Leech Lake - Tuesday

Sorry for the delay, we had quite a night last night. Upon leaving the headwaters of the Mississippi River we encountered a small storm with torrential rain and 60 mph winds that wreaked a little havoc on our big bus and trailer. So we drove a little slower and got home a little later meaning the students didn't get a chance to tell their stories until the next morning. But here they are, enjoy and we hope to see you soon.

Greetings!

First I’ll tell you the story as to why this blog is happening this morning. Youthworks is doing something a little different this year with one of the evening activities. One night a week, the churches are free to do whatever evening activity they would like to do, with only their group. We decided we would go to the very beginning of the Mississippi River! It started out so innocently, picking up pebbles from the bottom, climbing over rocks and taking pictures. Needless to say, we all ended up drenched, and had a 45 minute drive back to the high school, in the midst of an immense thunder storm. When we got back, the youthworks staff members were kind enough to let us use the showers again, but it was also 11:00, which is lights out time. No time for blog! Wasn’t that a fun adventure?

Okay now for the real stuff. This week started out as a challenge for me and a few others. I found out what I was going to be doing for the week, and was excited to see that I would be working at the kid’s club! I’ve always loved hanging out with and loving on the kiddos in the places that I serve, but this time it was a bit different. The first day, a lot of them weren’t open to building new relationships with these people that they knew were going to leave them at the end of the week. I felt like I just couldn’t do it. I prayed and prayed that God would help me figure out a way to give these kids the attention and love that they need, without making them upset or uncomfortable. Luckily, the second day, the kids were much more accepting to our presence! I got to play with more kids and when we lead the story time, they were extremely attentive, and could even answer 2 questions after! It just goes to show how much God has been working in Cass Lake these past 13 years. The children know that God will protect them and that He is the one we rely on in times of worry and stress.

Yesterday, I also had the opportunity to work in a garden that serves fresh foods to the community. This is really great because at a lot of food pantries they get canned and processed foods, but here they can receive locally grown greens and veggies! We had the job of laying down hay to keep in the moisture and smother the weeds for the plants. It was really satisfying to physically see the progress that we made. I’m excited to see what the rest of the week has in store! (Today is water day at kid’s club! yeet) Thanks for reading the blogs and keeping up with our adventures in Cass Lake!

Halfway done! -Grace

P.S. Mom we get back around 5 or 6 on Saturday.

Hey friends!

This week I have had the opportunity to work at the kid’s club. Having worked with kids on a mission trip before, I expected it to be just like last time and for it to be a breeze, but I was so wrong. On the first day, it was difficult to get any of the kids to open up to us and hang out with us; they mostly just wanted to hang out on their own and had no interest in anything we had to say. Going back on our second day, I was slightly discouraged, expecting none of the kids to listen to me. It was the exact opposite though; the kids were so much more willing to listen to us and play with use! Yesterday, they were willing to hear the Bible story and answer two questions about it afterwards!

Getting all of the kids to open up was great, but the most exciting part of the day yesterday was when one kid willingly started a conversation with me about God. This little boy had talked to me for at least half an hour about a video game he plays. Of course I had no idea what he was talking about, having never played this game, so I was smiling and nodding. At one point though, he mentioned how he had built a castle in his game that he said no one was able to see, except God who could see anything. This sparked a conversation with him about God as he began to ask me questions, such as why does God get to see everything and talk about the amazing things he knows God does. It was amazing to hear such a young boy, no older than six, already have so much faith and knowledge about God! 

I am so excited to go back to the kid’s club, especially since today is water games day! Thanks for reading our blogs! -Katie

Yesterday I worked at both the outreach sports camp and a food pantry that grows their food on site. It was the second day that I worked at the outreach sports camp and on the first day the children and teens we worked with were trying to act out and not listen on purpose. But, on the second day we worked there we figured out they were acting out for attention so if we ignored them when they were doing things they shouldn’t they would stop and we could go and talk to them later. After figuring that out things went significantly better after we figured that out. -Alex

Leech Lake - Monday

Today was our first actual day of serving the people of Leech Lake. Due to how things work around here our days look a little different from other trips, we work with Kids first thing in the morning and do our regular morning routine at 2:30 in the afternoon for one. We also were able to have a cultural experience with a woman who married into the Ojibwe tribe (and now has a master's degree on Native American culture), so the students had a very full day of learning and processing. But, I'll let them get into that. Here are some stories straight from them, enjoy!

After working with the kids at the sports camp, Troy took our group to see the homes of the kids we would be working with all week. Quite honestly I had no real idea what to expect, but as we pulled in to what was the neighborhood, I was very much humbled. Seeing all of these rather small houses and tall grass and just very not well kept areas I began to feel very emotional for the kids themselves. I just felt angry and frustrated that these kids, and there were a lot of them, had to live in conditions such as these and have to grow up in a place where they may not know when the next meal is coming or if they will see their parents that day. To me it just seems unfair that these kids have to go through these sorts of things because after all, they are just kids. Which is why during our camp today, just playing basketball, which I am terrible at, and seeing these kids smile and laugh when I missed a shot or when this girl, Mia, just lit up when I offered to take her on a marathon race as she was on my back just makes me feel God’s presence in them and in me. Even though it is only for a short time, we can allow these kids to forget about any struggles they are going through and just let them be kids. These simple laughs and smiles really are the epitome of God’s love for me. –Zane

Spending my first day on the mission trip as a freshman has been a whirlwind. I spent my day with kids climbing on my back non-stop. I spent my day with kids telling me about their home life and how their day has been going. It has just been crazy but the one thing that stuck out most to me was the fact that there is so much we don’t realize about the Native American culture. The history that we learned today is just something I could’ve never imagined. I think there’s so many concepts about their history that has just been hidden and unspoken that needs to be more recognized all throughout our culture. Their way of life is different. The rules, expectations, and limits are different. I really liked that one of their main focuses in their everyday life is respect. Respect the land. Respect your people. Respect property, animals, people’s feelings, and so many more things. I also think that it’s amazing that the people around here appreciate silence and take it as a sign of respect and it’s something they look for which is different than our culture at home. It’s sometimes classified as awkward or sometimes disrespectful if you can’t think of something to talk about and keep a conversation going. The way that the Native people live is something I wish we had in Indy. The culture is different and something I envy. Especially res. time! ;)  -Lindsay

["Res. Time" is a loving nickname for the pace of life on an Indian Reservation. The people here are more concerned about being with people/family and spending quality time with them, but this causes many things to move at their own pace. People may be late to an event but the culture sees that as okay because everyone knows it is because they were busy with something more important, community.]

Today was the first day of my first ever mission trip, so it’s safe to say I was pretty nervous. I wasn’t sure how God was going to use my skills in this trip, but those worries were quickly answered when it was decided I would be a part of the ‘storytelling team’ working with kids. One of said children quickly decided I would be her new best friend for the few days I’m here, and even made me a friendship bracelet during craft time. She was really sweet, though a short attention span. But hearing about some of the situations their families were in made me appreciate mine a lot more, and really sparked a desire to give these kids some happy summer memories, if nothing else. Learning about their culture has also been very interesting, and I look forward to learning more and getting to know the kids even better in the days to come.  -Sabrina

Leech Lake - Sunday

Hey everyone, we arrived safe and sound. We have had dinner (wild rice farmed by the people here), gone through orientation and learned a little more about the people we will be serving with this week. We are one of 5 churches, so there's a lot of people ready to show the love of Jesus.

Each night we will be sharing stories from our students on where they saw Jesus today, what they did, how they experienced God's love, etc. So for tonight, here are a few first impressions. Enjoy!

We’re finally here! It was a very long trip, but we made pretty good time I think. It was definitely good that it was not hot outside today, because that made the bus ride much more bearable. We didn’t have any vehicle issues like flat tires either, which was great! Now that we are here, it is very interesting to see what the other churches are like. Most of them are very small, and we learned that we will not be in groups with them as much as we normally are. This may make it harder to connect with the other churches, but we will definitely still try to talk to them and get to know them! We also learned a little about the community we are going to be serving in, and it sounds like it is going to be a very interesting and new experience. I am very excited to begin serving tomorrow! -Megan

After what seemed like forever, we are finally here. My legs are probably going to be sore for the next few days but I’m excited to be here. I’m very glad that the school we are staying at is nice and that there are showers on site. We got to play a few games with the other churches when we first arrived and all the people seem to be very friendly and easy to get along with. I’m going to keep an open mind about everything this week and I am very excited to get to work and share God’s love with this community! -Scott

After a full day in the bus we have finally arrived in Minnesota. The trip down thankfully wasn’t too bad. We had no vehicle issues and luckily most people got some rest in during the drive (I would not be on that list though). Also I may have found my new favorite thing already on this mission trip. It’s called a trailer. The use of the beautiful invention made the bus extremely pleasant as I was in it all day long and was actually cold. When we got to the school that we are staying at we were greeted with a big smile from the Youthworks staff and then were able to talk to people from the other churches. After talking with other churches it has become very clear that most of them have never gotten to go a mission trip and I’m hoping that I can help them to have a good time and want to come out and serve God more! I’m excited to start working tomorrow and see what God has in store for me. Please pray for us, the other churches, and the Youthworks staff that we can just go out and show Gods love. -Kaili

TED Talks For Jesus?

I'm currently reading the new book from the TED talks, their official guide to public speaking. Obviously they have had many amazing (and not so amazing) speakers over the years and I was hoping to learn a few things.

But today I was reading the four types of speech to avoid:
The Sales Pitch: What can I get from you in this speech.
The Ramble: I have nothing to say so I just keep talking.
The Org Bore: This is how my office works.
The Inspiration Performance: Look at me, I'm a great speaker.

And I started wondering, how often to we share Christ like these? Here's what Christ/the Church can do for you if you get in with me. I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to Jesus but I'll just keep talking. This is how my church works so this is how you need to believe. I'm more concerned with getting my quota of talking to people about Jesus than actually talking with you about Jesus.

You know what the best speeches are? Honest. Personal stories. From the heart. What if instead of memorizing the Romans Road we just told people why we believe in Jesus and want to know Him more?

Of course, there's a catch to this: Are we a disciple of Jesus? Do we actually believe it (or even do we know what we believe)? Do we really want to know Him more?

T

Happy Independence Day

I'll keep it short and sweet today. This day in America is all about freedom. But why are we free?

It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. ~ Gal. 5:13 (MSG)

Be free today, but not a selfish free. Be truly free.

T

Jesus Will Offend You

I saw a video recently from a man I greatly admire.



Here's the reason I love this video, it's spot on. For some reason we have started to believe that we deserve not to be offended or have our feelings hurt. The problem is, if someone then offends us we want them to change or we ignore/get rid of the part of them that we deem offensive.

And you can't do that to Jesus.

Jesus was offensive. Jesus is offensive. He had no problem pointing out a sinful condition in a person, going so far as to call His closest follower and future leader of His church "satan". He asked questions that were uncomfortable and hurt going as far as referring to an entire group of people as dogs. He asked people and still asks us to do things that are not easy and may actually make us seem offensive.

And He's still 100% God and 100% love.

If you really want to know Jesus you will be offended. It's impossible not to be. You will have to struggle with Him and who He is and who you are. The only alternative is a safe Jesus kept at a safe distance.

Have you ever kept someone who made you uncomfortable at a safe distance away? How strong was that relationship...?

T

God Makes Things Fit

In my reading lately I've been thinking about how God likes to make things fit. In Joshua when the tribes of Israel were to make an altar they were not to use cut stones, they had to fit all the stones together. Later when God instructs Israel to build the Temple they were not to use any nails, all the wooden beams had to fit together perfectly.

It has gotten me thinking if God still works this way. Does God still like to take things that are not necessarily perfect and have them fit together for His will? Does He do this with people, not waiting for us to be perfect but instead allowing us to fit together in our imperfections to do amazing things for Him?

Maybe we should spend less time trying to make ourselves perfect and more time trying to fit into God's plan with the other rocks...

T

"Wow"

This is our daughter's word of choice right now. A few weeks ago we went to Disney World and it made sense and was fun to watch.

"Look at the castle." "Wow!"
"Hold on, it's a fun ride." "Wow!"
"It's Mickey Mouse!" "Wow!"

What's interesting is we've been home a few weeks now and it hasn't subsided. Everything is still a wow.

I took her to the pet store. "Wow!"
Playing with water in the backyard last night. "Wow!"
Seeing a mosquito this morning. "Wow!"

Somehow we managed to open her sense of wonder. Everything, and I mean everything right now is a wow. It's all amazing and new and exciting. She managed to be excited by the amazing at Disney but that has allowed her to see that same amazing in our everyday world at home.

It got me thinking, do we still do the same thing? I should be wowed by what she is looking at, but I'm not. I've been losing my sense of wonder. Do I need to reevaluate and look at what she's looking at through a toddler's eyes again? Do I need to see the "wow"?

Do I do the same thing in my faith? Do I need to read the stories, say the prayers, serve people with a new sense of "wow"?

T

Coming Home

So apparently my blogs that were supposed to be posted every week all came out in one day. Sorry about that.

But it's hard coming home to that. It's nice to go away and have everything taken care of for you, someone else cooks the meals, cleans your room, maybe even drives you around. And then you come back to reality and you have to do everything yourself again. It's hard, but it needs to be done.

Here's my request, do the same thing with your faith. It's nice to go to church or a retreat or a mission trip and have someone else schedule your time with God, tell you what to pray, lead you in song, read the Bible to you and explain it. But at some point you have to come home. You have to do these things for yourself.

If I only ate meals when they were prepared by someone else on vacation I wouldn't eat very much. Don't let your spiritual meals be the same way.

T

The Whole Picture

The other day I was listening to classical music while driving (it keeps me calm). Anyway, I was listening to a piece and could hear all sorts of noise followed by bursts of laughter during the performance. It was odd, but whatever.

It wasn't until later I realized I didn't have the whole story.

I was only listening to the piece. If I had been watching it I would have seen something completely different. You can see what I mean here. The entire orchestra leaves the stage one by one until there are only two musicians remaining.

But that's still not the whole picture. The story makes the difference. This piece has been performed this way for over 200 years with the orchestra leaving the stage. This is the Farewell symphony by Haydn. Haydn was a hired conductor for Prince Esterhazy in the late 1700's. And his orchestra was hired too, but they usually got the summers off to go home and visit their family. The Prince was keeping them a little later than Haydn wanted so he wrote this piece as a hint to his boss "hey, it's time to go home, we're all leaving."

Too often we only see a little piece and think we know it all. Sometimes we only know a piece of what's going on. Many times we only know pieces of who God is. We need to take a step back and realize we don't know the whole story, or even better, put in the time and effort to learn the whole story.

*silently leaves his chair*

T

Once Upon A Time

The other night we were watching the television show "Once Upon A Time" (we're a little behind, we need a good bingewatching session). In the middle of one of the episodes was a line I quickly wrote down.

It's hard to be a savior when no one wants you to save them.

That is so true. I remember having a discussion with students about serving years ago and more than one said they like to serve if someone needs help. If the person doesn't look like they need help or don't acknowledge they need help the students said they were likely to do nothing.

Thankfully Jesus doesn't operate this way. He recognizes our need for Him and seeks us out even before we know we need Him.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.  ~ I John 4:9-10 (NLT)

We can't wait for people to want a savior. Sometimes we have to help people even when they won't acknowledge they need help.

Don't wait. Shine your light.

T

Faith From Mom

Many people have heard the verse that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and power and a self-discipline. It's a great verse, makes you feel good. No fear but love from God. Awesome. But do you know what prompted this statement?

I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. ~ II Timothy 1:5-7 (NLT)

This verse came out of a reminder of where Timothy's faith came from, his mother and grandmother. Those women taught Tim who God was and His love for their son/grandson.

One of my biggest frustrations as a student minister is hearing parents say they don't want to force their faith on their child so they don't take them to church or tell them about Jesus. How is sharing the truth of your Savior "forcing" your faith? It's sharing your faith. If anything, how can someone (even a child) make an informed decision about God if they never hear about Him, especially from those close to them who love them?

Live your faith. Share your faith.

T

Who Lifts This Arm?

This quote from Moby Dick has been in my head today.

Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? But if the great sun move not of himself; but is as an errand-boy in heaven; nor one single star can revolve, but by some invisible power; how then can this one small heart beat; this one small brain think thoughts; unless God does that beating, does that thinking, does that living, and not I. By heaven, man, we are turned round and round in this world, like yonder windlass, and Fate is the handspike. And all the time, lo! that smiling sky, and this unsounded sea!

It's asking a very simple question. Am I able to do even the simplest task or is God behind it all?

In many ways, the real answer is not what defines us. The answer we perceive can be way more important. It will determine how we live.

Is God behind everything, every breath I take?

T 

The Cost of Serving Jesus

The other day I was reading a story I've read and heard at least a hundred times thanks to growing up in church. It's a pretty popular one, Jesus is teaching and some guys bring their friend to be healed. But the crowd is so big they can't get into the house to see Jesus so the friends make a hole in the roof and lower their buddy in front of Jesus Who forgives his sin and heals him. A nice, feel-good type of a story.

But for the first time I noticed something:

Soon the house where he (Jesus) was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room... (Mark 2:2a, NLT)

Jesus wasn't at some random person's house, He was at a friend's house, the house He was staying at while in town. Think about that for a second, this poor guy said he'd help Jesus out as the traveling preacher. And what did it cost him? To give Him a bed probably didn't cost anything (other than space), but what about food? What about all these other people, were they fed too? The traffic of crowds and wear on the house? And now, the roof? And how did all this effect not just the guy who said Jesus could stay but his wife and children, what was this costing them? What probably started out as a simple "here's the spare room" to help Jesus out turned into so much more. Their lives would have stopped because of it, and now their lives and home were being broken.

There was a huge cost to having Jesus stay with them.

Here's the real question: Does it still cost to invite Jesus to stay with you? And if so, what?

T

The Bible Order

This has been something weighing on my mind for a while. Is there significance to the order of the Bible
Some are obvious and talked about. Letters and books of prophecy are arranged by size or author. That makes sense. But what about something bigger?

For instance, have you ever noticed there are always stories before instruction? Before you have the rules given to Moses by God you have the stories of creation, God choosing His people and the Exodus from Egypt. You have the historical stories before the books of prophecy. The stories of Jesus and the church precede the rules on "how to be a good Christian." Maybe we need to teach things that way...

But the one that is in my mind is Ecclesiastes. A book that seems very dark and "woe is me", everything is futile and meaningless. And it is followed immediately by Song of Solomon, a book that speaks of the intimate love of God for us. Why would God place those books that seem like polar opposites right next to each other?

Maybe it means we can't have one without the other, there will always be tension in our relationships and we need to love beyond that. When things seem futile we love anyway and love conquers all. Maybe it means if we are in a state where everything is meaningless we need to take our focus off of what is around us and put it back on our One True Love. The way out of the darkness is to ignore the darkness and focus on the light.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I have a hard time believing there is any little coincidences when it comes to God...

T

Sherlock

My wife is now obsessed with this show. It took me weeks to convince her to give it a try, now the second our daughter's in bed she's priming the TV getting us ready to continue whatever episode we are on.

But I have always loved Sherlock Holmes. I've read some of the books (I wish I could say all but there are quite a few and I didn't have them all). The idea of being able to see what others don't amazes me. Especially since for so long I sucked at it. I still remember someone damaging the front wheel of their bicycle and it took me three tries to see the dent (which was huge).

So one of the things I love about the show is their pull back to the books. The episodes are almost like remakes of the originals in today's world (which if you've read my book, I like that idea). The Study in Scarlett becomes the Study in Pink. Holmes and Moriarty's meeting at Reichenbach Falls becomes an episode called The Reichenbach Fall. The other day we watched an episode entitled "The Scandal in Belgravia" which was an omage to the story "A Scandal in Bohemia" and they included one of the lines directly from the book:

You see, but you do not observe.

For me, this is one of the reasons why so many people miss Jesus, or at least don't have a complete view of Him. God is all around us. There are miracles happening every second of every day. His love is in action constantly. But so many people miss it. Why? Because they haven't been taught to read the clues like Sherlock Holmes. We see dirt, he sees a footprint telling us the person's height, weight, shoe size and gate. Some see coincidence, others see God's divine providence at work.

May our eyes be opened that we may see Jesus.

T

Star of the Sea

Years ago before GPS and smartphones there were limited resources in finding your route, or worse, where you happened to be. The most obvious one was landmarks.

(This annoyed me when I moved to Fishers because everyone gave me directions based on landmarks that no longer exist. "Turn right at the old Lowe's." How do I know where that is if it's gone now?)

But sailors had a more difficult time. There are no landmarks. Just open water. So to find their location and their direction they would use the stars. Points in the sky that are consistent and act as an interstaller map. The most obvious being Polaris, the north star. Find it and you know that direction is north.

A few months ago in my reading I discovered that the name Mary means "Star of the Sea." Some believe this was done on purpose, the Son of God was given to a woman with this name because He would be the star of the sea for all mankind, Someone who they can look to and find direction.

In what seems to be a season of chaos in our world right now, do you know to look to the Star of the Sea for direction...?

T

"Yesterday's Amazing is Today's Ordinary"

Our daughter has become slightly obsessed with the movie "Charlotte's Web" where this line is from. I've heard it about five times in the last three days. But although it is about a fictitious spider's spelling it really does still hold true in our world.

Think about all the things that were amazing, even imaginary, a century ago. Household electricity, running water, flight, internet, wifi, phones everywhere, foods from around the world. All these things were at one point amazing. Now, if we drop a call or a flight is delayed we get annoyed. Why? Because it's ordinary, it should happen. We expect it.

That's the challenge for this weekend. The story of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection are amazing, but have we heard it so often that it is now ordinary?

Make sure to take some time this week to think about it... and make it amazing again...

T

Moving God

The other night I was reading the story of Balaam in the book of Numbers. It's always a fun story, who doesn't love a talking donkey...

But I started looking at the next part of the story. The reason Balaam's donkey talked to him was King Balak wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites and God didn't Balaam to (obviously). So the story goes that King Balak takes Balaam up on a hill so he can see the Israelites and asks for a curse, but instead Balaam blesses them, because that's what God told him to say.

Here's where it got interesting for me. King Balak, not happy about this of course. So what he does next is take Balaam to another hill with a different view of the Israelites and asks him to do a curse again. When that doesn't work, they move to another viewpoint and he tries again.

It makes me think of some people I know, they don't like being told "no", so if they ask you a question and you say "no" they ask it again worded slightly different.

"Can I have a bagel with cream cheese?"

"Sorry, we're out of cream cheese."

"What if I just had a bagel and you put some cream cheese on it?"

I wonder how often we do that with God. He doesn't respond right away of give us the response we want so instead we ask in another way. Maybe we even go to another church, God will give me the answer I want there.

Does it really change the answer...?

T

New Book "Twenty-First Century Parables"

Sorry, but today is shameless self-promotion.

Most people don't know it, but I have been working on a book for a few years retelling the parables of Jesus for a new audience. It's $0.99 and only available as an ebook. I hope you like it and share it with others! You can find it at:

iBooks

Amazon Kindle

Barnes and Noble Nook

Kobo

Copia

Or just Google it, some of the results are funny...

T

An Extra Day

It's finally here, the 29th of February. The extra day in our calendar. It took four years and it's finally here.

What would you do with an extra day? Would you go have fun? Read a book? Spend more time with someone? Sleep?

It seems so often we have wonderful plans for good things like spending time with God or serving others when "I have extra time". But you will never have "extra" time. Even on this leap day it really isn't anything extra, we're going to do all the same things today we'd do on any other Monday.

You have to find time. Make choices to spend your time wisely. Make sure you delegate time for what's important.

Otherwise, it will be four years before you have this day again...

T

Is It About Us?

This has been something weighing on my mind this morning:

When was the last time I worshipped in a way that I found uncomfortable, but I did it so someone else could find God?
When was the last time I prayed for something I didn't want, but I knew it was necessary?
When was the last time I talked to someone I didn't want to, but they needed to be loved even if it's through a tiny conversation?
When was the last time I served when I really just wanted to stay home?
When was the last time I read my Bible when a hockey game was on?
When was the last time I sang a song I didn't really like in church but knew it was speaking to the heart of someone else there?
When was the last time I gave money to God that I could have spent on myself?
When was the last time I helped or served in a way I didn't like but knew it would help someone else?
When was the last time I listened to an opinion I didn't agree with, but listened and did not try to force in my thoughts?
When was the last time I did anything difficult for me just so someone else could have a glimpse of Christ and His incredible love for someone?

When was the last time I asked myself the hard questions, wrestled with them, and actually tried to be more of who Christ wants me to be?

T

Happy President's Day

Who wants that job?

Judging by how things are going in the election right now, not many people. And the people who do want the job we aren't very happy with.

So here's my question. When was the last time you prayed for these leaders? Not prayed for God to remove them or fix them, but prayed for them?

Here are my directions: Pray much for others; plead for God’s mercy upon them; give thanks for all he is going to do for them. Pray in this way for kings and all others who are in authority over us, or are in places of high responsibility, so that we can live in peace and quietness, spending our time in godly living and thinking much about the Lord. ~ I Tim. 2:1-2 (TLB)

It's not an easy job, I bet they could use some prayer...

T

It's Hard Letting Go

Last week I lost something very dear to me. It was beyond my control, there was nothing I could do to stop it. I lost my favorite internet radio site live365.

Now, let's break this down a little. It was never really "mine". There are hundreds of other places I can go to listen to music online. But you know what? This was my favorite. It was my go to. We had the app/program on every single device we own. And because of that moving on and moving forward seems hard.

But that's how life seems to be many times. We hold on to something, not even because it's the best, but because it's the familiar. I may find something else I like even better. I may even expand my musical horizons. But part of me doesn't want to let go simply because I don't want to let go.

How often do we have to be forced to get rid of things in our lives that are actually holding us back simply because we don't want to let go? We don't want to go through the pain of finding a new spreadsheet program and learning how to use it so instead we stick with the program from 1997 we already have and know. And sometimes, the only way we get out of that cycle is a program crashing and we are forced to find a new one and learn it and realize how we've been handicapped all this time without realizing it.

Jesus does this for us too. Sometimes we are living in ways that are old and familiar and holding us back but we don't realize it. And hopefully, we can start to make the change before our world crashes around us and we have to change. For some, that never happens and we still live with our broken lives. Let's choose not to, let's be better.

Ephesians 4:21-24 ~ Since you really listened to him and you were taught how the truth is in Jesus, change the former way of life that was part of the person you once were, corrupted by deceitful desires. Instead, renew the thinking in your mind by the Spirit and clothe yourself with the new person created according to God’s image in justice and true holiness. (CEB)

T

"I Found My New Favorite Bible Verse"

I heard this statement three times last night.

And one of them wasn't even a verse they were asked to look up.

This is what can happen if we choose to read our Bibles. We find nuggets of truth that speak to us. We find words that inspire us, bring us comfort, let us know that we are loved by the God of the universe.

Start reading, you may be surprised what you find.

T

"There Wasn't Any Drama"

This was the reason given by someone why last week's FIRE & WATER Winter Retreat was the best one they had been on.

Now on the surface, that can seem really petty small. In a weekend away with God and people trying to get to know Him better, the absence of girls and boys acting stupid about dating and relationships doesn't seem like a big thing. But in reality, it is.

So many things are tied up in our understanding and view of God. How we act, how others act, how we feel at the time, the amount of sleep we are getting, even if someone said hello to me can seem really small but in many ways it can make a difference in our experience with God today.

That's why we need to be doing what Pastor Kevin said on Sunday, be living lives of worship all the time, even in the little things. Because if we live a life that all-encompasses what it means to be a disciple of Christ, even down to the little things, not only will we have an easier time seeing God but others will have an easier time seeing God in us.

Ditch the drama, stay with Papa.

T

Done Resolutions

It's been a week, how many resolutions are already gone?

Don't make resolutions, make changes. There's a big difference.

If you want to know God better this year, don't resolve to do it. Make changes in your life that will allow you to do it.

T

Letting Go

Last week FIRE & WATER's Mystery Adventure was ice skating. We've been talking about going for a while and on this day we hit the ice. Sometimes literally.

For two students, that was a real fear. They has never been ice skating before. Being Canadian, it's something I've done all my life and have no problem explaining to others. But there is one fundamental issue everyone has to overcome, and these two students were polar opposites.

The biggest hurdle you have to overcome: Let go of the boards.

That wall is safety. Away is danger, falling, cold, even pain. So people hold on to the boards. The problem is, you can't skate holding onto the boards. You have to let go. One student, no problem. They were covered in ice and snow, their legs wet, for a while they fell every two steps. By the end of the day they were nowhere near a pro, but they were much better and even had a little bit of speed in their stride. The other student, it took a lot more to get them away from the wall. I may have taken them by the hand, dragged them out and let them go...

But isn't that what it's like with Jesus? We hear all the analogies of stepping out of the boat. We can't truly follow Jesus and be His disciple and still hold onto our safety rails, whatever they may be. And it may hurt, and we may fall. But Jesus is okay with that, if He wasn't He wouldn't be the one to drag us out and let go.

The only way to skate is to let go of the boards. The only way to follow Jesus is to let go of whatever it is that you're holding onto instead of Him...

T

The Baby Is Born... Now What?

Christmas has happened! There was lots of food and presents and fun was had by all.

Now what?

For most it will be a return to normalcy. Take down the lights, stop listening to Christmas music, and once the leftovers are gone we will be eating the same food we did before. Ornaments are packed away. The greeting of "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" is no longer used. In a few days there will be no trace the Christmas ever happened aside from a few new toys.

Is that really how it should be?

I'm not saying leave your lights up all year round (although I know a few who do), but spiritually I don't think Christ came and died as a one time shot and then be done with it. I also don't think the point of church is to come be a Christ follower for one hour a week on Sunday and once we're done being holy go back to our normal selves by Monday (or by halftime).

What if spiritually we acted like it was Christmas all the time? Act as if Christ is with us? Live with that type of faith? What if we live like Christmas was real well past the 25th...?

Just a thought.

T

Everything Was A Choice

For Advent this year I am reading a sermon series by St. Bernard. It's fun to see a story I knwo so well from a different point of view.

One difference he made was the choices made by Christ at Christmas. I had never really thought about it, but God is very intentional. Nothing is done by accident. Every little tiny thing has meaning. Unlike all of us, Christ was able to determine how and when He was born. If this is true that means that He picked every part of His birth on purpose.

Jesus chose to be born during a census (it gets Him to Bethlehem).
Jesus chose to have Mary be pregnant while traveling.
Jesus chose to be born in a stable.
Jesus chose to be born at night.
Jesus chose that only shepherds would see the angels announcement.

You get the idea. Every single part of Christ's birth was done by choice. I wonder if because we don't get any say in how we or our children our born we assume it's the same with God, but it's not. He chose every little detail of His birth.

The bigger question is, what do those choices tell us about Jesus?

Think about it. Merry Christmas.

T

"Done Unto Me"

I read a very interesting quote last week from the Advent Sermons of St. Bernard. He says this:

"Be it done unto me, not preached to me, not shown to me but breathed into me."

Maybe the reason Jesus doesn't seem real to so many people, maybe even ourselves, is because we've settled for for preaching and showing, we haven't dove into the Spirit of God being "breathed into me" or "done unto me."

If you really want people to know that Christ loves them this Holiday Season (and beyond) don't just talk and show or point to other places to find Jesus. Be Christ to them. Love them. Sacrifice for them.

God wasn't content to use prophets to tell people He loved them, He became flesh and entered their lives. Will you do the same?

T

"We're not aiming for the truck"

This is one of my favorite movie lines of all time. I got to watch it this weekend as we try to expand our daughter's movie tastes beyond Frozen and the Muppets.

It's from Toy Story, most of the movie is about two toys trying to get back to their owner, a boy named Andy. And after overcoming obstacle after obstacle they are finally making it back, headed right for the moving truck. After all, that's what they should be aiming for.

The truck's back door is open, it's easy to hit.
The truck is closest to them.
The truck has all the other toys in it.
The truck has been their goal all along.

Until "we're not aiming for the truck."

One of the toys isn't aiming for the safety of the truck. They're aiming for Andy. They're goal isn't to get to the easy win, they want to be with the child who loves them. It's further, it's harder, and it's a complete surprise because it's completely unexpected. No one would try for that.

But they did.

How often do we settle for something easier than the One who loves us? He's in the car ahead, He's harder to get to, the window to reach Him is smaller. Instead we go to the safer zone, the one with all the other toys. It takes a lot less work and we're with all the other toys so why bother going for the car?

Because HE is in the car.

I don't know about you, but that's where I'd rather be...

T

(P.S. Happy Birthday Dad!)

The Real Power

I was reading this the other day:

Understand that the last days will be dangerous times. People will be selfish and love money. They will be the kind of people who brag and who are proud. They will slander others, and they will be disobedient to their parents. They will be ungrateful, unholy, unloving, contrary, and critical. They will be without self-control and brutal, and they won’t love what is good. They will be people who are disloyal, reckless, and conceited. They will love pleasure instead of loving God. They will look like they are religious but deny God’s power. Avoid people like this. ~ II Timothy 3:1-5 (CEB)

My first thought was to look at our world, the society I live in and compare. Are we selfish? Are we proud? Are we all these other things? That is until the last verse caused me to do a 180 on who I was looking at.

Do I simply look religious but am denying God's true power?

That's the whole purpose of Advent, remembering the true power of God that came into this world, and remembering that we are subject to the Son, that He has to be our everything or else it all means nothing.

It's a hard mirror to look into, but are you willing to? Does our faith have the True Power or do we simply look religious? That's a hard question to look at...

Happy Advent.

T

Giving Thanks

Do you ever think about that phrase? That thanks is something we actually give?

Giving requires effort and thought. It's rarely done by accident. It's purposeful. It is a sacrifice of some sort, I had it now I give it to you. Giving brings the focus off of me and on to the recipient of the gift.

I hope this week you will "give" thanks.

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. ~ Colossians 3:17 (NLT)

Happy Thanksgiving.

T

When It's Expected.

Last week I copied Seth Godin's blog about how when we expect something we fell entitled to it. Today I want to look at the reverse.

What happened in Paris over the weekend was shocking. Appalling. Horrific. And yet I have seen a lot of posts floating around the internet asking why Paris got all the news and the bombing in Baghdad did not, or the earthquake in Mexico, or ______ horrible tragedy.

And I've seen lots of reasons. Because Paris is white. Because they're an American ally. Because it's a first world nation. But I have a different theory.

Because it was unexpected.

This is a hard truth to face, but let's be honest. We expect turmoil in the Middle East, we expect war and bombs and because of that we don't see it as "news". We expect earthquakes to happen all over the world so when we hear about one it's "another earthquake." What we didn't expect was a suicide bomber to go to a football match in Paris after shooting up a restaurant, or another to go to a concert and start killing.

But here's the real danger, and it shows in our reaction. We become home-blind to the expected. If we had never ever seen a homeless person and for only once in our lives we saw someone standing on the side of the road with a sign asking for money so they could get home wouldn't we be shocked and want to help them? But after seeing hundreds of them and hearing the stories, how much are we stirred to dig into our pockets to help? Just because this is the 100th person we've seen doesn't make their story any less tragic or them any less in need of help, but we've almost become numb to it because we pretty much expect it now. So we do less, or nothing.

How many ways in our lives have we become numb to what we expect so we do nothing?
Everyone knows about Jesus or the one's I've told said "no" so I stop sharing the gospel.
I give to food pantries but there are still hungry people so what difference will my gift make.
I've invited this family member to Thanksgiving every year and they never show so I stop inviting.
My prayers seem to go unanswered so I stop praying.

We can't give up, especially when the failure/horror/tragedy is expected.

T

Entitlement vs. Worthiness - Seth Godin

I know this is a little after Halloween, but I read this and thought this is the perfect embodiment of what entitlement is and how it causes us to act. Thanks to Seth Godin for writing something so brilliant (he has lots of brilliance, you should see his blog).

T

Entitlement is the joy killer.

Halloween is hardly what it could be. Any other day of the year, hand a kid a chocolate bar and he'll be thrilled. Do it on Halloween and it's worth almost nothing.

When you receive something you feel entitled to, something expected, that you believe you've earned, it's not worth much. And when you don't receive it, you're furious. After all, it's yours. Already yours. And you didn't get it. Whether you're wearing a hobo costume or showing up as a surgeon after years of medical school, entitlement guarantees that you won't get what you need.

Worthiness, on the other hand, is an essential part of receiving anything.

When you feel unworthy, any kind response, positive feedback or reward feels like a trick, a scam, the luck of the draw. It's hardly worth anything, because you decided in advance, before you got the feedback, that you weren't worthy.

It's possible to feel worthy without feeling entitled. Humility and worthiness have nothing at all to do with defending our territory. We don't have to feel like a fraud to also be gracious, open or humble.

Both entitlement and unworthiness are the work of the resistance. The twin narratives make us bitter, encourage us to be ungenerous, keep us stuck. Divas are divas because they've tricked themselves into believing both narratives--that they're not getting what they're entitled to, and, perversely, that they're not worth what they're getting.

The entitled yet frightened voice says, "What's the point of contributing if those people aren't going to appreciate it sufficiently?" And the defensive unworthy voice says, "What's the point of shipping the work if I don't think I'm worthy of being paid attention to..."

The universe, it turns out, owes each of us very little indeed. Hard work and the dangerous commitment to doing something that matters doesn't get us a guaranteed wheelbarrow of prizes... but what it does do is help us understand our worth. That worth, over time, can become an obligation, the chance to do our best work and to contribute to communities we care about.

When the work is worth it, make more of it, because you can, and because you're generous enough to share it.

"I'm not worthy," isn't a useful way to respond to success. And neither is, "that's it?"

It might be better if we were just a bit better at saying, "thank you."

Focus

Have you ever had someone give you a generic request that embodies everything and you have no idea where to go with it?

"What do you want for dinner?"
"Food."

Great. Thanks for narrowing that down. Where do I go from here? Frustrating, isn't it?

Is that how you pray?

When you talk to God are you specific in what you would like or do you pray the generic "bless ____"? Bless how? Yes, God makes the final decision, but maybe part of the reason talking with Him is so hard is because we're giving such over-arching, covering everything in three words prayers that God isn't able to answer our request because there actually isn't a request in there.

Even in the most obvious of situations, Jesus asked for specifics. In Mark 10 a blind man stands before Him and Jesus asks, "What would you like me to do?" Why would Jesus ask? What does that tell us about what Jesus wants from us in our requests?

Try it for a few weeks. Be honest with God. Be specific. See what happens.

T

Fast Acting Relief

We live in a society where we are stressed out, sick, troubled, tired, all sorts of things just weighing us down. And we want these pressures to stop, but we want them all to stop now. There are millions of quick fixes to all these problems, they usually only last a short time or don't work at all and so we jump to the next one or take more and more of whatever it is to help us.

Last week I found this quote by comedian Lily Tomlin:

"For fast-acting relief, try slowing down."

It's probably the simplest and at the same time hardest thing to do, but you'll be surprised how well it works. I also read (and can't find, sorry) someone mentioning that the biggest weapon in satan's arsenal at the moment is hurry, if we can keep ourselves so stressed out and rushing around we won't have time for all God has for us.

Relationships take time, they're slow. Our relationship with Jesus is no different. Want to feel better? Want Jesus to be more real in your life? Try slowing down.

T 

"There's Explaining And There's Showing"

A little while ago Lorie and I finally got around to watching the latest Hunger Games movie. We wait until we get to see it for free on TV.

But I wrote down this quote from the beginning of the movie. Katniss isn't "all in" for the war that's coming and one of the superiors suggests taking Katniss to her home so she can see what was done. It had been destroyed, and she had heard the stories about its destruction, but she needed a little nudge to join the fight. And that's where this line came in.

There's explaining and there's showing.

Here's my question, how many of us are explaining our faith? We tell what we believe, we talk about it, and we don't understand why the love of Jesus falls on deaf ears. Maybe it's because there's a difference between explaining and showing. What if you instead of explaining Christ to those you want to share Him with you showed them Christ? Serving them, loving them, giving to them expecting nothing in return.

We as the Church really need to stop explaining and start showing.

T

Jumping To Conclusions

Part of our ability as human beings to learn and grow is taking information and transforming it into something tangible. Information - when I stick my finger in this light socket electricity comes out + electricity hurts = don't stick your finger in the light socket. Pretty basic stuff.

What always amazes me though is how often we take a little bit of information and jump to a conclusion that is way off, sometimes not true at all. A perfect example happened today at NASA. Because we all want to believe we are not alone in the universe so much it takes very little for us to jump to that conclusion.

I want to point out though, NASA, the people who found the information, dissected it and explained it did not jump to that conclusion. They found evidence the ridges on Mars were likely carved out by a briny water of some sort. That's all they said. However, the very first reporter to ask a question: "Does this mean there's life on Mars?"

Generally if someone has to work for the information more they respect it, they look at it, the read it completely, they get a different result than if they just Googled it. We've all seen it, look it up online, forget it and don't care anymore.

So then, if we truly want someone to know God and be loved by Him, do you think it's better to share the information and move on, or give them something to wrestle with?

Btw, still no aliens.

T

Leaving Early

There is something I will never understand about people at sporting events...

When they leave early.

You never know what will happen. Basically, you as a fan have given up (even though you're not even playing). You have told the team you have lost faith. You have decided their fate is sealed and the game is done. Even though it isn't.

I still remember my pastor from the first church I interned at, he took me to a football game (he was a nice guy). It was a Sunday afternoon, we had church in the morning and church in the evening. It was a tight squeeze. And with not too long before the evening service the home team was down. He made the call it was time to go because there was no way we'd come back.

As a kid who had to travel 3 hours to see a professional team play, I couldn't fathom that. It was a greater sacrifice to see the game for me growing up so we stayed, no matter what. We sat through rain delays, 9 run innings by the visiting team, anything because it was a huge commitment to make it to the game. Unlike this pastor, who lived in town and saw games all the time.

The craziness was, on the way to the car in the parking lot some tailgaters had the game on. While walking, the home team scored a touchdown. He said, "we're going back" and we ran back inside to see our team eventually win. We almost missed it because he had given up (he just didn't give up early enough, thank goodness).

Those are the games we talk about too, the big win after everyone thought it was done. That's when the most magical moments in sports seem to happen. And yet, how many times do we miss magical moments, not just in sports, but in life, in faith, because we gave up too soon?

(As I was writing this, all I could think about was the show "The Goldberg's" when the dad wants to leave a hockey game early because the game was "over". He was right, it was over, the home team was wining and would win, but they missed this happening: http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=190549)

Don't leave early. Keep the faith.

T

American Ninja Warrior

This show is awesome. I never really watched it until this year, just a little here and there, but it's basically an obstacle course for ninja wannabe's. Fun to watch, some you cheer to do well, some you cheer to faceplant in the water below...

Last night history was made for the show. For the first time in it's seven year run someone finished the course. Think about that for a second. This has been going on seven years and for the first time ever someone finished (actually two guys). That's how hard this is and how much dedication it takes to make it.

Throughout the season you see this dedication. People build home ninja courses, there are ninja gyms with courses in them you can join, there are even a few people who have quit their jobs so they can train full time so they can be American Ninja Warriors (now that is a supportive spouse).

The thing I kept thinking about: it takes work to be amazing. I started wondering what our faith would look like if we put this type of effort into it. How holy would you be if you "trained" every day, maybe quit your job and did it all day every day? The problem is, it's easier to be the guy on the couch eating barbecue chips watching ninja's fly than it is to try and become a ninja.

But imagine how awesome it would be that you could be officially announced as an American Ninja Warrior...

T

Dig Just A Little More...

In the news today, Neolithic stones like the ones at Stonehenge have been found nearby. Only there are a hundred of them forming a gigantic semi-circle.

You can read more about it here: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-34156673

What really got me was the first sentence. They were discovered a whopping 3 feet under the earth.

3 feet.

Think of how many people for hundreds of years had no idea there were these massive stones right under their feet. 3 feet below them. So incredibly close but with no idea they were there. Millions of people were satisfied with just Stonehenge and those few stones where there was so much more to be known and discovered.

It's amazing what could have been found with just a little digging. I wonder how many people are content with what they believe about God or their relationship with Jesus when all the while they are so incredibly close to a break-though, something more that could completely change them forever. But they don't know because they won't do just a little digging.

What if you did a little digging into your faith, what would you find?

T

Jesus Outside The Gospels

So often we think of the Gospels as the story of Jesus, which is true. But in realty the entire Scripture points to Jesus...

It always amazes me when we tell stories like Ruth or Mephibosheth and people don't see how they point to our Savior. We just don't know the Word of God well enough to see it always. Until now.

There's a great new Bible that just came out that helps us see Jesus in the Old Testament. I'd highly recommend it.

http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Centered-Life/pages/default?pageId=TO2CD720JJ5FM2T
http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/resources-adult-leaders-development-jesus-centered-bible-nlt-charcoal.html

Give it a try, you may be surprised how much more of Jesus you see.

T