Minneapolis Day 5: Friday

Sorry about there being no blog yesterday, it has been a long and exhausting two days, but days that have been great with many highs and exciting stories. Our last day of ministry, saying good-bye to people we've made relationships with, praying for almost 3 hours together, and a day of relaxing at America's biggest mall. Our last few stories are below, thanks for all your support and prayers.

T

Being a senior yesterday was my last day serving with fumc at a youthworks site. It’s a bittersweet moment for me realizing that I’m leaving behind so many memories and that I will be making many more. I have made so many great relationships with these people and I have learned so much. Although my service here is done I hope and pray that I will be able to find somewhere to serve. God gave me talents and I know I need to put these talents to use for him.
These last 4 years I have been able to work with different forms of kids clubs and it has always been very easy for me to work with kids… Except for this year. The place I served at this week was called, “Hospitality House.” There were at least 100 kids there so it was extremely difficult for me to connect and have one on one relationships with them. The first day we had learned about serving and that everything we do can be considered a service to God. I was so down on myself because I felt like I was making no impact on the kids and I felt like I wasn’t do anything. I learned that although some of the things I did were not tangible and visible, just my presence was a service.
This week I was able to have Brian Craig Gordon be one of my youthworks leaders and I am truly thankful for him. He taught me that no matter what the situation or who I was serving that I am called to love. I truly did my best to love as hard as I could and that just by showing love in every situation I could hopefully make an impact on somebody. I am thankful for all of the youthworks staff this year, Mike, Holly, Diana, and Brian. They were some of my favorite youthworks staff and even though this was a hard mission trip it was a great one.
-Issac Schaffer

This week, I got the opportunity to serve at a nursing home.  This place, Redeemer’s Residence, was centered around the elderly who were unable to communicate fully or travel throughout the residence fully.
Now at this point, I would like to warn those who are reading this with a meal in hand, or those who are weak in the stomach, but my most prominent story of the week is a little crappy… We (Alec and I) were called to help a resident “get to her room”. Funny story: she was already at her room.. We got there and saw her crying because she was afraid no one was coming to help her. We walked her into her room to help her get into bed, when she decided she needed to use the restroom. To keep the story short, I lost at rock paper scissors, and had to give her a hand. By the time we got her into bed, Alec and I next to ran out of the room.
Now, while this story has a considerable amount of humorous content, it did actually shape Alec and my week, by opening us up to the randomness of the jobs we had to face this week.

-Andy Patterson

Currently my eyes are half open and Andy, Troy, and I are chatting about the week. Coming into this week I was extremely perky and had a vision for the whole week. My worksite for the whole week was a transition shelter for the poor and homeless called “Mary’s Place”. This tiny little building has turned into a three building complex with more than 90 apartments for families. Our main job was to entertain the kids while their parents would work with the staff to find jobs and work on daily life skills.

More than 40% of the people living in this complex are Somali refugees. Most of those kids couldn’t speak English very well.  We had to use a lot of hand gestures for communication. We have also had a lot of kids who know English perfectly well who refuse to understand us. Despite the challenges, I cried my eyes out saying goodbye to these kids. I could spend all night telling my stories with these kids, but I will just say that it was an amazing experience and one of the most challenging weeks of my life. I am grateful that I have the access to all that I have after seeing the excitement in these kids’ eyes over the smallest things that we think little of such as a new shirt or a bottle of bubble liquid.

I am so grateful for the friends that I have made in this youth group and the experiences that we have shared and will share in the future.

-Jacob Stebbe

Minneapolis Day 4: Thursday

It's our last day of serving and we have lots of great stories, but unfortunately we don't have time to share them, it's 12:30 and the last of our students just went to bed after praying. So, we will have more stories up tomorrow, thanks for understanding! T

Minneapolis Day 4: Wednesday

It's Wednesday, the middle of the week. Students are excited to get back to their sites, they know the routine a little better and they know some of the people they're serving by name. In the evening the weather changed our plans so we stayed indoors for the YouthWorks Olympics (the picture is of Olympic Music Chairs, a much more violent sport than many others in the games) and had a great night in talking, playing together, worshipping, and reflecting on what we are here to do. Thanks again for all your prayers and support!
-T

So today was the third day at my work site which is the best summer school for kids I have ever been to (it is free of charge). Urban Ventures is the name of the summer school and it is in the middle of downtown Minneapolis.  I am paired up with my “buddy” Harrison who is going into the 9^th grade.  We have been partnered up for two days and today was much better.  He is one of the most easily distracted kids I know.  However, today was the best he has been.  I was able to help him and his friend Mario with lines of symmetry in math class and then helped him write an essay about himself (also known as a biography).  It helped me connect with him more.  We also enjoyed electives today where we played football, special teams today, and went on a bike ride around beautiful Minneapolis bike trails.  My legs were burning for the rest of the night.  Tomorrow marks the last day of my youth works mission trip career and I have caught myself looking back over the past 7 mission trips.  It has been a great learning experience for me and brought me closer to Christ each trip I have taken. I have a goal tomorrow to complete with my buddy before I leave him for good.  My goal is to complete this goal as a final memory to add to my mission trip collage.  My last day will also be spent at the science museum so you should be proud mom.  Thank you all for the prayers in the church community and the support.  We will be home soon to tell you all about our stories of this trip.

-Daniel Ogle

With today being the second to last day, it is crazy to think how fast the time has flown. I have spent this week at Kaleidoscope Kids, which is half day care and half academic growth. It was hard the first couple of days to really connect with all of the children, but today was really the first time I felt like I had an impact on them and felt like I had made connections with them. Today was a normal day in classroom where we spent time reading, painting monsters, and talking about what they think college is like. It was so great to not only hear them talk about their futures, but to have one of the girls stand up in the middle of the lesson and point to me and yell, “She’s going to college! She told me that!” That was able to spark more conversation and have them ask me about what I’m going to do and actually know that I can be an inspiration to them. As we enter our last day at our work sites, I know it will be hard to say goodbye to these kids, especially since I’m just now starting to get to know them. Overall though, with this being my second and final mission trip, I am very happy with the relationships I’ve made and the impact I’ve hopefully made on these children’s lives. It will definitely be an emotional day tomorrow, but I also can’t wait to get home to share more stories with family and friends.

-Lindsay Campbell

Today was my third day working at this amazing transitional home site that also provides every service you can imagine. It’s called Mary’s Place and offers dental care to those who don’t have insurance, medical clinics, laundry, showers, a food bank, mattresses, a soup kitchen, and 90 apartment styled transitional homes for mainly immigrants or other homeless people who came from the gloomiest of situations. For example, 40% of their residents came from Somalian refugee camps.  People literally line up to talk to Mary Joe who writes checks on the spot for those in need if they have genuine needs. She is a god send, and is even referred to as the Mother Theresa of Minnesota. I can’t even wrap my mind around how Mary’s Place gets no type of federal funding whatsoever and completely relies on donations, and over the thirty years its been around has turned into a 3 building facility. Now that you have some background info about Mary’s Place, we can talk more about what I’ve experienced this week so far. Our work crew, Free, has the blessing of playing with the children who come from all types of backgrounds and the majority of which English is not their second language. The language barrier is surprisingly not much of a problem at all.  It’s awesome to see how I can make strong relationships with kids who I can hardly understand. We can communicate and learn about each other just by playing games with them. All they want and need is some one on one attention. This is my first mission trip where I have worked with kids for four days straight, and I can honestly say this has been an amazing experience that has changed the way I view immigrants and the world. These people literally have nothing and yet find joy in everything. For the amount of kids present at Mary’s Place, there are very few to none discipline problems which to me could never happen without God. Most of these kids have never even heard of God’s name yet exemplify what being a Christian is all about. For example, I met a seventh grade, Darell, who would draw the younger kids pictures of whatever they wanted just to put a smile on their face. He told me he had just graduated sixth grade and planned on going to college to take some art classes so he could make lots of money! It’s crazy to me to think that graduating sixth grade is a big deal. I also met Moktar, a 5 year old Somalian boy who had been in America a mere seven weeks. He makes me smile every time I’m around him. You never see Mokatar without a smile on his face, or him dancing, or singing random vowels and I just love to be by his side and partake in whatever shenanigans he wants to get into. Like painting his fingers and toes with nail polish we bought or bombarding me with bubbles (haha). Half the time he has no idea what I’m saying and he normally just answers yes to my questions but that doesn’t matter, we are best friends. I tried to explain to him what Christmas was the first day and now he just calls me Christmas which is adorable. J He’s made such a difference in my life because he’s taught me that there’s no reason to complain, life is a beautiful thing if you make it that way. I can’t put into words what he and the other children mean to me, they have changed my whole perspective about how to live your life. We can overcome anything if we put our mind to it. These kids are an inspiration to me and have taught me so much about myself. I absolutely hate that I have to leave him and all the great relations I’ve built with the other kids. They need a stable role model in their lives and it breaks my heart not knowing where they’re going to end up.

-Kristin Myrick

Minneapolis Day 3: Tuesday

It's Tuesday, always a fun day because it's the first day we get to go back to our sites and kind of know who the people are! After today's ministry all our students broke up into groups and served at different soup kitchens across the city with a group called Laves And Fishes. But I'll let them tell you the stories, thanks for your support and prayers!
T

Hello World!
Everyday I go to a site called Mary’s Place, which is a shelter for up to 92 homeless families. It’s really special because everything is completely free for the families as long as they can show that the adults are working to get jobs or trying to improve their funds by saving money. The buildings there also have a food pantry, soup kitchen, teen center, children’s center, and a lot of other recreational centers for everyone to do academic work and hang out in. We help in the playroom and the social center with the kids two to around 18 in the mornings and then walk over to the children’s center and work with the three to eight year olds and play with them. It is a blast. Today, in the morning, we played duck-duck-goose and played in the playroom (tag and “zookeeper”). In case you were wondering, zookeeper is when the big kids are zookeepers and have to catch the “animals” (the little kids) and put them in the cages (the rec play area place). One of the kids was having trouble getting along with others without hitting them or calling them names and kept singing some inappropriate songs, but it was super cool to see Amber read storybooks to him for at least 30 minutes straight…. He calmed right down and behaved perfectly when he did that.
In the afternoon we went to the children’s place and colored, played Play-doh, played house, teeter-tottered, played High School Musical DDR on Wii, played Legos, and a bunch of other fun activities. One little five year old, Ching, drew a picture for Jacob Beard. It was really cute. The kids were a lot of fun to play with and are so adorable because you can tell they really love and appreciate the attention.
After the children’s center, we took our showers and headed to the St. Matthew’s Church to serve at a food pantry with our crew, “Free” and some kids from the “Love” crew. It was so so so much fun. I talked to some moms and a little girl who liked my braid a lot. They were all really nice and it was neat to see that soup kitchens are not what they may be stereotyped to be – not everyone is homeless, some people may just need a little bit of help once in awhile. Isaac, Kristin, and I did dishes with the power dishwasher and fancy sink and pretty much got soaked. I rinsed off at least 230 trays of food covered in gravy, turkey, and the whole shebang of Thanksgiving dinner, which they have every Tuesday night. The leader of the kitchen, Mike, was really appreciative and definitely was a person that I admire. He seemed to do everything, from mopping to serving food to talking to the eaters to washing dishes. He was quite a guy – could put his hand flat on a 160 degree F dishwasher without even a jump. Pretty cool.
So, Troy got our small group Flavorices and it was a great day. Can’t wait for tomorrow!
-Natalie Huibregtse

For the past two days I have been teaching children going into the fifth grade math and English skills at a place called Hospitality House. Yes dad, I know that you’re proud. Some of them have trouble writing and reading, but I’m doing my best. There is one kid who is a bit smarter than most. I wanted to help him with factoring his numbers, but he had finished and had gotten them all correct. During the English part I proof read one child’s story about a prince-dragon whose father had died, and went off to seek help form a nameless wizard who would bring the other  one back to life for a certain price that involved killing. It was a little grim for an eleven year-old, but it was a good story. Then I go out in the hall and read with one kid. They all want to come out but there’s only one of me. A lot of them are reading the Goosebumps books, which is neat because I read those too. After that we have lunch and then we play basketball. Right now I’m trying to learn how to double-dutch with jump ropes. It’s so much fun! I cant wait for tomorrow. I don’t want to leave.

-Steven Eastes

Hey There!

As usual, before I left for this trip, I was super excited. And I mean SUPER excited. I really love mission trips, and all the ones I’ve been on so far I’ve done something that I loved doing. But this year my heart sank when I saw what work I would be doing all week. My group (of 3 people) is working at a nursing home. I can build something, I can paint something, I can play with kids, but working with the elderly is completely foreign territory to me.
So at the beginning of the week, I was terrified of my work site. I ran to the daycare inside of the retirement home and spent almost my whole day there. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to understand what any of the residents were saying, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to find anything in common with the residents. But luckily, Andy and I were able to stick together on the second day (since we were both worried about the worksite) and meet some really cool people. We met John, who LOVES to play cards. So we were able to watch him play some cards with a couple of other residents and it was really a fun time! We also met Paulene who was playing cards with John, and we were able to take her to the vegetable garden that the residents keep right outside the building. Later, we met her roommate Virginia and the two were a hilarious couple.
My fears were put to rest and I’ve been having a great time since then (though I am still spending a lot of time in the daycare…), and tomorrow we’re going to play cards with John and another woman who lives at the retirement home. I’m surprised that I’ve already learned a new skill in just the two days that I’ve been here! I know that God put me into this position so that I could learn this and I’m really grateful for the opportunity.
-Alec Balasko

Minneapolis Day 2: Monday

Well, everyone had their first day of working at ministry sites today! Quickly followed by a trip to the world market, fun for everyone today (I ate weird African food). Below are some stories from our students, enjoy. (And after Kari's blog yesterday, we thought maybe you'd like to see the fun room we're in).
T

Formerly having worked in “Kids’ Club,” starting off with the Kaleidoscope Kids (a summertime education center for 1^st through 8^th grade, Muslim-based) was quite a bit different from my (our, speaking on behalf of Troy, Lindsay, Brendan, Drake, Adrienne) experience with children. Being at a secularized learning center makes it quite difficult to fulfill the purpose of the “mission,” as our influence is limited to the children identifying us as Christians, little more. Regardless, I can comfortably say the children have definitely began to familiarize themselves with us, despite a hectic first day to the U of M arboretum (a field trip for the kids!)…
-Bobby Herron

This is the first mission trip I’ve done, so I wasn’t sure what to expect on my first day. I was at Mary’s Place, which is a homeless shelter, a place for people to get back on their feet.  Its founder, Mary Jo still works there every day, from its start in the 1980s, and just talks to people, asking what they need.  It is amazing to see the love she has for all the people, and how she is truly a gift to people in need.  She came and prayed with us before we worked and it really puts into perspective everything she does for God, and how He has led her to begin this truly awesome program! The facilities are really nice, and we all couldn’t believe that all their funding comes just from donations.  They give out so much, with their food pantry, just writing checks to people in need, and giving away clothing and personal items.  It is truly a blessing to see what Mary’s Place is doing for people! We worked (me, Kristin, Natalie, Spencer, both Jacobs, Kinna, Mr. Meeks and Mrs. Patterson) with the kids in the playrooms, while their parents talked with advisors and tried to find jobs.  The kids were really great, and they just wanted us to play. While we were getting a tour of the building, some of them followed us and waited for us to go play.  They were so quick to just come up to us and give us hugs! We took them outside and made a slip n slide with a tarp, hose, and dish soap. They were so grateful for just being able to play, and they did everything in their power to get us wet! J after lunch, we went to the kids center and there were several rooms of toys for the kids, and it was great to see that they still get to be kids, despite the hard times their families are going through.  I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings, and I’m so excited to work with the kids and worship God with my service to these awesome children! J
-Amber Kline

Today was absolutely fantastic! My worksite was not nearly as labor oriented as most of the sites that I have worked at, in previous years I have worked painting or cleaning or building (Troy likes that for me, because physical labor isn’t my strong suit). This week I am working at a site called Urban Ventures that does outreach to all sorts of people. My group works specifically at the Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center, which hosts the Learning Lab program for 1-8^th graders. The facility and PRAISE GOD!! Has fantastic air conditioning. We started the day with a brief orientation that was very uplifting and highlighted how truly wonderful this program is. The kids at Urban Venture come from the Phillips neighborhood which hosts the highest level of crime and gang violence in the state. The kids are no strangers to gun shots or all night partying and often don’t sleep. The Urban Venture program gives them a healthy environment to play and work in and also provides a great learning environment for these children. Many of them are academically behind (the whole experience throws into sharp relief how blessed we are to go to school in Hamilton Southeastern Schools). The volunteers in the program facilitate by working with a child or children that are our buddies. My buddy is Kevin, and he was given to me because he is “problem child” and needs special attention. I focused on Kevin today and we did everything together. Including but not limited to, playing Twister and Apples to Apples, and doing a skit (yeah God really threw me a Home Run this week!!)  Kevin was never a problem the whole day, he is really a sweet little dude who wants to achieve the best and I hear that’s because he has a great mom. He is great and I hope to make a difference in his life this week, because he has already made a difference in mine. Please keep Kevin in your prayers that he can keep focusing this week and be as successful as possible.
-Dustin Meeks

Minneapolis Day 1: Sunday

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay. Thanks so much for all your prayers and support, we made it safely (and early) to Minneapolis, here are some pictures and stories of our day. Hope to share more soon!
T

Today as the group took an adventure, we stopped at a local Burger King to get a quick bite to eat.  While in the Burger King the four freshman girls (Adrienne, Kinna, Kendall, and Kate) collected a plentiful crop of red straws. We collected the straws so that when a certain young lady we might be rooming with begins to snore we can pop them so the noise will wake them up enough to halt the obnoxious snoring.  Minnesota is a beautiful state and we enjoyed the ride here because of all of the rolling hills and leafy trees.  We are all looking forward to beginning an amazing week with the locals and YouthWorks staff.  We are determined to win in a game of cards against Thomas a.k.a the master of cards. At least in Minnesota.
-Makinna Laymon

This morning at 2:45a.m., six of us (Chris, Andy, Landon, Kari, Dustin, and I) took a trip to Steak n’ Shake for shakes.  After our adventure we went to the church at 4 a.m. to wait for everyone else to show up.  While at church the boys played Frisbee but Kari was convinced the police would come so we drove around for an hour. Oh Kari…
After leaving the church I embarked on my first Senior High Mission trip along with Kendall, Makinna, and Kate.  My time spent here so far has been an amazing experience, but has also been an enormous change from Junior High.  I hope to spread the word of the Lord and make relationships with those in the Minneapolis area.
-Adrienne Meeks

Hello there. We are here! After a day of travelling, we have safely arrived to our destination, Minneapolis, MN.  For many of us, the car ride always seems to be a memorable part of the entire mission trip experience.  This year was no different.  In my van, we enjoyed the expanse of the Chicago skyline, took the occasional nap, and sang some improv music for the lovely adult leaders in our van, Judge Henke and Mrs. Patterson. 
We are staying at the Elim Baptist Church, and this building is absolutely wonderful.  There is a gymnasium for us to play basketball and other games, a spacious club area for nightly worship, and my favorite room of all, the dining room.  This is NOT your typical dining room.  The whimsical walls are filled with vibrant murals, and I feel like I am in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory (despite the lack of a chocolate river, but that’s ok).
Tomorrow begins our first day at the worksites, and we are filled with hope for this opportunity.  Tonight during church time, we discussed our goal to encourage each other and to challenge ourselves to reach outside of our comfort zones.   Additionally, we are excited to embark on this experience with an open mind as God works in our lives. 
- Kari Lorentson

"You Are Here" mission trip leaves tomorrow!

We'll be doing our best to post stories here and snipits to Facebook. Follow our trip and pray for us! T

Trapped By Memories

One of the things I hate about my little mind is that I remember some of the stupidest things from long ago. Decades ago. Sometimes they're good memories, but sometimes it's a memory of something I've done wrong or messed up or someone that's hurt me and it kind of boxes me in. Even though it shouldn't that memory determines how I will act in a situation.

During the Cold War there was an elecrtic fence on the German/Czeck border. Obvioulsy it was a political thing, it was meant to keep people on their own side. But it affected some other animals, like the red deer. They weren't able to travel their normal routes, they would be shocked if they did. So they adapted and changed.

But here's the funny thing. That fence came down in 1989 and still, today, the red deer won't cross the political border we created. Even though all the deer that would have remember that fence are gone, their great-great-granddeer won't travel where that fence used to be, the memory of the pain is still with them.

I hope in all the memories that we hold on to, the ones that bind us are the ones we let go of, and the one that frees us, we cling to...

Ephesians 1:7 ~ Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! (MSG)

T

Legacy

The last little bit I've been reading I Chronicles. Now, many times it's a skim read, so-and-so begat so-and-so who knew so-and-so who was neighbors with so-and-so, etc., etc. But this time I've been slowing down a little and reading the names. Many of them I recognize from different stories or other readings, and it got me to thinking how little we know of where we come from.

A few years ago they tried to sell me a book of the Richards family history. I didn't bite because there's so many Richards and the name slowly appears about 800 years ago, but in many ways I wish I could tell you exactly where I came from. That was the cool part of I Chronicles. It's been hundreds of years and these people can still trace their families back to the origin of their people, all the way back to Abraham (and in Genesis back to Adam). I Chr. 9:14 even tells who the church custodian was (temple custodian in this case).

So where do you come from (and is it important to you)? Sometimes it's cool to look back at where your roots come from, and I don't mean just history. Looking at the line of my music teachers, my Sunday School teachers and who taught them, things like that. If you're ordained in the Methodist church they can trace your ordination back to it's founder John Wesley. The real question is how did I get to here? Because many times that helps determine where to go next...

My little musings...

T

More Or Less?

My mother posted this quote the other day that got me thinking...

We have bigger houses but smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; We have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgement; more experts, but more problems; more medicines, but less healthiness; We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour. We built more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; We have become long on quantity, but short on quality. These are times of fast foods but slow digestion; Tall man but short character; Steep profits but shallow relationships. It's a time when there is much in the window, but nothing in the room. - Dalai Lama

The question that keeps going in my mind, where does Jesus fit all this? Not to sound cliche, but what would He want for us and what will we do about it?

T

Being A Panda...

First off let me say I love pandas. They're big, their fluffy, they're lovable animals. I've seen the video of the baby panda sneezing and watched the webcam of the panda baby at the National Zoo. But unfortunately...

I am disappointed in pandas.

Here's why. Panda's are carnivores. They are designed to eat meat. Their digestive tract wants small animals inside of it. And whenever you see them, what are they eating? Bamboo.

Panda's have learned to settle. Some believe they eat bamboo because they are bad hunters, some think they were forced from the natural habitat many moons ago and adapted to eat bamboo. Whatever it is, it has ruined them. Because they don't hunt, they don't eat meat. Because they don't eat meat they are unable to hibernate, there's not enough energy in the bamboo. This is also the reason they seem so lazy, they don't have the energy because of their diet. They will even eat meat if it's offered to them, but when left to fend for themselves, they eat grass instead of what they were designed to eat and because of that live a dull, dreary life.

It made me start thinking about our spiritual lives. Are we selling ourselves short when we were designed for so much more? Could it be because of our diet, we've settled like the Panda? A proper diet of thinking right, God's Word, spending time with Him, serving, love, kindness, maybe it's too much, but settling for just enough spiritual food to survive and living a life sitting around all day, that seems like a fair trade.

It all starts with the food we eat, and I hope we're eating what we need to spiritually. Maybe then, we'd be ready and full of energy when God needs us...

T

Summer Vacation

The other night I was lying awake (which happens often) and remembered travelling as a youngster on vacation, and I was thinking about some of the complaints I have heard from students about their travels, so to put things in perspective, here are some tidbits of vacationing a few decades ago.

No cell phones, internet, or in some cases, even phones where we were going. You could not check Facebook. Believe it or not, you went on vacation and didn't talk to your friends. And they survived. And so did you.

We did not have thousands of songs and movies in our pocket, internet in the car, DVD players or anything like that. We had these things called books. Or looking out the window. If you wanted music you brought a pile of your most precious tapes and a walkman with plenty of extra AA batteries. And we used the headpones that came with your tape player. If they broke you couldn't go to Wal-Mart and get new ones, you lived with a broken piece of metal jabbing you in the scalp.

You were able to take 24 pictures throughout your vacation. And you didn't get to see them right away. So after trying to get that perfect shot you would have to wait until after the vacation to get the film developed, pay $20 and wait another week only to find a blurry grey blob and you trying to remember what you took a picture of.

There were no vans with captains chairs. There was a big huge backseat with an imaginary line that divided your area from your sibling's area. Occasionally someone (or their stuff) would cross the line leading to a heated debate and parents demanding silence, to which you would retreat to your music on tape that is sounding a little warbled from dying batteries and a piece of metal jabbing you in the scalp.

There were also no exits every 2 miles. Going to the bathroom was few and far between and meals were either at the only greasy diner we could find or sandwiches someone made the night before that were now warm and mushy, eaten at a picnic table on the side of the road which for some reason had no trees anywhere near it.

So for all you weary travellers this summer who have to endure the suffering of a personal Laz-Y-Boy in an air conditioned vehicle with the world at your fingertips, I have zero sympathy for you. Go enjoy vacation.

T

Follow The Tiny Clues

I have become obsessed with the tiny. It's something in my head lately, how big really doesn't exist. Anything big it really nothing more than a pile of lots of little. A mountain is nothing more than billions of tiny pieces of dirt.

I was watching someone the other day teaching their student about tracking. The ability to follow an animal (or a person) through the woods. And the teacher said something very interesting to me. It's not the big things to look for, it's the tiny things. A bent leaf, broken blades of grass, the tiniest little things that unless you are looking for them you will easily miss.

Maybe in tracking God we need to stop looking for the big and start looking for the small. Instead of wanting God to do some amazing "big" thing that can only be God we start looking for the thousands of tiny clues God gives us every day. After all, God said to the people through the prophet Isaiah, "I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found." (Is. 45;19 NLT).

Where can you find God in the small?

T

From The Heart Is Always Better

The other night I was watching a documentary on a popular band talking about their biggest album ever. The company had asked them to make another album and gave them everything they could possibly need to make it. And I mean everything. They spent 3 months writing and recording this CD and cost the studio over $1 million. It was supposed to be amazing. Except the band was struggling. They weren't getting along. Things in their lives were in chaos. They were about to break up.

After the three months and millions spent on the CD they were about to play their final show (unknown to anyone). But they hadn't played in a while. And it was fun. And they wanted to play more of the music they love. So they did something crazy. After the show they went to the singer's house, went in the basement, and recorded a whole new CD in a week.

Guess which CD the label chose? Guess which CD has become their best selling CD to date? The one from the heart. Money, production, time, none of these match someone sharing from their heart.

When it comes to sharing our faith, to telling someone about Jesus, what do you think people want? You to take them to a church with the coolest light show, a friend who has all the answers, maybe a polished speech to tell people about Jesus? Or do you think they just want to hear from your heart...?

T

Remember Why You Do It

I was reading an article the other day about the rules at Burger King. Many of you know them, they're at most fast food places, no shirt, no shoes, no service. At one particular Burger King a family ordered their food, sat down and started to eat. But a few moments later an employee approached them and asked them to leave, they were breaking the rules. And this employee was correct, someone didn't have shoes on. However, it was the six month old daughter sitting in her chair...

Sometimes we get so bogged down in doing what we've always done we forget why we do it. Sometimes it's good to take a step back and ask, "why am I doing this again?" The answer may surprise you.

T

The Cookbook In The Cupboard

Shortly after Lorie and I were married her mom gave us a gift, one we used last night to make awesome french toast. A cookbook. 800 pages of recipes guaranteed to taste good. We use this book all the time. We've written notes in the book, put little pieces of paper to remember things, all the while using this to get the best possible food for us. The recipes aren't only tasty, they're pretty healthy too (except maybe last night's french toast).

But here's the funny part. When we got the cookbook, we thought we knew all we needed to know. We were cooking awesome meals of frozen chicken and tater tots, what else did we need? So we put the cookbook in a drawer, and left it there for about five years.

After using it last night, I wonder how often we do that to the Word of God. We know enough, we hear what we need to know Sunday, so it sits on a shelf. And we keep living our lives, filling our spirits on frozen chicken and tater tots thinking this is as good as it gets.

But what if it can be better? After all, Jesus said, "Blessed are all who hear the Word of God and put it into practice." (Luke 11:28 LB). I wonder what a blessed life is like? Maybe like our meals have become, with way yummier french toast then I ever thought I could make...

T

Is It Awkward Because We Make It Awkward?

Last week at Drink Deep we were talking about sharing our faith and in our conversations I ended up talking with a student who went to a Christian camp one summer. Not a bad thing, I've done it, Christan camps are nice. But he said something that stuck out to me. At this camp they wanted students to be able to talk about their faith. Also not a bad idea. So they took the students to a soccer field, spread them out, and had them stand there while adults randomly walked around and asked them to defend what they believe. Bad idea...

Really? Someone thought this was the best way to have children learn to share what they believe? Maybe talking about God is awkward because we've made it awkward. No one has ever knocked on my door in the middle of dinner (because they knew we'd be home) to try and convince me to cheer for their favorite baseball team. I've never listened to a band because someone stood on a street corner handing out little pieces of paper with the four laws of why I need this band in my life.

What if we shared our faith the same way we shared other things that affect our life? We tell people to try a restaurant because of how much we liked the food. We get excited when talking about our favorite football team. We tell a friend about a sale because we benefited from it and want them to share in that benefit. We invited people to a movie by simply saying, "Hey, want to go see a movie?"

Maybe we're overcomplicating this a little...

T

Perception Affects Change

Spring is here. It's a wonderful time of year, the grass is green, flowers are blooming, and we haven't hit the over-bearing heat of summer yet. It's such a nice time of year.

But Lorie and I have noticed a problem at home with spring. It's incredibly cold. Our house is freezing. Part of that may be me keeping the heat at Canadian temperatures, but we wake up in the morning and it's incredibly cold.

The other day I figured out why. Our heat was set at the same temperature as it was all winter. So in reality, our house is no colder than it has been for the past six months. But winter looks cold. There's snow on the ground, wind blowing, the darkness creeps in so early. And because of this we dress for the cold, heavy sweaters and slippers on our feet snuggled under blankets.

As I write this it's sunny and nice outside. The sky is blue. Birds are chirping. So I am dressed like spring, t-shirt, even wore shorts to bed last night. But the house is still the same temperature as it was in the middle of January.

Instead of dressing for the temperature I've been dressing for how the day looked. I've been basing what I do on what I perceive not where I really am. And in my readings there has been a common thread that when it comes to change this is a problem. We perceive things to be different so we act different. We exercise for six weeks, finally see some progress, so we back off a little, we perceive a change has happened. We faithfully spend time with God, things seem to be better, so we skip a day here or there, I've perceived the change so I don't need to be as diligent. In reality, these little perceptions cause us to change what we should be doing and we slide back to where we started (or even further back).

Sometimes, we need to wear a sweater even if we see the snow melting. Dress for the temperature, not what's outside the window. Do what's right beyond the change we immediately see...

T

People Don't Like Your Smell

Some of you, this is true (I've been on mission trips with you), but I'm not going for the physical smell. Yesterday Pastor Kevin talked about the aroma we give off, our Christ-like fragrance.

II Corinthians 2:14-16 ~ But thank God! He has made us His captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now He uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this? (NLT)

Naturally, I like to gravitate to the nice-smelling, pleasing to God type picture here. But the last few weeks we've been talking at Fire & Water about sharing our faith, our theme for the year of "Everyone Involved, Everyone Inviting". In our discussions we've talked about how a lot of students have friends at school who really want nothing to do with God.

Maybe this verse sheds a little bit of light on that. Perhaps it's not because they don't like us, but we are the smell of death and doom. We're happy, they're depressed, and they don't know why. We feel loved in a way only God can provide, they don't, so we smell. We are forgiven, they carry the weight of their sin, the pain, the guilt, the overwhelming sense of helplessness. Maybe the world's hatred has nothing to do with us but with what we have and they're jealous of it.

If only someone would explain this is a free gift and help them understand they could have the all-encompassing love of a Holy Father too...

T

One-Sided Relationships

Last night at Drink Deep we talked about how Americans really don't like making friends. It's something we're just not good at. I've been wondering to myself if TV has ruined our ability to have real relationships.

Here's what I mean. You can watch a television series and get to know a character, their likes, their dislikes, their favorite food, what they do when they're stressed out, you can get to know them really well. So well you've formed a bond with them. When they hurt, you hurt. When something great happens to them, you celebrate (I always think of Friends, when the characters would have ups and downs, how people related with them). In essence you have formed a relationship with that person.

But it is completely one-sided. They know nothing about you. You have zero involvement in their life. To them you don't exist. And I almost think we like it that way. We get the feigned intimacy of knowing someone really well without having to put in anything ourselves. No risk. Even today with Facebook, you can not actually talk to or see someone for a decade and know what's going on in their lives, and you've put nothing into that relationship.

Real relationships are harder. Real relationships take work. One of our core values at FIRE & WATER is Allying, the idea that we need real relationships that are so strong they aren't viewed as a once in a while friendship, you would actually call this person an ally. But to have a relationship that deep, that impactful, that strong, it can't be one-sided. It takes work. It takes time. It takes commitment. We just have to decide if the effort is worth the pay off.

Are real relationships worth the time and effort to you?

T

An Easter Question

This has been on my mind for a while. If you have an answer I'd love to hear it...

Why did Jesus teach first, then go through the crucifixion and resurrection?

Why didn't He do it the other way around? Think about it, if Jesus rose from the dead then taught us how to live, wouldn't people be all over it? If He got a crowd by doing a few miracles, what if people saw Him die and rise again? Wouldn't that be instant followers?

Maybe those aren't the followers Christ is looking for, He wants those who choose to do what's right when there aren't signs and wonders.

Maybe people would be so in awe of the resurrection they wouldn't listen to the teaching.

Maybe I should shut up and accept that God knows what He's doing...

Just something in my head lately, especially with having just celebrated Easter.

T

The Power of Words

I heard a story the other day, I had to check it out and see if it was true. It was...

On December 19, 1973, the Tonight Show aired as usual with Johnny Carson performing his evening monologue. Earlier a Wisconsin congressman had announced that the government was falling behind on making bids to get toilet paper. So Carson made a joke about it, saying toilet paper was disappearing from shelves, that there was a shortage of toilet paper in America.

It wasn't true, there was tons of it, but it was a poorly timed joke. The country was in the midst of other shortages, oil for instance. So when the 20 million viewers heard there was a shortage of toilet paper they ran out and bought as much as they could. They created a panic. And they created a shortage on toilet paper. For the next few nights Carson tried to explain it was a joke. Toilet paper companies showed videos of the plants making toilet paper. But all people saw when they went to the store were empty shelves where the toilet paper should be. They had created their own shortage. It took almost a month for the stores to be resupplied consistently and end this "toilet paper shortage".

The fact is the people created their own panic. And how often do we do that? We hear something and blow it out of proportion, we create our own panic. Maybe it's not toilet paper, but something at work, in a relationship maybe. It's kind of like the comic I saw as a kid, ten people told a girl her hair looked nice, one made a snide comment, and she goes home saying "everyone hated it". I've seen it happen. What we say, even in jest, has the power to change our world. Even if it's in toilet paper consumption.

T

A Little Bit More...

This past weekend I was trapped in a FedEx office for a few minutes, waiting for someone making an order, so I did what I normally do and looked around trying to kill time. While there I found a book that talked about the 212 difference.

The concept is pretty simple. It's how a tiny bit more can make all the difference in what we do. The title of the book is based around water. At 211 degrees Fahrenheit, you have hot water. At 212 degrees you have boiling water, you have steam, you have power. That tiny bit makes all the difference. The rest of the book pointed out different times in history where the difference between success and failure was a little more perseverance.

What was really amazing is I witnessed it firsthand later that night. We were at the Indiana State Percussion Finals, the last chance to win it all. Teams performed based on how they places the week before, so we knew in one division the home school was set to win their division. They didn't. Instead they came in third. By 0.125%. In that competition the margin between first and third was 1/8th of a point.

It's got me thinking about my faith and what I do. What if I pushed just a little bit more? What kind of a difference would it make if I read my Bible just a few more minutes a day, prayed a few more minutes, served just a little bit more? What if I applied that thinking to my ministry, to my marriage, even my hobbies? How often have people been on the cusp of success but they slack off or give up?

I don't know, if I had been told before a competition the difference between first and third would have been 0.125%, how much harder would I have practiced? Since I usually don't know that, I guess I'll just have to assume it and work hard all the time...

T

Fundraising

First, let me apologize for it being a few weeks for this blog. I honestly did try to get more up but for some reason I was not able to get into blogger for a while. But I'm back, yay...

This past weekend we did the 30 Hour Famine with our sr. high students. For much of the time leading up to it, I was thinking too much about it. For instance, how our idea of fundraising is skewed. If every American eligible to vote gave about $10 a month to feeding those in poverty, world hunger would be abolished in a year or two. But we don't give. We need a reason. So instead we have to have teenagers starve themselves. For some reason, that act allows people to more freely give money. Why not just give since it's the right thing to do and people need help?

Then there's the whole idea of getting students to do the Famine to raise money. To get people involved it has to be fun. That was really messing with my head last week. We make poverty "fun". Although part of that is a learning experience (which usually, if it's fun you learn more), we use activities to get a glimpse into what life would be like for someone in poverty. But I kept thinking about what it would be like if someone who had lived in poverty overseas were to come visit us doing the Famine. What would they think?

But there's the other side of this whole equation. The students who were there did great, little complaining about hunger (even during discussions on bacon and cheese), they raised their own awareness for what is going on in the world (the balloons are filled with food necessary for a balanced diet, frustrations abounded when they worked so hard to find things that had no nutritional value all the while trying to get food with physical disabilites), and a handful of students managed to raise money for those in need well into four figures (I won't have the totals until next week, some are still collecting money). So as odd as it is and my mind still tries to wrap around it, the good far outweighs the questions and I can't wait until we do it again! Thanks to everyone who supported us!

T

Keeping Your Name

The other day I was reading the book of Ruth. I love that story, how it tells of Boaz as the kinsmen-redeemer, a symbol of Christ that is found back in his family tree. But today something stuck out at me I hadn't really noticed before.

Throughout the Bible there are many people who God changes their names to reflect who they are in Him. Abram (prince) becomes Abraham (father of many nations), Simeon (He has heard) becomes Peter (rock/foundation), Saul (a Jewish name) becomes Paul (a Roman name with no Jewish background signifying Paul's task to bring Christ to people outside of Judaism). In the book of Ruth, her mother-in-law Naomi (pleasant) changes her name to Mara (bitter). Unlike all the names mentioned before, God does not change Naomi's name. Naomi changes it herself to reflect the situation she's in.

And here's what I found interesting. In the Bible stories, once God changes a name the Scriptures reflect that. From that point on the person is known by their new name. When Saul became Paul, he is not called Saul again. But in the case of Naomi, even though she changes her name, for the rest of the book of Ruth (and when referenced later), she is still called Naomi. She is still referred to as pleasant.

It made me start thinking about how often we do that. Instead of looking at who God made us to be, we start changing who we think we are based on what is happening to us at the moment. I made a mistake at work, so I'm stupid. We change our name based on how we feel here and now. But God, He doesn't. He still thinks of us as He always has, as the child He made us and is making us to be.

Instead of taking on new names, let's instead look at who we are in Christ and focus on that, make that who we define ourselves as.

T

Returning Again And Again

I've been reading book of Judges the past few days. It's one of those books that tears at me, in some ways it's fun and adventurous and war stories. In others it's just so full of vile and disgusting acts done by people who claim to be following God.

Almost every story starts the same. The people of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord and He lets their enemies gain power over them. But in Judges 10 there's this little story. The people again abandon God, again their enemies attack and again they turn back to God. This time God says no. "Has there ever been a time when you cried out to Me that I haven’t rescued you? Yet you continue to abandon Me and to worship other gods. So go away; I won’t save you anymore. Go and cry to the new gods you have chosen! Let them save you in your hour of distress!” (Judges 10:12b-14, LB).

Thankfully, the people wake up a little and destroy all the other Gods and idols and vow to return to God, so He takes them back. God does amazing things and saves His people. And over the next few years there are good judges whom we know very little about.

About 30 years later, Israel is worshipping idols again. And again, God still takes them back when they cry out to Him.

As we head into Lent, instead of thinking about what we give up for God, what about things we can do for God, like instead of only focusing on Him or calling on Him when things are bad, we make a conscious effort to serve and worship Him, be a little pro-active in our lives of faith? Just a thought...

T

Happy Valentine's Day

usually I rant about all sorts of meaningless things here, but in everything I read in the Bible the people you are supposed to be most resonsible to are your family, so today I just want to wish a happy valentine's day to the love of my life and by far the most patient woman ever for being with me. Love you Lorie!

Talk It Out First

Many of you know I like stories, the other day I was reading one from Joshua 22. The Israelites had just finished conquering all the land God had promised them and 2 1/2 tribes were going home back to their land on the other side of the Jordan River. Before they left Joshua reminded them to be true to their God. And off they went.

Immediately after crossing the river the men made an altar. I mean seconds later. On the river in plain view. How could they be so insolent? They had just promised to be faithful to God and His altar was already established! So a few Levites (those responsible for worship) and a few other men went to convince those who had built the altar they were wrong. People were ready for war (and they had just gotten peace days before). But before fighting and dishing out God's wrath, the Levites did something. They asked questions. "Why did you do this?" "How could you disgrace God so?"

The people who had built the altar responded. It was never meant for worship. It was a symbol. A river separated the people and what if their children grew up wondering why they were separated from God and His place of worship? So they built a replica of an altar to remind the people forever they are God's people and will worship Him, no matter how high the river is between them.

A wonderful answer, a great reason to worship, and it could have all led to bloodshed and civil war over a slight misunderstanding. Luckily those in charge but their thinking aside for a moment and asked questions first. The next time we see something we view as wrong, will we do the same?

T

"Sanctuary"

I was reading the other day about the Cities of Refuge. It's quite the concept, God told Moses to set up cities in the land promised to Israel that were to be called "Cities of Refuge". The basic idea is if you do something by accident, say you're chopping wood and the head of your axe flies off and kills someone, you can run to one of these cities and be safe from the person's family who is trying to get revenge. The leaders of the city would listen to both sides and decide if you can stay and be safe or if they'll kick you out and let the other people decide your fate.

In thinking about the church my mind wandered to the fact we used to do this. The term "Sanctuary" at one time meant a place of safety. If you were in trouble and needed help, you could run into the church and declare Sanctuary, the church would protect you until your side of the story had been heard and the priest or church leader would decide your fate.

The question is, is the Church still a "Sanctuary"? When people need help do they feel they can run to disciples of Christ and be saved? Is being among Christ followers a safe place?

I hope so. If not, we need to fix that...

T

Do You Put Yourself In The Story?

Last week I got to sit down with Randy, a guy I love because he likes to talk about the deep questions. Too many people are scared of that, but not him.

And in our talk we sidetracked a little into the stories of the Bible. There's thousands of them, wonderful, fun, and incredibly lacking in details. Storytelling in the modern age adds every little thing into the story to make it real, printing on paper is cheap. Thousands of years ago, people couldn't even read. If you told a story, it had to be short and memorable. So lots of the details are gone.

Here's the challenge, when you read the stories in the Bible, try to imagine the details. We talked about the feeding of the 5000. What did it look like? Was it hot or cool, sunny, cloudy? What do you think Andrew was thinking when Jesus told him to pick up the leftovers. Leftovers?! And what was he thinking when he saw his brother Peter walking towards him, also with a full basket of leftovers?

Make the story real. After all, they are...

T

New Year's Resolutions

I'm doing horrible already, how about you...?

Happy Boxing Day

It's not a normal holiday in the U.S., but being from Canada almost every year someone asks me what Boxing Day is, so here it is...

The tradition started in Europe after Christmas. Let's be honest, as much as this day is about the Birth of our Savior it's turned very much into a day of affluence, lots of gifts and a big dinner with way too much food. So the idea of Boxing Day originally was people would box up their leftover food on this day and give it to those less fortunate. Now it means sales... and more affluence...

What if we took this day back to where it came from? What if today instead of complaining about what we didn't get for Christmas (I know I can't be the only one), how about instead we focus on others and give back, blessing others as we have been blessed (hey, a wise Man born two thousand years ago said that...).

Merry Christmas.

T

Be Careful What You Read

I have been trying not to do mid-week posts, sticking with the Monday thing, but this one was too funny and sad at the same time, and by the time I had a Monday free it would be really old news.

Apparently Bon Jovi died. Didn't you hear? Oh wait, no, he's alive. Someone had put on twitter Jon Bon Jovi died and instead of checking people started retweeting. And news people saw the tweets, and next thing you know it's reported Jon is dead. Hey, at least he had a sense of humor about it (he tweeted how heaven looks like New Jersey).

But what's happening is people are just believing anything on the internet and worse off, spreading it. Kim Jong Ill died this week. People were reading, Facebooking, tweeting, but not everyone was reading, they were simply spewing information. And like a bad game of telephone the message turned into L'il Kim was dead. Soon that was spreading over the internet...

Maybe we need to use a little more discernment, not believing everything that appears on a medium in which everyone has input on. After all, could I be making all this up...?

T

Your Perspective Changes On Where You Are

Today I was in The Wharf (our youth room) and my back started to hurt a little. This may have something to do with running around with students late last night, either way I lied down for a minute to let it rest. While lying in the Wharf, against the wall in such a big room, I opened my eyes and looked around. It was weird, the ceiling was on the bottom. It looked like the floor. Being black probably helped play tricks on my mind that is was beneath me, and a few squares of lights looked cool. But then the clouds and birds hanging, they looked to be floating a few inches above the floor to me. It was a little mind-bending.

It made me think about how my perspective changed because I moved. When the birds were hanging from the ceiling, it seemed right. When they appeared where my feet should be, floating there, things looked different.

A lot of times I tend to analyze a situation and look at the workd around me and I come up with conclusions, some of which fit my slightly sarcastic personality. And as I looked at the floating clouds I wondered if I were standing somewhere different would what I see look different. If I were in a better mood, if I had gotten more sleep, if I had a tasty lunch, if I hadn't been late for my meeting and driving like a maniac, how would I perceive things around me?

Since it's Christmas, try this with the Christmas story. We talked about it last night with the sr. highs, but we tried to strip away how we usually look at things. How would you feel about this story if you were woken in the middle of the night by screaming stupid shepherds? How would you treat your now pregnant best friend (who swears she didn't do anything wrong)? Even try going to a barn or petting zoo and thinking about what the stable may have really been like.

There's only one sure way to change your perspecgive on things. You have to move...

T

Lions & Tigers

Sorry this is late, I wasn't going to do a blog this week (I'm on vacation), but was reading today and this little tidbit just hit me for some reason.

Lions and tigers. I wasn't really reading about them, but they came up in this book as a poignant example of how we do things. Since both animals live in different regions, they generally don't see each other. But, if they come into contact, both are cats, both are territorial, and both will fight.

Now here's where it gets interesting. If a lion and a tiger fight, a tiger will win. Every time. The tiger is a better fighter than the lion. So if five lions fight five tigers it makes sense the tigers would win, right? Nope. The lions will win, again, every time.

So why is that? Because lions will fight together and tigers won't. Even if five tigers are together and they see five lions coming, they will separate and try to fight the lions by themselves. Lions are pack animals and work together, be it for dinner or for self-defense. And even the best tiger is no match for five lions.

The reason I was reading this and what got me thinking about this was the way the church works. We now have many churches all across the world. Even in my town, I put the word "church" and my zip code in Google, it turned up over 8,000 places on the map. What if we all stopped acting like tigers and started acting like lions? Even within my own church, what if all the people who say we have the same commission, the same vision, the same purpose, what if we started acting like lions? What could we do?

T

Don't Rest On Your Laurels

Sorry, this one is less spiritual in a way, but it was so bad yesterday it had to be shared.

My lovely wife has been trying to find a nice, tasty sit-down Chinese restaurant for a couple of months now. Nothing we have tried has come close to what she wanted. So after church we took a little drive and tried one she had seen a while ago. It looked good from the outside after all...

The inside however, not quite as good. They had a buffet (something Lorie's trying to avoid) that was not a proper buffet stand but chafing dishes on tables in the middle of the room. The menu was an old piece of paper laminated. We ordered off the menu and the waitress was annoyed, she wanted us to just get the buffet. The food was not good at all, one dish was even cold by the time we got it. We were not given plates to share our food. Even the place mats had typos and problems.

But here's part of why we tried this place. It was an A-List pick for the Indy Channel, it was named one of the top 100 Chinese restaurants and even won a Chinese food competition in 2007. This food (and service) should have been fantastic.

It got me to thinking about the Kitchen Nightmare / Restaurant Impossible shows Lorie and I watch. This would have been a good contender to be one of those restaurants. But almost every time, the restaurant on those shows was good at some time, then they got lazy, new management, whatever it was, and they simply thought they have good food because once years ago they had good food.

I wonder how often we do that in our spiritual lives. We rest, we get content, we relax. I read through my Bible in a year, so now I don't need to read it as much. I used to serve, but I don't need to anymore. I was in a Sunday School class or small group, but I've learned since then and don't need it anymore. It's like we reach that pinnacle, we feel holy, we are good little Christians, so we start to relax and before we know it our spiritual diet is sub par, disgusting even, but we still think it's okay because once way back when it was good. I hope that never happens...

T

Choosing To Share Christ

This weekend I experienced what is becoming a more regular occurrence in my life: Black Friday.

Lorie's family love this day. It's fun. Things are cheap. We party all night, and find some great deals in the process. I, however, hate shopping. With a passion. Years of walking through malls with my mother has calloused me.

But I try to make the best of it. When we were shopping I tried to be pleasant to the people working (after all, would you want to leave Thanksgiving dinner early to work an eight hour shift?), be nice to other shoppers, even have a little conversation while waiting in line. It almost worked...

There was one line I remember. I showed up and there was only one person in line in front of me. She immediately made it known she was first and to get behind her. Okay, no problem. Then the employee started checking people out from the register by our line. She laid into him, she was here first. If anyone showed up she scowled at them. It was so bad that after she paid and left we made a comment to the salesperson, who informed us he lived across the road from her, has for thirty years, and she is just as mean at home. The kids in the neighborhood can't stand her, they've been yelled at enough.

It's kind of sad, but it's a choice she made, likewise how we treated her was a choice we made. Too often we seem to think there are other factors, but really there aren't. In this season of Christmas, in the hustle and bustle of shopping, waiting in line, traffic, fighting over that toy, stress, the constant running around, if in all this you are waiting until you feel loving to be nice, sorry, it ain't gonna happen. We have to make the choice to be kind and considerate, even despite how we're feeling sometimes.

Paul writes in Philippians: I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more, together with true knowledge and perfect judgement, so that you will be able to choose what is best. (Phil. 1:9-10, GNT). We have to choose to do what is best. We choose to be kind while shopping. We choose to treat others with love. We even choose to share Christ's love this season.

Choose wisely...

T

How Much Is Too Much?

I had other plans for the blog today but our student ministry last night is still in my head. We did something a little different, I had students write down all the things they own, then all the things their family owns, then everything they had access to. I did my best to give lots of time (about half an hour) and asked they be as specific as possible (you couldn't say "clothes", how many pairs of socks, etc.)

My thinking was how can you be thankful if you don't think about what you have. The outcome is what surprised me. I was expecting people to be thankful (which they were) and think about those who are less fortunate (which they did), but we had one other major result. They simply shut down.

Some students stopped writing their list. Some asked me to make it stop. Some just completely checked out and went into their own little world staring at the floor. So I asked who was overwhelmed by making this list. Every hand went up. Everyone.

My goal wasn't to overwhelm people but make them think. The problem is, this is something we don't usually think about. The other problem is, we have so much stuff it's overwhelming. Some of the small group conversations turned to those who have less yet seem happier, even how many of their friends at school with more were more depressed. The simply fact of listing out what we have at our fingertips was so hard to do and so much to take in people mentally checked out, it was too much to handle.

I'm hoping people are thankful for what they have and they think a little bit more about it this week. But it's been making me think today. Do we simply have too much?

T

Too Content To Try

I was reading Seth Godin's blog today and really started to think about a section in it:

"It's difficult to change an industry, set a world record, land big clients, or do art that influences others. When faced with this difficulty, those with other, seemingly better options see the barrier and walk away.

Why bother? The thinking is that we can just pump some more oil or smile and gladhand our way to an acceptably happy outcome.

On the other hand, people who believe they have fewer options take a look at the barrier and realize that even though it will be difficult to cross, it's the single best option they've got."

Godin's blog is always very business related, but his logic always makes me think. People who have lots of resources don't tackle the one problem in their way, they look for other options. Those with less resources understand they need to solve this problem, there are no other options, and start to work on it.

The danger of having too many resources is eventually you stop dealing with problems, you lose focus of why you're even there in the first place.

And this got me to thinking about church, specifically mine. Do we have so many resources that when we hit a problem we should be solving we instead skirt the issue and try to think of another way around it? Take evangelism, something every Christian should be doing. But it's hard, it's time consuming, it may even be uncomfortable. So instead of me sharing my faith, I'll just use other resources, give money to the church to print a flyer and mail it. I'm still evangalizing, right? If we didn't have the resources to print a flyer, we'd have to go door to door, but since we have the resources, we're just solving the problem in a new inventive way.

The problem with skipping the problem and solving it the right way is you usually don't get the right result. Like above, instead of me sharing my faith and growing in Christ, instead of a person get a one-to-one message of God's love from a person who has experienced it, they get a pretty piece of paper they may never read and we get to sit at home without doing any real service or sharing. Who's growing now?

Maybe instead of looking at how we can use the things around us to get out of living our faith, we should be trying to figure out how we can strengthen our souls so we are doing the things we should be doing...

T

Cutting Corners

Over the past few days I've been reading about some of the worst fires in U.S. history, theaters, textile plants, etc. I know, a little weird, but interesting. The part that drives me nuts (and why I think I keep reading) is all the fires could have been avoided.

All fires start with an accident. That just happens. There's nothing you can do about that. But how the fires escalate and people die, that's a different story. Fire exits lights that were not installed, fire escapes that didn't have the bottom ladder because "it cost too much", fire hoses that were not inspected or kept up, some places even had fire doors nailed shut to stop people from breaking in. Over all it all conclusions lead to the managers/owners of these buildings trying to save money, cutting a corner here and a corner there. Too many cut corners and eventually you have a building full of holes. Really, if you knew it would save a life, would you have changed the light in the fire exit sign?

Too often, that's how things go wrong in our lives. I know, Lorie and I are sick right now. Our house is a nightmare. When you're sick it's easy to cut corners. Leave this out one more day. Do dishes tomorrow. But eventually it all piles up. And it got me to thinking where else in life we cut corners, thinking it's okay or that will never happen to us. I can skip exercising, I won't be the one to have heart failure. I don't need to do that reading, my mind won't start to turn into mush, I'm really smart! I can read my Bible and pray tomorrow, God will still love me. And soon enough, corner after corner is cut, an exception becomes a habit, and then where are we...?

T

Communication Breakdown

Last week many of us got to see an amazing communication breakdown on national television. It was during the World Series. Did you see it? (neither did I, thank you SportsCenter).

But here's what happened. St Louis needed to start warming up their relief pitchers so they called the bullpen, which is on the other side of the field and behind a wall, coach La Russa could not see what they were doing, he could only communicate by the bullpen phone.

The problem was, the Texas fans were so incredibly loud, the people in the bullpen couldn't hear the phone or the instructions. So a few minutes later when La Russa wanted a reliever to come in, he wasn't ready. He hadn't even started warming up. They were warming up the wrong pitcher. So they kept the current pitcher in a little longer. Bad move. The next batter got a hit, not just any hit, it scored two runs and put Texas in the lead (and eventually was the game winning hit). All because of bad communication.

Now where the problem was, who knows. Was it the phone? Was it the person on the other end just couldn't hear? Did they hear the right name but tell the others in the bullpen the wrong name? We'll never know. But it does make me think about the church. How good are we at communication? Are we sending a message of a loving God who wants to be a part of our lives to the people on the far end of the field? Are we even getting that message across to our own team?

Just something to think about.

T

Do You Really Want Change?

I was reading a blog this morning by a pastor named Shaun King. He talked about his experiences trying to lead a church through change, and I don't think I can add to his words any better. Here's an expert of what he said (the full post can be read here).

People L.O.V.E to hear about radical change. They just don’t love making it.

Political campaigns based on radical change win. Books written about radical change sell. Sermons on radical change boost Sunday morning attendance. The idea and thought of change is exciting to people, but mistaking that excitement for an actual willingness on behalf of those people to change now or later could be a miscalculation. I found out the hard way.

In March of this year, I announced I was preaching my last sermon series of all-time. For the next 8 weeks, I preached the most radical, game-changing sermon series ever entitled “Disciple.” Our average attendance was its highest ever. Our average offering was the highest ever. Excitement was its highest ever. Man, I was pumped!!

Then, almost literally the day we jumped into change, all types of stuff started falling apart. People left in droves. Scores of people started falling through on leadership commitments they made. Systems starting failing. Attendance was down. Offering was down. Excitement was down.

I had no idea that zero correlation exists between how much people love hearing about change and their actual willingness to make it.

This started me thinking about my own life, especially all the things I keep saying I want to change. Do I really want it... or just like the sound of it... After all, change means work...

T

Is Your Faith Co-Dependant?

Last weekend I was talking with my brother-in-law, just shooting the breeze, and we got onto the topic of cell phones, hew they have completely ruined our lives. Not in the way most people think about always being called, but how people have lost the ability to make decisions and whenever they are caught in any sort of quandary they pick up their cell phone and call someone else. They don't take any time to try and solve the problem themselves, that's too much effort. Quick, call someone. Look it up on Google. Text a friend. We don't like to solve problems ourselves...

I've noticed this more and more just in life. Something doesn't work, ask the person next to you what to do. I've had a few issues in the last couple of weeks where something electronic doesn't perform right, and immediately I'm asked to fix it. I don't know what these people expect, I don't have any more magical powers than they do over electronics. I had one a while back, all I asked "Did you check to see if it was plugged in?" I was answered with a blank stare. They hadn't even checked the basics.

Sometimes it's not even something went wrong, people just don't want to take the time and effort to make a decision. The other day I was thanked for picking a restaurant. Is it really that hard to decide what we want to eat for ourselves?

So today in my wanderings I started wondering, do we do this with God? Is our faith entirely made up of what others tell me to do? I've noticed people will join a Bible Study once they are invited to one they like. The sad part is if that doesn't happen, generally the next step isn't do the work to find one themselves or even start a Bible Study, it's simply not go. Either find me the place to learn about my faith for me or I won't go. How many people do you think would not be at Church Sunday morning if someone else didn't encourage them to go? Even some of the holiest people I know still needed someone to wake them up.

I don't know, I don't think someone should have to find me a place to serve, if I'm supposed to be serving (which I am), I should be finding that. If I'm supposed to be reading my Bible, I shouldn't have to wait for someone else to give me a devotional as a gift. If I'm supposed to be praying, I shouldn't be waiting for someone else to plan a prayer night and then invite me. The fundamentals of our faith can't be dependant on others, shouldn't we be doing that ourselves?

T

The First Time

Sorry it's been a few weeks. I had every intention of writing, but between a conference in Colorado, vacation in Disney and my grandmother passing away it's been a busy few weeks...

But I was thinking about something today that just keeps going over and over in my mind. Lorie and I went to Disneyworld for a week and it was great. We love the Magic Kingdom (and the other lands surrounding). So today I was trying to figure out which rides I like best.

There are always favorites that I run to, Soarin', Mickey' Philharmagic, Star Tours, but there was something that added to the fun this time. Both of those rides, on the last time we rode them, there were an abundance of first-timers, people who had never been on the rid before. It was great! The "oo"s and "ah"s, the screams and giggles, you can just tell when there are people experiencing this for the first time. And their excitement adds to your excitement, it feels great to be share something like that with them for their inaugural run.

And it got me thinking about church. Why isn't church that exciting? Why isn't church that much fun? Yes, on a typical Sunday morning the sermon does not need 3-D glasses, the sanctuary does not swivel right and left, and they don't pump in smells to take you to another place (well, our NewSong service does!) But I think it's more than the bells and whistles. Have you ever been to church with someone excited to be there for the first time, who is sharing time with Jesus and seeing Him, worshipping Him, experiencing His love for the first time? It makes it all the more exciting. At NewSong two weeks ago we had someone show up out of the blue (it was actually an accident, she slept in and missed the church she was going to visit), she loved it so much she became a member of the church that afternoon. The next week, she was in the front row, singing loudly, volunteering for communion, big huge smile on her face. Church was fun experiencing it with someone new...

So what do we need to get that excitement every week? Better yet, are we inviting new people and letting them have this experience for the first time...?

T