers when they started their journey, why would the people they share Christ with be any different?

But also, they have now been following Jesus for quite a while and they still don't have all the answers. And they're still okay with that and they are still following Christ despite that. So if they don't need the answers now years later to believe, why do they think their friends need the answers to start believing?

I don't know, it just seems like for our own faith, we are happy seeing and living it out, but when it comes to sharing our faith, somehow now we need all the answers. Matt told a story about a friend of his who upon coming to know Christ brought 20-30 people to know the same Jesus he just met by simply saying, "I admit I don't know everything, but I know this. He loves me! Let me show you."

I think we need a little more of that than theological head knowledge...

T

And People Are Hungry...

For the month of September (and some of October) our entire church is doing a series called "Hope Lives", a look at global poverty and how we as a church can still have hope and be the change necessary in this fight.

Yesterday I was reading (as I sometimes do) and came across a horrible statistic that got me thinking in light of our series. In America, we throw away 96 billion pounds of eatable food a year. Just think about that for a second. Not rotten food, just extra food (more specifically, categorized as "edible surplus food"). 96 billion pounds (or an average of 300 pounds a person). 96 billion pounds.

I don't think anyone would argue that we are not only comfortable in America, we have too much. But really? We have so much food we throw it away, the leftovers we don't feel like eating in the fridge, the food at a restaurant we don't want on our plate along with the extra they bought and cooked hoping for customers (in our quick microwave society, we don't want to wait for it to be cooked to order), food in grocery stores that just sit to expiration...

Can you fathom that? 96 billion pounds. Hey, I wonder what most people in the world would think just to walk through a grocery store here, but what if they knew how much we threw away?

Let's do our part to feed the world, not the garbage pile.

T

The Necessity Of Prayer

In a few weeks we will be talking about Nehemiah in church. But as we're talking about him, I've been doing some reading and part of what we will be talking about is the necessity of prayer. When Nehemiah prayed, he was needing God's help.

And it got me to thinking, do we pray here in America because we feel we need something from God or because we want to feel good? When we pray because we need God to do something or would it just make our week a little better?

Here's an example. Grace. Almost every good little Christian says grace. But why? Do we really ask God to bless our food because we feel it needs a blessing, we feel that without God intervening the food is dangerous, or are we asking simply to be nice to God, make Him feel included?

What about our other prayers? Are we asking for God to heal whoever because we are pleading for His divine intervention, if that person isn't healed it hurts us? Or would it just be nice if God helped? We don't believe He will do it, but it'd be a nice little bonus if He did.

I don't know, it's making me think a little more about my prayers and what I really need from God or just think it would be nice...

T

We Know What It Is!

Sorry it's been a few days. Lorie and I have been sick and out of town, a great combination.

Anyway, the big news of the day for us. We have a little garden next to the house and as I've mentioned here before we have this one plant that is absolutely huge, a big vine with yellow flowers, and we have no idea what it is. Today we found out. There was a tiny little fruit on it, about the size of a gumball (it took me a while to find a comparison, my youth pastor mind kept going to empty water balloon). Small, but it looks kind of like a watermelon...

It is a watermelon! We have a watermelon vine that is taking over our garden. Only one small problem, we didn't plant any watermelon!!!

So how did it get there?

Our best guess is this. We have been composting since we moved into the parsonage. And we have eaten our fair share of watermelon (although we usually get seedless). The best guess we have is last year a seed got in the compost, it stayed dormant in the winter, and when I spread the compost this spring, we got watermelons. And since it was in the garden we didn't think it was a weed so we didn't pull it. But yes, we got a watermelon vine by surprise.

And it got me to thinking (as random things usually do) how this can happen to us in our garden of life (cheesy, but follow me). Every day we continually plant things in our soul, what we watch, what we listen to, who we talk with, etc. and if we are not careful, tending to our soul, stuff that snuck in will manage to grow. And take over. And become a huge plant that sucks the nutrients needed for our more important plants (one of our cucumber plants is dying because it can't get sun thanks to this huge vine).

So be careful what you put in your soul. Even the stuff that gets in by accident can take up root if you're not careful...

T

Unseen Heroics

Something I've been thinking about.

In Ephesians 6 we're told about how we're in a spiritual battle, one that isn't really seen or heard, but one that we are in nonetheless. But when we can't see or hear it, do we still fight it or do we forget about it?

This hit my head when I was watching football and the Matrix (I told you, it's on TV all the time lately). So many people have this longing to do something great (if you were at Fishers UMC today you heard all about that). People want to do something great. Be the one. Catch the end-zone pass when the clock runs out, or return a 2-point conversion (that was crazy yesterday). People want to be something great.

And here, we have a chance to. The difference is, there's no screaming crowd, there's no crazy theatrics, there's no adrenaline, there's just simple things like prayer, serving, putting others first, giving, study of the Word of God, living a life of worship. And I was thinking if that negates how great those acts are. In essence, no, it doesn't. But without the emotion or the black and white of a scoreboard, it sure feels like we're not doing anything big at all.

I think that's what makes it even more important! God wants us to live holy lives of worship for Him without the hype, without the craziness, with only you and Him. When it comes down to it, it's a lot easier to be the hero of the day with fans and adrenaline and chalk-lines, but can you be the hero of the day in the silence of your own heart?

T

Knowing The Path And Walking The Path

The Matrix movies have been on TV the last few days, the sequels aren't that great, but I love the original. All sorts of things to think about in it that make your head hurt, and stuff blows up a great combination.

Anyway, there's a little line near the end where Morpheus tells Noe there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. And boy does that ever apply to faith.

I think deep down inside, whether people believe in God or not, they have a pretty good grip on what is right and what is wrong. For most people you don't have to teach them that murdering is wrong, most people just get it. But then, if we know right and wrong in our heart, why do we still do stupid things?

We're not alone in it. I do it, Paul did it, and everyone else who lived in the two thousand years in between (and those outside) had the same problems, but the line is still true today. Many people know the path but choose not to walk it. And for people who believe in God we should be holding ourselves to a much higher standard in that regard. The path we have chosen is higher and harder, but that means we have to walk higher and harder, not just walk when it's convenient...

T

Give God Your Best

It's a theme I harp on with the students and at NewSong. If God really is God of our lives, then we should be giving him the very best that we can in every way that we can.

The question always is, "What's my best?" Obviously none of us are perfect so we can't give God perfection. But we should be giving the best we can. How do we know when we are actually giving our best?

The example I've always used is with music. If you were told you were to give a concert somewhere in town, how much would you practice? How well would you know the music? How hard would you work to be ready for that day? Then that's how hard you should be practicing for God and for Sunday. It seems like a lot, but doesn't God deserve it?

Obviously that goes for more than just music. What about what we give, how we serve, when we teach, when we do anything for God.

I was reading Malachi earlier today. It's a book that makes me wonder what we really going on in Israel at the time, because a lot of it is about cheating God. And here's part of the first chapter...

Malachi 1:8 ~ When you bring blind animals as sacrifices, that is wrong. When you bring crippled and sick animals, that is wrong. Try giving them to your governor. Would he be pleased with you? He wouldn’t accept you,” says the Lord All-Powerful. (NCV)

Malachi is saying that when you give something to God, in this case an offering, but it can mean anything, time, effort, gifts, talents, think about as if you were giving it to someone else who is important to you. If you would be embarrassed to give your gift to them, why then would you give it to God, Someone way higher?

Just something to think about as you live your lives for Jesus. Are you giving Him all you should?

T

Food And Fireworks At Our Fingertips

The other night I was working my way through some pictures Lorie and I took months and months ago (I know, we're ahead of most people, looking at pictures we took!) and it was fun but there were so many.

The big bulk were fireworks. My lovely wife really, really, really enjoys fireworks. And now that we've entered the digital age, our attitude for taking pictures is take as many as you can, you can always delete the bad ones. so there are literally 9no lie) hundreds of pictures of the sky filled with color. And some are pretty good, she's good with that camera.

As I was doing this, I got a little hungry and ended up going to the kitchen to get something to eat. Looking in the fridge I was at first thinking there was nothing to eat. Then I stopped. Our fridge is full. And what we don't have we can get at Kroger a block away.

And it got me to thinking how lucky I am to experience things that most of the world will never get to. Just in this one night, I got to eat fresh food, much of which the rest of the world has no access to, while looking at pictures of fireworks. How many people in the world have never had the chance to see the sky painted with light and sound?

In a few weeks our church is doing a church-wide study campaign called "Hope Lives" in which we talk about global poverty and how we as the church can help, living out God's love as His hands and feet. In the book for the study it talks about how we have so many opportunities we have that no one else has. What drives me even more nuts, most people aren't appreciative of them, and some never even take the chance to take hold of them.

When I lived in Grande Cache, I was lucky enough to live in the mountains, able to walk up a mountain in a day and see rock and forest for a hundred miles. And yet, in that town, there were people who did not appreciate God's beauty. They had lived there twenty years and never taken the time to climb a hill...

Don't take it for granted. Be thankful for all you've been blessed with and take advantage of it!

T

Do What Is Right

Still reading in Zechariah, it's a fun book. I've hit a section that is also in Hosea and other prophets, almost a theme if you will.

The people have been behaving badly, shocker. They are doing things that upset God and caused their own destruction. Now all these people and prophets want to make God happy. So how do you do that?

Zechariah 7:2-3 ~ The Jews of the city of Bethel had sent a group of men headed by Sharezer, the chief administrative officer of the king, and Regem-melech, to the Lord’s Temple at Jerusalem, to seek his blessing and to speak with the priests and prophets about whether they must continue their traditional custom of fasting and mourning during the month of August each year, as they had been doing for so long. (LB)

So there are all these problems and the Jews (and priests) want to ask God if they should keep practicing religion as they should, would that make God happy? The answer:

Zechariah 7:8-10 ~ Then this message from the Lord came to Zechariah. “Tell them to be honest and fair—and not to take bribes—and to be merciful and kind to everyone. Tell them to stop oppressing widows and orphans, foreigners and poor people, and to stop plotting evil against each other. (LB)

Hmmm. Really? This group of people are lying, taking bribes, acting mean and violent, treating widows and orphans badly, being horrible to foreigners, or worse, poor people and laying out plans to do unspeakable evil to each other. And they wonder why God isn't happy! I mean, He should be, despite all this we are going to church on Sunday like we should, right?

Living for God is so much more than an hour on Sunday. How about we actually start living the other 167 hours in a week like God wants us to live? Not just in a religious "read your Bible" way, but actually living out the love of God every minute of every day!

After all, if you were God, what would you want more? People living for you, or people directly disobeying you, but sucking up one hour a week since it's their duty to...?

T

The What Now?

I was watching an archeology program on the holy land (I know, I'm a party animal) and throughout the show they tell little trivia facts about what they're looking at. Right up my alley. Then this one comes up. The Bible is the most popular book in the world. It's also the most shoplifted book in the world.

Now I had to think about that for a second. Forget the fact that most churches will probably give you a Bible for free (we will), people are stealing the Bible more than any other book. The book that teaches people not to steal is being stolen...

Now on one hand that worries me, as obvious above. But really, someone who is going to steal a Bible is probably someone who needs to read the Bible. I had a friend, Andrew, who's backpack was stolen one day. The thing he regretted most was his Bible being in there, all the notes, it was a gift, etc. But even he said, "Well, maybe God thinks they need it more than I do."

So here's my idea, let's stop the shoplifting and start the giving. It could make a world of difference. After all, imagine what our churches would be like if everyone in them were so hungry for the Word of God they would actually risk jail time to get it...

T

The Small Things

There's a verse in Zechariah I have heard so many times, I'm sure you know it:

Zechariah 4:6 ~ “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘You will not succeed by your own strength or by your own power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord All-Powerful. (NCV)

It's a great verse, gives hope, trust in God, all great things. But the reference is so much bigger. This was God talking to Zechariah about rebuilding His temple, a huge undertaking for people who are basically enslaved by other nations. God has a big dream that Zechariah can't seem to see. But then a few verses later, God says this:

Zechariah 4:10a ~ "“The people should not think that small beginnings are unimportant." (NCV)

How often do we do this? We make big plans, have all these big dreams, but when they don't seem to succeed in a week, a year, five years, we give up. There are very few big things that did not start small. Patience and persistence are needed.

Just today I was reading about a church out in California. A rather large church, around the 20,000 mark. Thirty years ago guess how many they had? 3 (4 including the pastor). It was two couples. That's it. Now these people are impacting thousands, maybe more. And I know of many churches that started that small, some even here in Fishers.

Don't worry about things being small. As I recall Someone saying, even a mustard tree starts out as a tiny seed...

T

What Vegetable Are You?

This summer Lorie and I tried our hand a little garden in our backyard. It's not huge by any stretch of the imagination, but it's there. We've got a few cucumber plants (which Lorie loves) and some parsley (which Clover loves) and then we've got this other one. I say that because we have no idea what it is. It's got some nice little flowers on it, and it looks pretty, it's the biggest one of all, but we have no idea what it is. It has no fruit. At least with the other things, we can see what's growing on it (it's hard to miss the cucumbers), but with this, ???

It got me thinking to our faith. There are a lot of people out there who say they are Christian. And they might be in the right garden, they may even have the biggest vines (as our plant has), but without fruit, what are you?

And after all, we know what Jesus thinks about plants without fruit...

Matthew 21:18-19 ~ In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, He was hungry, and He noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then He said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up. (NLT)

T

You Have To Ask

Still reading in Mark, I hit the story of a blind man named Bartimaeus. Here's the story.

Mark 10:46-52 ~ Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, He stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, He’s calling you!” Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. “What do you want Me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road. (NLT)

Now, are you going to tell me that Jesus didn't know what the guy wanted? Forget that Jesus is God and all knowing, everyone knows what this guy wants. Jesus has been healing people for a few years now and there's a blind guy yelling down the road (obviously not following Jesus, he's blind...) for Jesus to have mercy on him. What could he want...?

And then Jesus asks the guy, "What do you want Me to do for you?" Everyone knows, so why did Jesus ask? Because God wants to be asked. He wants to know exactly what we want and by asking we give Him permission to do what He needs to do.

We need to do our part. A section many people know:

Matthew 7:7-8 ~ “Ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you. Yes, everyone who asks will receive. Everyone who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened." (NCV)

Notice it starts with you. You need to ask, then God gives it to you. You have to search, then you will find. You have to knock, then the door will open. That's how the world works. You have to be proactive in what you want from God and ask Him.

So if you're trying to figure out why something in your life isn't happening, have you asked God? Not have you thought He wants to do it anyway, not have you assumed God likes the idea, have you actually asked? It might make a world of difference.

T

Rich Christians?

At Drink Deep, our Sunday night Sr. High program, we are talking about Stewardship for the rest of August. The idea that God owns everything was our discussion last Sunday and this Sunday will be money and giving. I know, popular topics for Christian living here in America. But I think it's more important here and now than anywhere else. Why? Because we have the riches, I just don't know if we have the heart...

I've been reading through Mark lately, and in that wonderful little gospel there's a story of a rich man who comes to Jesus saying he wants eternal life, and what must he do to get it. Jesus says to obey all the commandments, which the rich man says he has done (yeah, right! Have you read all of them? There's 613 in the Torah, and he hasn't broken one? Anyway...). So Jesus adds for him to sell all his stuff and give the money to the poor. Instead of an, "Okay Jesus, let's do it!" the man walks away sad. He can't part with his things.

Sound like America? We can't part with our stuff, that's no secret. Lorie and I went and looked at a house the other day someone was selling, the former tenants had destroyed it because they didn't like the idea of the bank foreclosing on them. I mean, how dare the bank say I can't own something I didn't pay for!

The reality is we love our stuff. More than Jesus sometimes I'm afraid. And I'm not saying that for shock effect. Even in our own church there are many families who have given absolutely nothing to God. Not a single cent. Are you telling me in Fishers, a town in one of the richest counties in the world, we can't afford to give anything to God? Yeah right. I think Jesus said it best:

Mark 10:23 ~ Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” (NLT)

It's hard because the rich have more to give up (or so it seems, because they have so much that they think is theirs anyway).

I don't want money to stop me from getting to heaven. I don't want something I own being a hindrance to my spiritual growth, to my relationship with Jesus. Do you?

T

Better To Throw Yourself Into The Sea...

More from Mark. But I will set this one up a bit.

If you've been reading this blog, a few weeks ago you would have seen some stories from students working in Toronto on our summer mission trip. I know some of you have because you've been nice enough to mention to me, or even mention in a sermon, about my mad dancing skills from the Kids Club I worked at. Well, there's a reason I do that, here's the verse:

Mark 9:42 ~ “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in Me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. (NLT)

Here's the basic truth, I'm not the biggest fan of working with small children. I like them, just the more of them there are, the more the voices in my head start talking about violence. But there's a reason why I do it if asked or if I'm needed. This verse.

See, my dad was a Kindergarten teacher, he worked with kids all the time. So I spent some time growing up helping him, helping at Sunday School, and since he did it and people knew I helped, also with the youth group doing puppets, singing kids songs, etc. I got kind of burnt out on it and wasn't that big of a fan of kids. But then there's this verse.

Look at it closely, see what Jesus is saying. Basically, from the Troy International Version, "Teach these kids about Jesus. If you don't, you better kill yourself because you don't want to know what I will do if I get my hands on you. - God." That's what He's saying, if you cause a child to sin, kill yourself before God gets a hold of you. Now, I've read Exodus and God can be very imaginative when He wants me to suffer. I don't want that...

The reason I will dance and act stupid with kids, God puts such a high price on children and their soul. So if that's what God thinks, who am I to not give everything to the same cause He has? (As a little plug, Pastor Aaron is looking for leaders for our new children's program, Awana. Maybe it's time you helped out some little souls...)

T

On The Same Team

I've been reading through Mark lately and happened upon this passage:

Mark 9:38-40 ~ John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.” “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us. (NLT)

Isn't it sad that churches fighting each other started before Jesus even left and is still going on two thousand years later? That's basically what's going on here. One group of followers of Christ is upset at another group of followers of Christ because of what they are doing for the Kingdom of God.

That may sound harsh, but it still happens (and quite honestly, it needs to stop). Yesterday we had someone at our church who would not participate in communion because they only do it at their church. Um, aren't we all doing the same communion, reenacting and remembering the same last supper with the same Scripture being used from the words of the same Jesus?

We are all on the same team. Part of why I like being a youth pastor is most youth pastors get that. Teenagers aren't as "tied down" to a church as adults or children. They will go to different churches. And that's okay with me. Part of the reason I like to get to know the other youth pastors in town so I can say, "I know Pastor ___, he's a good guy," and it puts the parents at ease and allows the student to know it's okay to learn about God outside of the four walls I work in (I know, shocking, but it can happen).

Church, let's all get on the same team. There are enough other battles to fight without adding more among ourselves...

T

Your Own Jesus

Mark Hall (lead singer of Casting Crowns) has a new book out entitled Your Own Jesus. I understand his thinking behind the book and agree with it, the idea that many people do not know who Jesus is for themselves, they have merely inherited their faith from their parents, friends, pastor, whoever. It's true, we need to know who Jesus is for ourselves, we cannot rely on someone else to have our faith for us. All for it.

But I disagree with the title. This has been coming up in conversations lately with me, the idea of our personal relationship with Jesus. My own Jesus. Frankly, I don't have "my own Jesus." I don't decide what Jesus is like and make Him out to be who I want him to be. He is who He is no matter what I believe (remember, "I Am That I Am"...?).

I think in a way we've made Jesus too personal. It's like my relationship with Lorie. Do I have a personal relationship with her? Absolutely. Is my relationship with her entirely personal? Not at all. She's my wife. We were married in a room full of people. I wear a wedding band wherever I go. When we're out in public (generally) it's quite easy to tell she's my wife. Even when she's not with me, my ring, how I talk with people, it's pretty obvious I have a spouse somewhere.

My relationship with Jesus is not entirely personal. Yes, I have time alone with Jesus and personal belief's, but I'm a youth pastor. I stand up in front of people to talk about Jesus. When I walk into the high school, people know I know Jesus because of my job title. My relationship with Him is not a personal little secret. And most of the things I believe about Jesus are not personal. I didn't make them up or come up with them. I discovered them, I chose to agree with them, and I choose to live them out.

What about you? Is Jesus your personal Savior in the fact that He saved and has a relationship with you, or is He personal as in your personal little secret that you can control and decide what He is like? Are you living in a way people can see Jesus in you...?

Matthew 5:14-16 ~ “You are the light that gives light to the world. A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden. And people don’t hide a light under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand so the light shines for all the people in the house. In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven." (NCV)

T

Pray For You Constantly

I remember hearing the story of a missionary who had been overseas for years and came back to North America. While back he was asked to do all the normal missionary things, go speak at churches, conferences, drum up support, etc. Since he had been overseas for so long they arranged for a driver for this man.

Now the driver noticed something about this missionary, he was always mumbling. Not to other people, he spoke quite eloquently to them, but when he was alone in the car he was always mumbling to himself. The driver didn't think much of it at first, but as he drove him more and more places, he realized this man never stopped. Always, always mumbling.

So the driver decided to listen to the missionary's muttering voice. And you know what he heard? Prayer. This missionary was praying all the time.

One of the first verses I tell people to memorize is I Thessalonians 5:17. It's short yet powerful. "Pray continually". Now it seems like something easy, but have you tried to literally pray all the time? My mind is so scattered I don't know how anyone can do it. But Paul did it. This is how I Thessalonians starts:

I Thessalonians 1:2 ~ We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. (NLT)

Paul was praying for the people of that church constantly. Tell me, what do you think would happen if you prayed for your church constantly...?

T

Follow The Food

For those that don't know, Lorie and I have a mini-zoo in our backyard. Basically it's a bird-feeder and corn (and the odd peanut), but we've gotten attention from the locals. There are at least four chipmunks around our house, a family of squirrels, another family of rabbits living under the bushes next door, raccoons and countless birds. It's fun to watch them in the mornings.

For the past few weeks, we haven't put any food out. With me gone on the mission trip, Lorie in Illinois, our trip to Toledo, etc. we just didn't put anything out for them to eat. And of course, they all vanished. So a few days ago we finally restocked everything and this morning, of course, over a dozen birds and a few four-legged friends were outside. It's very simple to find animals. Follow the food.

A basic principal of life. Animals live around, hang around, stay around where there's food. And it's no different for us. There's a reason that most older cities are on some sort of water (how many American cities have a river running through them). We like to be where our needs are met, where the food is.

I think the church is the same way. (As I type this, a squirrel just came to the deck doors looking for more food). People need their souls to be fed. How that looks is different for everyone, and sometimes churches need to feed people their vegetables even when they don't want to eat them, but all in all, I hope that our church is feeding people. We can't be simple entertainment, there should be sustenance, followed by growth.

After all, even Jesus used food as an analogy for His role in our lives...

John 6:35 ~ Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever." (MSG)

T

Passing

Last night I was watching MLS (that would be soccer) on ESPN and it got me to thinking. I remember playing soccer (and we've done it at church before too), but when you get pros together, they play a certain way. The good ones anyway, they pass.

When you watch amateurs, the bad players kick away, the good players hog the ball (they don't trust anyone else to have it, and with good reason sometimes) but with pros, they're all good, they all know it, so they trust each other enough to pass the ball.

It reminded me of an Oiler game I went to years ago. A friend of mine, Cherolyn, won two tickets, and because she had left early I picked them up for her, and managed to go with her because of it (thanks Cher!). Gold seats, they were awesome. But I remember sitting with her at the game, they were playing the Kings. We were close enough to hear Robitaille swear. But what I remember is it was her first ever time at a pro game. You can watch it on TV, but it's not the same with so many things going on behind the play. And within about thirty seconds she said it. "I can't believe all the passing."

It's a lesson I think people who follow Christ can learn. Even Jesus passed. He could have done everything, but He didn't.

Matthew 16:15-19 ~ Then Jesus asked them, “And who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because no person taught you that. My Father in heaven showed you who I am. So I tell you, you are Peter. On this rock I will build my church, and the power of death will not be able to defeat it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; the things you don’t allow on earth will be the things that God does not allow, and the things you allow on earth will be the things that God allows.”(NCV)

What would the church be like if we had more passing...?

T

A Bigger View

I'm sitting here working on our next session of Drink Deep coming up this month about Stewardship. I really hope you all aren't sick of hearing about it, seeing as we did a little about giving in July on Sunday mornings.

But I'm just thinking about how small our view of God is sometimes. God owns everything. And we as good little Christians say that, and it sounds good, and I think we believe it. At least to the point our tiny little minds can handle. Think about it for a second. God owns everything. That chair you're sitting in, God's. The money you used to buy that computer you're using to read this, God's. That oxygen you're breathing, God's. Every tiny quark in the universe belongs to God.

If we were to look at the church today, are we living with the mindset/lifestyle that everything is God's? From how we treat just the church building, do we see it as God's house, or is it "our" church that we built with "our" money for "our" Sunday morning worship?

I don't know, I think "Hope Lives" will be fun next month (be watching church newsletters, etc. for more information on that :)

Psalm 24:1 ~ The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. (NIV)

T

When You Feel Alone...

Isn't it funny how in this world we live in that is so incredibly inter-connected, you are never away from anyone thanks to cell phones, email and facebook allow us to keep in contact around the clock, we have world news at our fingertips, most have neighbors not far from their home, cars allow us to travel further for work than the average person would travel in their entire life 500 years ago (and thanks to airplanes we can travel across continents and oceans in hours)...

And yet people still feel alone.

Today I read about people who were "alone". In the Amazon (Brazil) there is a tribe of people called the Metyktire Tribe. They have been living in the rainforest unknown to many people for a long time. How long? They met their first ever person from outside the tribe in May 2007. Think about that! Just two years ago these people believed there was no one else on the planet outside of their little tribe!

Can you imagine how overwhelming that must have been? "Hey, nice to meet you. I'm one of 6 billion people here you didn't know existed." Think of all the times they could have used a doctor, education, electricity, who knows, anything that we take for granted everyday (I say that while sitting in a padded chair at a computer with the A/C on, and they were in the rainforest...).

I think for many people, we realize we are not alone, but we don't know who to trust, and that leads us to be alone. Thank God there's Someone who will never leave us (or forsake us).

T

How Little Control We Actually Have

Sorry, not going to be wordy today. In the past week a couple of things have really hit me, and the hardest part about them is there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. As someone who likes to fix things, that is really, really hurting me. I've always believed there is a solution, and there always is, it's just not always one that I personally can get to.

One of those old memory verses from Sunday School is running through my head (thank you for making me memorize Scripture when I was 8). Proverbs 3 says we have to trust in the Lord with all our heart. And with where I am today, that's all I can do, trust. He's the same God who cares for every hair on my head, He's the same God who parted the Red Sea for His people, He's the same God who sacrificed His Son for me.

Sometimes, all we can do is trust...

T

The Mission Trip Continues

Although we had a few students write what happened on the trip, obviously I could not get everyone on my laptop. For more stories visit our discussion board at www.fumcfireandwater.net/forum to learn more and hear more stories from the students.

T

Toronto Days 6 & 7 (Friday & Saturday)

Sorry there was no blog last night, we didn't have Internet.

But it was a great day. We were up at 6:00 (ugh) and on the road by around 8:30 after cleaning up the work-site, saying good-bye, etc. Then it was off to Kincardine.

And what a great day. It rained off and on all the way there, then sunshine! We had a few good hours on the beach, people jumped off the pier, played watermelon football, and a few people got a nice little tan. Nice and relaxing. And I ran into people from town I hadn't seen in forever (we found one by Kayla & Kristen playing with their kids).

Then we went back to the churches, had dinner, and decompressed. It was nice to have a fun day and then finish it off talking about the trip after having a few hours to think about it.

Today we slept in (yes!) and were on the road around 11:30. We made it through the border faster than I could have ever expected! We didn't even get out of our vehicles!! He did it all at his kiosk, we all met at the Rest Area a 1/2 mile away, and we were on our way home. No problems, no anything. We even got home an hour early.

So thanks to everyone who came. I hope you all enjoyed reading about it. Hopefully the students will be telling more of their stories on the discussion board at http://www.fumcfireandwater.com/ so check it out there.

Until my next thought (it may be a while, the brain is a little fried).

T

Toronto Day 5 (Thursday)

Today was a little bitter sweet. It was the last day which means we have lots of fun, but it also means that we have to say good-bye. For our group, we had a massive water fight, and I don’t mean a little one. We were all soaked, extremely soaked. We did it because it was raining. So we were cold and wet, playing in water. But we had so much fun and had a good time with the kids. We’re really going to miss them.

I finally had a day off this afternoon, between showers and writing happy fun notes, I really haven’t spent a lot of time just hanging out. Today is why I do them early, so I can have time at the end of the week just hanging out. It was lots of fun.

For the evening activity, it was about to rain again, so we went out to the park behind us, took pictures, played football, played group rock, paper, scissors (ask about the group hug), lots of fun. After, Shawn and I beat people in Euchre.

Then we had our last group time which involves the foot-washing ceremony that is a tradition every year at Youthworks. And once again it was great. Our guys and gals, for some unknown reason, they just know how to pray, they know how to be still, they love each other and have no problem running up to each other and hugging and praying and crying with each other. At midnight the Youthworks leaders finally asked if we could go to sleep, not that they wanted us to stop praying, but they wanted to make sure everyone gets up at 6:30 tomorrow (Bah!).

So that is why there are no students blogging tonight and why there are no pictures and why this is so late. It’s almost 1:00, everyone’s finally in bed, and I have no problem with that. They have had a great week of serving, the staff here keep saying thank-you to them for all they’ve done, they’ve prayed with each other. Tomorrow we are off to have a day of relaxing and fun which they have more than deserved. Hope to get you some news about it then. See you in two days!

Toronto Day 4 (Wednesday)

A realization set in today, we are half-done our trip. Today was our third day out or four of working. For my group, it was almost like we’re getting in a groove. We managed to get to our site by ourselves (which somehow happened to include a trip to Tim Horton’s, shocker). We also managed to get back by ourselves and also shower, what a great day!

At the site things were flowing well. We’ve really gotten to know a lot of the kids and they have gotten to know us. I really didn’t need to do much (usually I hung out with the older kids, today they were actually doing the craft without nudging, I got to work on our “Happy Fun Notes” or encouragement notes). Our students did a great job with the kids, more people getting into leading the songs, Bobby and Helen having fun with the Memory Verse, our drama, Shawn leading, it just really went well. But at the same time, it’s become a little bitter-sweet.


Tomorrow’s the last day. The last time we get to be with them for just a few hours. It’s amazing how you manage to care for and love these strangers in so short a time.

This afternoon, we had some free time for the first time (or so it seems). I took some of my crew walking (I needed to go the bank) and managed to share some of our Canadian products with them. They really love mint Aero bars for some reason…

Tonight we went to Chinatown. A lot of people went out and bought trinkets, me and some of the boys went for some real Chinese food. Nice greasy duck and rice (with some chicken). It was fun. We almost didn’t have enough time to get back, and although it wasn’t a lot of the “experience” of Chinatown, I just love hanging with the guys, just talking with our students (and girls too, they just weren’t there at the time).


After we had a little bit of ice cream and someone had cake (Happy Birthday Rebecca) and we talked about power and how Jesus chose not to use the power He could have but instead chose to hang on a cross so we could have the chance to know Him. How He chose to submit His power and ask us to do the same (like Peter being asked not to use his sword to defend Him, those who live by the sword die by the sword), how we have hope because when Jesus laid down His power a greater power was able to be given through the resurrection, but it started with giving up some power first, as we should do. Afterwards we broke into group time where we basically just talked. Heard about who was where, stories of the day, and talked about what we hope to get out of our last day.

I think tomorrow will be hard being the last day, but instead of guessing about tomorrow, some of our students would like to tell you about their trip so far.

Nikki J. ~ I think that this week God has been working in mysterious ways with every single person on this trip. Group four went to St. Jude’s academy for the arts which was a school for adults who are mentally and physically disabled. Many of these people the past couple of days have been showing many of us how powerful God really can be. All of these people are so powerfully “all in” for God, that it just blows my mind. Tomorrow is our last day and I hope that I, as well as the rest of the people in my crew, can be helped as much by these people as I have been the past couple of days. I truly believe that they have taught me more than I have helped them this week. God bless the students at St. Jude’s.

Eric O. ~ Never blogged before bear with me, Ok well for the past few days I have been working at St. Francis Table, a restaurant for the poor where they pay a dollar and get a full meal. There are 3 guys that run this place, Brother John, a Franciscan Priest, and the two cooks Sam and Dominic. It has been up and running since 1987 and it just me today, they had told us before, but in the past 20 years they have served over 950,000 poor/homeless people meals in Toronto. The reality of that number hit me today when I realized that 950,000 equals the number of people living in Marion County.!!!!!!!!!!! Wow it just really amazed me. Looking forward to our last day tomorrow. God Bless

Jordan H. ~ I dunno if you read Eric’s post, but I am also new to the blog. So yeah, for the past 3 days I have been working with team 5 with the Nazarene Church program called Refresh. The whole goal of the program is to repaint houses in the low income section in order to give tenents a little better self-image. We have spent a lot of time cleaning up after other groups which has been a little discouraging just because we haven’t completely finished a house yet. Today, though, we actually had the chance to do it right. It was amazing to see, because everyone in our group was at the point where we would have given up showering in order to finish the house. Fortunately, it didn’t come to that, but we did get it done. It really has been amazing to see God at work in these people. And Kendall is trying to trade me a Canadian 10 for two 5’s and can’t find his wallet… And Tim Hortons may well be the best thing ever, and there is an image of people playing hockey on the 5 dollar bill…. Last day tomorrow, and I hope we can all make it count. God bless.

Toronto Day 3 (Tuesday)

Today is my… most waited for day of the trip. I won’t say best, because it’s not all good. I’ll get there… (sorry there’s no pictures today, I didn’t have time, again that will be explained).

We started out going back to our Kids Club for the day. The picnic lunch was good, but more importantly it’s amazing how a day makes a difference. Knowing some of the kids’ names and spending time with them yesterday, they were more fun, they were more open, and there were more of them. I even recognized a few parents. It was great. They were into it and today for the first day the pastor’s wife had the chance to see what Youthworks and groups like us were doing with the kids in their church. Can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow.

But the part I was waiting for was the city walk. It was different this time than the last time I was here but followed almost the same route. Basically we walked a tour of Toronto, the good, the bad and the ugly, all within about six blocks. The dynamics change that quickly. Eaton Center, a huge mall is one block from the local youth shelter where drug dealers hang out to catch teenagers as they get into Toronto. Ryerson University is across the street from a prostitution hangout affectionately known as “Hooker Harvey’s” (it’s a Harvey’s restaurant).

For me it’s always hard because I want to fix it (those that know my aren’t surprised by that part of my personality). It hurts to think there are people living with such problems and pain and they are literally less than a stone’s throw away from people spending thousands and thousands of dollars every hour, throwing away their uneaten food while across the street people are hungry. It just isn’t right. And it hurts me. And I know on some level it will never be fixed, Jesus even said we will always have the poor with us, but some of these people don’t even try to look to the church for help because those wonderful followers of Jesus have burned them so bad. I just keep feeling we should be so much better… I should be so much better…
After the walk we went straight into our time as a church, allowing us to talk and ask the questions and think, and you could tell for some, it really is hard. The easy answers are thrown out right away by the questions of others, which really gives me more hope because it makes me think the church has a chance to grow and think and do more than the easy answer that seemed good five seconds after the problem was looked at. Our guys and girls are really handling the things they see and processing them well.

Don’t take my word for it, here’s some more of them.

Zak B. ~ Well my crew was a little different from the rest, today was the first day at our site. A little background, this is my sixth trip, and this mission site is the coolest I have ever worked at. It’s called St. Frances’ Table, led by this cool Franciscan monk (I think) who really likes U2. This place is like a cross between a restaurant and a soup kitchen, the folks who come to eat pay a dollar to have us serve them some very good food, and it is just really cool. Not to mention the cook is almost as laid back as I am…. (“You work too hard, go take a break” are good words…)

Ginny H. ~ Today crew# 1 went to hope shelter. Mahoney, a man with a thick accent and kind eyes, set us cleaning up the shelter halls and windows very mildly. “it’s your vacation—don’t work too hard!”,he said. : ) Jeremy and Daniel cleaned windows, and Jacob, Liz, Kari, Kristina and I cleaned the halls and walls, and kitchen. The shelter was for men by the way, and it wasn’t as pretty as the women’s shelter. Did you know about that difference? The women’s shelter had flowers… the guys didn’t have a lot of pretty things. But they could hang out, play cards and watch tv. Being with people who treat you as people seems like the best thing… PS, God was majorly at both shelters… programs, and love .

Shawn M. ~ There really is way too much to discuss when talking about today. Of course I could talk about my kid’s club group Humber Blvd. Baptist Church and how we realy did have a blast solving puzzles, playing games, and following Troy’s lead jumping up and down and yelling songs (let me tell you he has got some mad crazy dance moves…). I could talk about the great interaction going on between all three churches here, the way that we’re truly congregating together become one whole with one focus, forgetting all past differences and fully embracing one another. I could talk about our long walk afterwards through the streets of Toronto, going from City Hall to the Eden Centre and finding, not more than one block away, crowds of people experiencing homelessness, churches with gates wrapped around them, and discarded syringes littering the sewers, being guided through this by a man who had been there for over a decade and knew first hand the pain and bitterness of a homeless man looking down the street and seeing those too wealthy to even know what to do with all they have. I could talk about the discussion our own FUMC youth group had afterwards, how everyone was waiting to jump in on the subject, on the possible “solution” to the hodgepodge of problems assaulting the city. Or…I could talk about how I sit here after the discussion disquieted, still unfulfilled. There’s so much we can do as Christians, especially us located in the wealthiest county in America, and yet there’s so much not being done. The pain is frustrating, it’s unbearable, to sit here and see the decadence of the life being led by thousands and know that, alone, I can do nothing. But still I have to have faith in it, I have to know that eventually it all will be solved, and I have to stay strong when I go out tomorrow and make sure that I do everything I can to act as Jesus would have me act, so I can prevent this terrible future from befalling those children that I will interact with tomorrow.
Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Toronto Day 2 (Monday)

Sorry yesterday was a little late, my internet has been spotty…

An early day (well, every day seems earlier). Breakfast was great for me, I got to eat Shreddies for the first time in years!

Today was a shock for me. We all went to our worksites today. Groups went to homeless shelters, Salvation Army, some worked with mentally handicapped people and of course Kids Clubs (summer long VBS). I got a little bit of a shock, I ended up (totally by accident) at the same church I was at 5 years ago when we were here last (Taylor, you remember Bob, the crazy old guy? He’s still here!). For us, it was great. Luke, our Youthworks leader, told us it was the best Monday he’d had all summer (Monday’s are hard, the kids test the new leaders). Other than getting a little lost looking for where we showered, today was great!

For our evening activity we went to Lake Ontario and hung out on the beach. We didn’t swim, Lake O’s a wee bit too dirty for that (although some people were, and I felt dirty just watching them). But it was fun, people played the largest game of Ultimate Frisbee they’ve managed to scrounge up this summer. And I think Jeremy won the rock skipping contest.

After that we made our way back to our home base, had milk (in bags) and cookies. That was followed by “Mad Props” and “Yay God’s” (praise for people doing good things and praise to God for doing good things), followed by some time together talking about outside influences on what we think of ourselves/how we act and how that relates to what Jesus said at the Sermon on the Mount regarding those who are blessed (The Beatitudes), plus some time with just our church group talking about the day’s events, how we felt, how we perceived people before we worked with them and after.

But that’s enough from me, what did other people think of today?

Andy P. ~ I worked at St. Jude’s Academy today working with mentally and physically challenged adults. And I saw an almost overwhelming amount of God in the adults that I worked with, because they had less worries and less on their minds, their minds seemed an example of purity and holiness. They were laughing and singing, and when Zak and James and I got up to lead worship on our guitars, the adults didn’t know the songs, yet they were laughing, and singing, and dancing as one would thing possible. I never thought Id see as much God in a place like this.

Natalie H. ~ Today I worked at the Moss Park Kid’s Club. My group worked with about 8 to 10 different kids, all from about 7 or 8 to 15 or older. When we arrived at the site, we weren’t sure how things were going to go, because no one had worked at that site before, so we didn’t have a report to have expectations from. We were a little bit separated from the other kids at the beginning, just because of their opinions of church-goers and Christians in general. But, as we played sports and games and just spent time with the kids and their leaders, we began to break the barriers between the two groups. By the end of the day, we were all acting like best friends. I felt like I had been with these kids for a long time, and I was having so much fun with them. It was a true blessing to hear at prayer time later, that the smallest girl there (who barely talked, even when she was confronted) spoke up to say that she was thankful for our group; that we were able to come and get to know them. We were so touched by this group of kids, and I saw God just opening their hearts and minds to why we were there.

Bobby H. ~ Alright, it’s kind of hard to start. Well, you were at the same YouthWorks Kids Club as me, Troy. As you may have noticed, it was a little bit of a slow start to actually get the kids involved. That was quickly remedied as we jumped into games and other activities, however. I believe that God was working His magic today in the fact that none of the kids were problematic in the least, in spite of rumors/facts spread about past occurrences (no fights, the first day was smooth for the first-time group leaders). All of the kids were engaged in the activities going on. If the kids did become disinterested, they quickly rebounded in finding other things to do. The fact that everything went so perfectly was His doing. I feel like I actually became friends with all of the kids I played with; it was as though they appreciated the fact that everyone there to spend time with them. The part of the day that touched me the most dealt with a little boy named Kaleb. He apparently was one of the children who had had problems with family and fighting in past occurrences. It made me so happy that he got along with all of the kids so well, as if he still retained all of the child-like qualities that could be lost in various sorts of strife. His brother dropped him off at Kid’s Club and ran off somewhere, even though he was at an ideal age to be involved with the whole Kid’s Club jazz. When Kaleb’s brother picked him up, Kaleb explained how much fun he had to his older brother. From this, the older brother informed me that he would be attending tomorrow as well! This was the most obvious workings of God for me for the day.

Taegan E. ~ I am working with a group of churches. They have started a program called Refresh they paint the interior of houses in a community of low income families that can’t afford the paint. Pastor Bill is the man in charge when we first got there after a very long car ride he gave us the background behind the program. Two years earlier there were three people having combined birthday parties. It was one of those parties where the music is blasting and attracts more people then was invited. There was an 11 year old boy who was at his cousin’s party. Two rival gangs showed up at the party there were shots fired the little boy was shot and killed. Pastor Bill went to open the church the next day and saw all the police and yellow tape he went over and asked what happen and that is the story he got. At the end of his sermon that day the congregation went out and prayed across the street the neighbor hood came a joined in. this was right in front of our sight. They started this program so that this wouldn’t happen again. We don’t just go in and paint the family is there to help us and they talk with us. It is a lot of fun and is a great program. We were cleaning up the mess that another group made. Like paint on the ceiling and on the light switches we ended up redoing the bathroom because it was done so poorly. But we were happy to be there our morning started off rough. We were being led to our site by a staff member and we got lost we were almost two hours late to our site. We finally got to the church and they told us that we had to go some place else. We got there no one was there after walking around and parking three times we found Pastor Bill. We got our supplies which included a jug of paint that weighed about 25 lbs. Matt and my other leader Randy passed off carrying it Jordan helped too. We went a few blocks until we got to the house we were going to paint. To make a long story short the mother wasn’t home and they didn’t want to let us in. We eventually got permission to enter the house and we started making the house look better. Unfortunately we didn’t finish but we did leave the house looking better than when we got there. But I think that crew #5( Matt S., Randy, Christian, Taegan E. , Kate T., Jordan H., Landon K. and Emily W.) all saw God in what we were doing after we heard Pastor Bills story. We all worked hard because we see God in the idea of the program.

Toronto Day 1 (Sunday)

Well, we made it. After leaving on time(!) we managed to get out of Fishers and all the way to Canada with no problems. Even at the border, we made it quick. The look on the immigration officers face was priceless when she had interviewed two people and realized she had 47 more to go. She literally yelled out, “Everyone hold out your papers” and went through everyone in 30 seconds, “Good, good, good, good…” all the way down the line. I hope going back to America is that easy!

Because of that we managed to be ahead of schedule, meaning we took a long lunch at White Oaks Mall in London (which meant I got to see my sister and her family, yay). It also meant I got to eat poutine for lunch (also yay).

Toronto was a little bit of a chore because our wonderful Rand McNally directions had us on Shore Road Boulevard for 1.6 miles, which was really more like 16 miles. The good part is everyone got to see a nice piece of Toronto, CNE, Skydome (Rogers Field), CN Tower, Air Canada Center, Ontario Place, etc. But then in a few short blocks the lovely painted condos turned into a more run-down area.

Everyone is settled and about to head to bed. We had Club earlier (our mini church service) where we talked about Freedom, and how we generally view freedom as our own personal ability to do what we want, not the idea in Galatians 5 where Paul talks about us being free not for ourselves but to use that freedom to help others.

We’re heading to bed, hearing about proper conduct and appropriate behavior before bed (there is no better bedtime story). Hope to be back filling you in with more tomorrow.

T

Do What God Made You To Do

Today I was reading the story of a couple that lived a few years ago (it was actually about the son, but let's focus on the parents for now). True story, the son wrote it as an introduction to his book.

Anyway, his parents met while they were studying at Yale. Obviously smart cookies. Were married and worked for the government in communication with the first lady quite often. Smart and in a power position. But things weren't quite what they thought they would be so they made a change.

They became farmers, and part-time drama teachers at an all girl's school near-by.

I love that! Not because of what they did necessarily, but because it is in direct contrast to what society would say is good. Can you imagine they conversation they would have had with their parents? "Thanks for sending us to Yale, but this incredibly hard, intelligent, and well-paying government job, it's just not for us. So we're going to be farmers. Come visit and you can have some beets on the house."

It just doesn't make sense in our society. We go after money, fame or power (or any combination of the three). But if you were created by God to be an artist, teaching biology will kill your soul no matter how much you're paid. I'm lucky enough that I love what I do (there are days, but all in all, it's great) and this week I get to go be with 50 people serving God in ways that will stretch them like never before. And I get to be a part of that! Thank you God for making me :)

And now to get ready for Toronto. I'm planning on blogging each day (but it really depends on Internet access...)

T

Can't Take It Back

I was reading Nicole's blog on the staff blogs of our church (www.fishersumc.org) and she talked a little about how we can't get time back. How even when set-backs happen, we can choose to be angry about it or we can choose to make the best of it.

I don't know, this one is a tough one for me. She is 100% right, but man, I love to dwell on the past. She made me think about how I need to let things go and make the best of it. Even today, I was thinking about something I preached a long time ago (at least 6 months) and I was thinking of what I should have said. Really? Six months ago? A little past due there Richards.

So help me, but do it with me. Let things in the past go. It doesn't change anything to think about what should have/could have/would have happened. All we can do is move forward.

T

What Does Your TV Say About You?

Growing up, my father loved to watch a certain television show. It was a great show, made by a great man. This guy was an inspiration to many, my dad and myself included. And what's funny is what this guy thought about his medium...

"Television is teaching you whether you want it or not." ~ Jim Henson

It's a good lesson. Television teaches us what is really important to us, what we really want. Kind of like how Oprah felt when she talked about how people told her they wanted programming with more substance to it, but at the same time Jerry Springer was beating her in the ratings.

The simple fact is what people say they want and what they really want are usually two different things. And television helps us see that. We say we don't want swearing, violence or sex on TV, but what sells best?

So what are you watching? And what does it say about how you really feel about what you want...?

T

Where Is The Church 2000 Years Later?

Today I was reading a parable Jesus told. Now, it's a little different than most. Jesus was nice enough to tell His disciples what a lot of the parables meant. But this one He kept the meaning to Himself.

Matthew 13:31-32 ~ Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”

So, since it was not explained by Jesus, I read a few commentaries about the meaning (I know, I'm a fun guy on a Saturday night, Lorie was working...). They all talked about how the seed represents the Christian movement. It started small, a few guys following Jesus in an area in the middle of nowhere, then over time it has grown and become huge, a world-wide faith with billions of followers.

But then the commentaries started to differ. Some believe the section about the birds nesting in the branches are signs of a good healthy church. The birds come in, they can find shelter, they can find food, they can grow and raise their young. Like we want the church to be today. Other commentaries show the birds in a different light. In other parables birds were a sign of satan (like the parable of the seeds, the birds eating the seed represents satan stealing people away). Those commentaries said Jesus was saying what would start as a small movement would become huge, but so big and tangled that satan would find his way in and nest there and cause the church to lose focus.

Two very different ideas. No one knows the right answer. So I came up with one. I figured I would just look at our church today, the one that started as a seed but is now full-grown, 2000 years old, and by looking at it now I can tell which way Jesus meant for the parable to go. And you know what I came up with?

I really don't know.

I mean, on one hand, tomorrow there are going to millions of churches with people in them worshipping God. Because the church has grown we are able to reach so many people and educate them in God's love, give them opportunities to serve. But at the same time, what have we done with our responsibilities? How much time do we spend going out rather than focusing in? How much money do we spend on our million dollar children's wings, all the while if every church in America (just the US) chipped in a little under $50,000 (the bigger churches would give more, the smaller ones less, it could work out) there would be no world hunger, world thirst, etc. As we've gotten bigger has our priorities gotten out of whack, how we spend our time and money followed what we should be doing?

It saddens me, being a part of the church and not knowing the answer to that. But I know I want to do my best to make sure we are the church Christ wants us to be...

T

Hard Work

Today I was reading the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den. Popular story, heard it since I was five, yada yada yada.

Anyway, today I was reading it and noticed something at the beginning I don't remember from before. Daniel was about to be promoted and the other guys in line for the promotion wanted him dead. I knew that, but why dead? You can read it at the start of Daniel 6. Daniel was going to get the promotion not because he was the king's favorite, but because...

Daniel 6:3 ~ Daniel showed that he could do the work better than the other supervisors and governors, so the king planned to put Daniel in charge of the whole kingdom.

All Daniel did was work hard. And the guys that didn't work hard didn't get the promotion. But instead of working harder to try and get the promotion, they immediately go to "let's kill the guy."

I don't know what it is, but I've noticed that we've lost a lot of our work ethic. The old stories of America's history are full of people doing the hard things, building houses with their own two hands, working the ground, building cities, working to create something of value. And now, it seems to me that there are a lot of people who think they are entitled to their jobs. They don't work hard at it, they just kinda do it, but they feel they shouldn't be fired because they deserve that job. Since when do we deserve something we don't work hard at?

Don't be scared of hard work. Do your best. It's the way God intended it to be.

Proverbs 20:13 ~ If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Stay awake, work hard, and there will be plenty to eat! (LB)

Proverbs 13:4 ~ Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper. (NLT)

T

Are You Shutting People Out?

This morning I rad the story of the paralyzed man that was lowered through the roof. If you don't know the story (Mark 2), Jesus is staying at this house, people find out He's there and crowd in to hear His teaching (He can't even get a day off). Then this guy who is paralyzed is brought by his four friends to let Jesus heal him. They can't get in so they cut a hole in the roof and lower the guy down in front of Jesus. Jesus heals him, they leave happy, it's all good.

I've heard that story so many times growing up. It's always the same, the faith of the paralyzed man and the persistence of his friends is the story. But I think there's so much more to it than that. One thing I want to know, why did no one let the guy through?

All the people there, they were listening to Jesus' teachings. This is pretty much like a Home Bible Study gone big. Maybe even a church service. So why would these people not let in someone who obviously needs help (he's on a stretcher, that should have been a hint)?

I wonder if the church today has people who need help but we are shutting them out. We don't want to step out of routine, we are so focused on making ourselves holy or our teaching or our spiritual growth we aren't seeing others who need the same, I earned my spot at this church, you haven't earned yours (if you don't think that's true, sit in a different pew at church and see what happens...).

The last thing in the world anyone should feel is neglected or like they don't belong, like they are unwelcome, especially when surrounded by people who say they are full of love and follow the God who is love. Let's not be so focused on our needs, our wants, what we would like God to do for us that we can't step aside and help others discover who God is. Start parting the crowd.

T

Coins In A Fountain

This has so little to do with anything, but I sometimes see how people behave and go, "Why? Just... why?"

One for today that I was just reminded of, why is it wherever there's water people throw money? I know there are wishing wells, and with that if you see one you are supposed to get a coin, make a wish, and throw the coin in the fountain. Got it. But since when are all bodies of water wishing wells?

Think about it. The fountain at the mall. The ponds in the gardens at the zoo. Even the occasional river. Look in them, there's almost always money. Do we do so many things out of habit in our society that we simply are trained and brainwashed that if we see water we need to throw money in it?

I've been thinking about putting a pond in my front yard just to see how much money I'd get...

T

Where's The "Sanctuary"?

Nicole and I were talking this morning (Nicole is in charge of the great 11:00 blended service in our sanctuary) and she said something that I was wondering about earlier in the day. She mentioned about NewSong (the modern service I'm in charge of, at the same time...) is not in the Sanctuary.

But for me, it is. A sanctuary is defined as a sacred or holy place. For many, that is the room we've named the "sanctuary" because we have planned holy events that happen there every Sunday and at other times throughout the year. For the people who take part in them, that space is holy. But here's something true for me that a lot of people won't like.

The room that is labeled "sanctuary" on our blueprints... it's not holy to me (gasp!)

It's true. If I had to pick a holy place at the church, it's not on my list. For most people in our church, the gym is just a room where we eat and play sports. Although that's true, it's where the bulk of ministry happens for me (along with the youth room). I have Sunday morning worship there. Our youth services are in there. We have events like the 30 Hour Famine where students physically do something to show love to people they haven't met. We transform the room into a prayer room where I have sat and watched teenagers pray for over an hour and a half (some of our adults couldn't do that). I have seen God more in that room than any other in one of God's houses we call Fishers United Methodist Church.

And when it comes to the room dubbed "the sanctuary", that room is not holy for me. I don't get to see the Sunday morning services. In fact, 98% of the time I'm in there, it's not holy at all. It's to fix a sound problem, a video problem, run something because someone didn't show up. Most of the time I'm in there the issue(s) I'm told to fix aren't real but we don't want to talk about the real problems. It's a room that involves frustration and sometimes half-truths for me (because whenever something doesn't work, I never hear someone say, "Oh, that was my fault" but I hear a lot of reasons why it wasn't their fault). In reality, that room is not holy to me. It is not my sanctuary, despite what the sign on the door says.

A good example of this; the holy place of Bethel. In Genesis 28 Jacob is running for his life. Then he rests and has a dream from God. Since he had an encounter with God there, that place was deemed holy (notice, the person who drew out the map of the land didn't say it was holy, then God showed up, it was the other way around). After Jacob met with God he pronounced that place his "sanctuary".

Genesis 28:18-19 ~ Jacob was up first thing in the morning. He took the stone he had used for his pillow and stood it up as a memorial pillar and poured oil over it. He christened the place Bethel (God’s House). The name of the town had been Luz until then. (MSG)

So if you're talking to someone about church, realize their sanctuary may not be your sanctuary, and that's okay. They aren't any less holy than you because you don't see the same rooms as "where God lives". Coach Bill with Campus Life was talking to me a little while ago about his church. An arsonist broke in and burned their sanctuary down. He said it was the best thing to happen to his church family. Suddenly they had to worship God somewhere different. All the stereo-types that went with worship that aren't necessary (we don't have any of those, of course) were broken down because they could not rely on past memories for moves of God, they had to look to God directly. And believe it or not, they met in a gym, had more holy experiences and even spent time with God there.

Open your mind a little. Visit someone else's holy place. Ask them why it's holy to them. You may be surprised at what you learn... (and so you know, Nicole thinks this way too, she wasn't bashing the gym. She had come down to spend time with God while worshipping during NewSong's practice).