Toronto - Day 4 (Wednesday)

I would like to start by thanking those of you who have been praying and supporting us, we really appreciate it. Especially on days like today. Wednesdays are usually hard. In some ways they are amazing because we're getting in a rhythm, we know the people we're serving a little better (and the people we're serving with), but it's also day 4 of less sleep and more work and the realization that tomorrow is our last chance to do whatever it is we hoped to accomplish here. Tomorrow is the end of a relationship we worked so hard to build in a way. So, a little extra prayer Thursday would be appreciated.

That being said, God is doing amazing things in the lives of our students here. And I don't want to be the one to explain that. Here are some stories from students themselves about their day and what they are doing for God. Enjoy.

Today was our third day of going to the sites around Toronto. My group, after a much needed stop at Tim Horton’s, went to a factory-type industry place that teaches people with mental handicaps important job skills that will help them in a real workplace environment. Due to many signed forms detailing how much I will not talk about this place and the people that work there, I can’t go into too much detail. Regardless, I met some very interesting people, learned a lot about them, and I think I now have a better understanding of some of the issues that people with mental handicaps deal with on a daily basis.

After dinner, we had our evening activity in Chinatown. My wishes were almost fulfilled when we went to a souvenir shop that sells Rob Ford T-shirts. Much to my dismay, however, the shop didn’t have it in my size. Oh well, that’s what the internet is for, I guess.

Tomorrow is our last full day here at Toronto, and I look forward to spending my last day with some more of the people at the industries; they’ve opened up to us quite a bit, I hope they do so again tomorrow.

-Mattheus Mitchel

This morning started out with stopping for the awesomeness that is Tim Bits, which are basically donut holes. Then we went to our work site, which is a long-term care facility for senior citizens. There we took some of the residents outside to get some air and we blew some bubbles, and we played cards with residents. Our evening activity was to go to China Town, where we could buy things like Canada t-shirts and Bubble Tea, which has tapioca pudding bubbles in it. This was followed by club time, which was really fun because we did some singing, and church group time, where we talked about our day. I am very sad that tomorrow is our last day here. I have met and gotten to know some great people while here, and it has been a great experience.

-Megan Otte

Since the middle of freshmen year, this youth group has always been a place for me to escape the stresses of integrating into a high school with no pre-established friendships. There are many people that I could thank for helping me improve my esteem and confidence, but a simple blog post would not give them the recognition they deserve.

In terms of my experiences on this mission trip thus far, it is safe for me to say that we have spent all three days (and tomorrow) at a factory that provides low demanding jobs to the mentally handicapped. Most of these jobs include assembly line style tasks that are simple and give workers the basic skills and experience they need to succeed in the real world. We were required to fill out a confidentiality agreement that prevents me from mentioning any names, the name of the company, or the specific work that we have done. As each day progresses, I start to realize that the menial tasks we help these people do are not as important as the feeling of value and purpose that it gives to its mentally handicapped workers.

There are countless stories and feelings I would love to add to this post, but time limits me from putting them down. I am so thankful for these opportunities and can’t wait to go into our last day at the Toronto mission site.

-Jacob Stebbe

Toronto - Day 3 (Tuesday)

Today is usually one of the most interesting days of the trip. In regards to worksites, it's no longer a new experience, it's not training and guessing names. Today we are able to jump in because we know what to expect and who we are working with. On the flip side, by the end of the day the mission trip is half done. The enthusiasm to jump in is quickly replaced with "my time is dwindling quickly." There are always lots of mixed emotions.

On top of that, tonight we did a walk through downtown Toronto with a tour guide from the Salvation Army who lived there as a homeless person. It's an interesting perspective and there is a lot of talk about gentrification (the idea of a community pouring a lot of money into an area to improve it while at the same time not solving the poverty, simply moving or hiding it). Lots of opinions, lots of discussion. But for now, I'll leave you with some stories from our students.

Thank you for your prayers and support, we covet them all!

T

Today was my second day working at Booth Industries. There, we get the opportunity to work with some really special people who suffer from mental illnesses. I got to work with a man from India named Kiswar. He told me everything about him. I could tell he liked to talk. After we were done at our work sites, we went on a street walk with a man named Anthony. I learned a lot of lessons from Anthony’s life experiences. He really exposed me to a new perspective on life.

-Scott Kokjohn

I had a really life-affirming day. I have to say, I left on the mission trip kind of expecting it to be like the others I’ve been on, you know, all one of them, and I’m glad to say I was very wrong. I went to Booth Industries today for the second time, which was similar to my first day. I got to work with two guys named Leonardo and Cedric. They chatted with Jacob Stebbe for a long time about sports, not my strong suit, but I jumped in when I could and I’m glad I could be part of a better connection with them today. The really great part of my day came when we went on a street walk with a former drug addict named Anthony. He had a really radical message for us, a product of how hard his life has been, but I really liked what he had to say. He told us about how the struggles he went through get ignored by society a lot of the time, which of course I totally agree with and I would love to do what I can to help expose the problem of homelessness and drug addiction to people, but the most important thing he helped show me is that when I do see something, I can’t just be angry or upset that it’s bad, I have to take action or spread the word to those who can do more. He was really inspiring and I really feel like a different, better person after listening to what he said. Also, he quoted Nelson Mandela, which automatically makes me super happy. I can’t wait to take what I’ve learned today and use it on the rest of the trip and the rest of my life.

-Jacob Bennington

Today was an awesome day. When I arrived I did not know what to expect. Troy told us to hug one of the youth works people so I hugged a helper named Rachel. She was very nice and hugged me right back. I am helping at a nursing home all this week. The elders really love to sing. We sang take me out to the ball game and firework by Katie Perry and many more songs. The elders love to be fashionable so I painted many of the ladies nails hot pink. I met many people here in Toronto. Some of the people we work with are from Boston and from right here in Toronto. One of the girls I’ve met was adapted from China like me and we even share the love of music. With there help we fed the elders and played Bingo with some of the residents. For the afternoon activity we went to the beach, the water was very cold so we had a contest of who could stay in the water the longest. I won of course. Today we went on a tour of the city with a former homeless drug addict. He told us his life story and we got to sort of walk through this life. The experience was life changing and made me think about how I could help in the world. I hope the rest of our time turns out to be a fun and life changing week.

-Emily Lavey

Toronto - Day 2 (Monday)

Our first real day, we all went to our sties and were introduced to our tasks for the week. But, let's hear from the people actually doing it.

Canada, eh?

Lol Canada. We’re in Canada. So that’s cool, eh? Anyway, today my crew went to a great place called St. Judes Academy of the Arts. Pretty cool, eh? It’s pretty cool, because one of the career choices I have for myself is to become a special education teacher. I really enjoyed interacting with the clients there, eh? They all have such loving and caring personalities. You could walk in and immediately be greeted with a hug. I’ve been asking God lately to help me to start to see what I want to do with the rest of my life (I know crazy, eh? I’m a sophomore…). I think God has put me in this position to get a little taste of what this career could look like. Hopefully the rest of the week will go well, eh? Crossing my fingers, eh?

Bye Friend,

-Grace Balasko, eh?

(According to Troy, the expert on Canada, “eh” means you’ve finished what you’re going to say)

Okay… so today my group went to a nursing home. I played scrabble with an elderly man and he kept falling asleep but would wake up when it was his turn. The first word he had said to me was BANANAS he had noticed that that was a word he could put on the scrabble board. Than after the game he went to bed because he was quite tired. So than 2 other people and I interview some of the residents to hear their life stories and to also see if they would answer in “yes” or “no”. One of the questions was “what do you not like?” and the lady I was interviewing said that she didn’t like nasty people. After we interviewed we went to lunch we ate for about an hour. Then we played bingo with an old machine. After that we went up to the 2^nd floor and had a dance party with most of the elderly people that weren’t asleep or were able to be out of their rooms. So far I really enjoy Canada, I hope the rest of the week will be just as fun if not better.

Adios,

-Braedy Laymon

Today, I had the privilege of going to Ina Grafton Gage Home where I found out that most people living in the home had dementia.  Even though this proved to be a challenge in communication, most seniors still attempted to have a conversation with us and opened up.  One person that intrigued me the most was an old lady named Helen.  At one point, she even told me about her husband coming home every day and cooking for their family after cooking as a chef for his job.  These little conversations are just so amazing because everyone can see God working in the middle and letting us be able to listen to everybody’s story.  Over the course of the day I met with several other people who have come from Barbados, Jamaica, and even England.  Their stories also included them finding their way from all over the world to the city of Toronto where I was able to hear from them today.

Sincerely,

-Evan Hodes

Toronto - Day 1 (Sunday)

We finally made it, we are here in the great white north. For those who are not familiar with the mission trip blogs, I will be doing very little of the writing. Each night three students will be sharing on what they have seen and experienced throughout the day and trip. But, since we've spent more time on the highway than here, the stories are a little varied today.

And for everyone's sake of mind, yes we blew a tire this morning. It was a back tire, of which each side of the bus has two back tires. If it wasn't for the noise people wouldn't have known we blew a tire at all. The technician noticed our valve stem was broken (meaning it was likely we were slowly leaking air until the tire couldn't sustain pressure), it's all fixed and we're here safe and sound.

Now for some other perspectives...

Today was quite the interesting day. First, two hours were wasted fixing the buss tire, fun times. Later on, when the border came, we were not interrogated and everything went pretty smooth. Space is crammed at the church we are at but we will make the best of things and I feel that we all will have a great time in Toronto and change the lives of many people including ourselves. Happy birthday Scott!

-Adam Woodward

Greetings from the frozen frontier of the North American continent, also known as Canada. I write this at the conclusion of a long day that began at roughly four in the morning and included, among other things, terrible renditions of the Frozen soundtrack, a border crossing, and the exploration of an alternative route on the Canadian highway system. It was also my first time leaving the country. The lack of American flags is somewhat startling, but interactions with actual Canadians have been limited so far so culture shock is not really a factor at this point. Tomorrow we will be placed into groups and assigned service locations, which will see the beginning of the main service portion of the mission trip. Concluding sentence.

-Griffin Hobson

Preparing to leave the church this morning, with coffee in hand, I was pumped for this trip, to say the least. The drive didn’t necessarily go as planned… forgotten pillow, blown tire, wrong turns, and sweaty, hot buses. Despite all the bumps in the road, we made it to Toronto safely. As this being my first time leaving the country, everything as similar as it might have been, suddenly seemed so foreign. We pulled into the church and the excitement took over. I write this, ready for the week ahead and ready to change the lives of people I meet. (Happy Birthday, Scott!)

-Lauren Detrich  

Humility

...isn't popular.

The NBA is full of egos. But, there's a bigger reason for it than they're great at their sport. It sells. That's why I've really enjoyed ESPN blasting the fans over the past few days. "You've been asking for more people who are down to earth, do their job, play fundamentals and are humble? They just won the NBA Finals, so why aren't you out there buying their jerseys?"

It's a good question, and it's simple. Humility doesn't sell. We say we want it. We say we want to be like it. But when it comes down to it, do we really want humble people? Do we really want to be a humble person?

God wants us to be.

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ~ Colossians 3:12 (NLT)

It may not be popular or profitable, but I like how ESPN put it. Fame comes cheap nowadays. True character, that's a little harder to find.

And it's worth more...

T

"In" not "With"

Today I had my Bible program open on my computer and I did something a little different. I have many translations open at once (it helps me get a better handle on what the Scripture is saying) and I saw the New King James Version open in the back. I rarely use that one, so I thought I'd look to see what I had opened it to.

Colossians 2:10 - and you are complete in Him...

For some reason that really struck me. Complete in Him. As other versions put it, through our union with Christ, belonging to, filled with, having Christ, coming to Him, our lives are full and complete and true when we are in Christ.

This idea of "in", it's all encompassing. We are together with, a part of, filled up to the brim with Christ and His likeness. And that is the way we are complete, we have that full or true life. I wonder how often we try to have that complete life with Christ, Jesus is an add-on to our already busy lives, something else to do, that one hour a week.

Maybe instead of focusing being with Jesus, we should focus on us being with Him, following Him, making Him the head and being a part of who He is and what He's doing. That sounds like it could be a full adventure...

T

Hearing vs. Listening

I know this is one many of you have heard since you were young (at least I did), there's a difference between hearing and listening. A few times this week I've either been in conversations or watched them where one party was not listening to the other. It's kind of entertaining, watching someone ask the same question three times only to have the other party give information that has nothing to do with what they're asking.

There is a vast difference between the physical ability to hear and paying attention to what that noise is asking or saying. And even if the person hearing is understanding, they can listen and ignore what they are hearing. They don't have to do what is being asked of them.

I was thinking about this while driving today, I wonder if the reason so many people don't hear from God is because we aren't listening. We're eager to hear, but if God actually said something to us, would we listen and actually do it?

I'm not God, but when I'm talking to someone who I know can hear me but is clearly not listening, I usually react the same way.

I stop talking.

Maybe we need to work a little better on, as my Kindergarten teacher would say, "putting on our listening ears."

T

Controlling Truth?

The other day a commercial came on I had never seen. It was for a company known as Reputation.com, here's what the company is about. Many people say many different things on the internet, so this company goes and corrects anything you see as misinformation. Basically, they create the image you want for yourself. Their tagline is simple, "the truth that you control."

That line caught me. The truth that you control. Like somehow we decide what truth is and we can control what is truth for others. It's almost as if we are telling others what to believe.

The sad part is, there's a way to do this. It's much harder than simply hiring a company to clean your web presence. Instead, if someone doesn't like your cooking, find out why and work harder to serve a better meal. If someone says service is sloppy, work harder to give someone the service they deserve. If someone says something negative about you online, live in such a way as those who know you will not believe it, or better yet, come to your defense. Instead of taking the easy way out and erasing people's comments, work harder to live a life that opposes those comments, one that may not even allow for those comments to begin with.

You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of people who are crooked and stubborn. Shine out among them like beacon lights, 16holding out to them the Word of Life. ~ Philippians 2:15b-16a





T

Welcome Everyone

This morning I was reading this. Here's the Message version of the verse (I liked how they put it):

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. ~ Romans 14:1 (MSG)

I don't know what it is lately, but I seem to be coming across different conversations where people believe in the same Jesus, but they differ on other topics, evolution, homosexuality (those seem to be the big two), any other little thing. Yes, I said little. Because according to the verse above, we are to welcome others seeking Jesus with open arms, even if we don't agree on some element of faith.

Instead of arguing to be right, how about we welcome differences and love the people who think differently then we do. After all, how many things did you believe ten years ago that you differ with now? When we get to heaven, do we expect Jesus to say, "you got it all right, good for you" or "you missed that one", or even worse, "you were right, but the way you treated them was wrong"?

Let's start focusing on the one thing the world needs to hear, Jesus loves you and so do I.

T

Are You Getting Closer?

This morning I was reading about Campbell's Law. It's an interesting idea, it states that whenever you start to use a number to measure something, people will inevitably get confused and start looking at the number. For instance, when you are driving somewhere people look at their speedometer. If they want to get there faster, they make that number bigger. The problem is, that number doesn't tell you if you're reaching your destination faster, it only tells you what speed the car is actually moving at. You could be increasing that number but driving the wrong direction. Merely focusing on the number is not an accurate measure of what you are trying to accomplish.

I wonder how often we try to use numbers to measure how close we are to God. Church attendance, Bible verses read, minutes spent in prayer, hours serving others. None of these are bad, in fact their all great! But if the goal is to up the number, we've missed it. Right now I have a daughter at home growing. What can she do to increase her growth? Nothing. She has to wait, and a majority of the things that cause her growth are outside forces she can't control (like how often mommy and daddy feed her).

Sometimes spiritual growth is less about a number and more about waiting, and waiting on God (there's a difference between the two).

Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. ~ Colossians 1:9-10 (MSG)

T

Broken Cups

There's a blog I read in which the author has a three year old son. Right now they're trying to teach him to drink from a cup, a monumental task apparently. The little guy is having a tough time with it. A few days ago he drenched himself (to which dad did the right thing, laughed). But the reason was the best.

"My cup's broken."

Now, we all know that's not the case. His cup was not broken. He didn't do it right. And it's not expected that he be a perfect cup drinker right away. But he will never get better if he constantly blames the cup and doesn't change the real problem, how he drinks, then he will never be able to use a cup properly.

How often do we do this with our relationship with Christ? One of the biggest things that frustrates me when I hear it is someone saying, "God just doesn't seem real." So who's broken here? God? Doubt it. Instead I see someone who used to really love God, and now they don't read their Bible as much, they skip church regularly, praying has gone way down (except in emergencies), they haven't served anyone in months and their priorities have turned to what they want and need. And why doesn't God seem real or close or whatever it was He seemed before?

Is it the cup that's broken?

And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you. ~ James 4:8a (LB)

T

On The Same Team

I was asked a question last week about how I felt about other churches close to where I live and serve.

A little bit of background, there are two very large churches within twenty miles of my church. They are both doing very well and have decided to create new campuses for their respective churches, each in my town not far from my church. My friend was wondering what our church thinks about this.

For most people the knee-jerk reaction is "competition". Someone else trying to do the same thing we are in our area, how dare they. But for me, great! Why? Because we're all on the same team. If we start seeing other churches as competition, we've missed it. We should all be working together anyway. As Paul wrote:

Is there any such thing as Christians cheering each other up? Do you love me enough to want to help me? Does it mean anything to you that we are brothers in the Lord, sharing the same Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic at all? Then make me truly happy by loving each other and agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, working together with one heart and mind and purpose. ~ Philippians 2:1-2 (LB)

I know the churches who are coming in, I even know a few of their ministers personally. And I also know one other thing. 80% of my community does not attend church on Sunday morning. I can either view the other churches as competition, or we can all work together to make that number smaller and help them know there is a loving God who wants to restore them to a place of relationship with Him.

Maybe we should all try working together...

T

The Day After Easter

So here we are. We've spent the day at church, family parties, mowing the lawn, whatever it is we did to celebrate Easter. And we're back to the way things were.

Which is completely the wrong way to look at Easter.

For too many people, Easter is an end. It's a completion. Jesus said "it is finished" on the cross, and now it's done. He's back, grace is here, we went to church. We're done.

But if Easter was meant to be the end, Jesus would have made it the end. He would have rose from the dead with a grandiose gesture and made sure everyone saw what He had done. Then He would have said, "It's done. Thanks. See ya!" and rose to heaven right away. He didn't do that. He spent the next 50 days walking around, talking with people, giving hope and instruction.

Easter was not the end.

Easter is the beginning.

Easter is where new life is supposed to begin. All the teaching Christ gave before Easter was to prepare us for life after His triumph over the grave, without that the teaching meant nothing. Instead of celebrating Easter as an end, grace has won, we're done, it's supposed to be the start of a new life. We being anew in grace, we have a gospel to share, a life to invite people to start living, one that we start living into ourselves. If anything, today, the day after Easter, is the first day of our new lives.

So as we reflect on the weekend, don't let it be the end. Don't let it be a past celebration. Let it be the start of a new life in Christ. And let it be one we share with everyone around us.

Since you became alive again, so to speak, when Christ arose from the dead, now set your sights on the rich treasures and joys of heaven where he sits beside God in the place of honor and power. Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here. You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God.  ~ Colossians 3:1-3 (LB)





T

Passover Dinner

Last night sr. high students from Fire & Water celebrated a Passover dinner. It wasn't quite as solemn as I expected, but that's the fun of working with teenagers.

I think the big impact for me was the recognition of tradition. This is a meal that has been celebrated by billions of people over the course of 3500 years. Moses ate this dinner. King David ate this dinner. On the night that He was betrayed, Jesus ate this dinner with His disciples. It's this idea that people still eat this same meal down to what is served and what is said all to remember an amazing and mighty act of God.

What if every time God did something amazing in our lives, we created a personal celebration to remember it? What if every Sunday morning we approached worship with a sense of understanding that what we are doing has been in some form or another celebrated for thousands of years every single week by a huge population of our planet? What if every time we took communion we remembered that Jesus Himself started this tradition?

If you get a chance to this week, join a Passover dinner. You may be surprised at what you learn about God and about yourself.

T

Flooding

Thursday we had the pleasure of waking up to a downpour and thunderstorm (when I say "waking up to", I really mean "woken up by around 5:45am"). In addition to that I was lucky enough to see the water start to gather in my backyard as well as on the sides of the house.

I have the pleasure of living in a part of town that floods quite often. There's a park near my house at the bottom of the hill, it's now a lake. The roads had water gathering on them and I'm guessing some will be closed by the time I have to go home. That's part of the fun of where I live, there is limestone just a few feet under the earth so any water that falls has no place to go. It will just sit and rise.

There are many floods mentioned in the Bible (one that is now a major motion picture, and from what I hear, the flood is the only part of the story they got right), and the word is almost always used in a scary way. Once in a while a translation will say a room was flooded with light. Other than that, flooding always means death and destruction. One of the most popular flood mentioned is the Nile river, which floods every year. Sometimes it's even mentioned as an example of an army attacking, like the Nile flooding over the land.

But there's one verse that's different:

And the waters of the Nile will fail to rise and flood the fields; the ditches will be parched and dry, their channels fouled with rotting reeds. All green things along the riverbank will wither and blow away. All crops will perish; everything will die. The fishermen will weep for lack of work; those who fish with hooks and those who use the nets will all be unemployed. The weavers will have no flax or cotton, for the crops will fail. Great men and small—all will be crushed and broken. ~ Isaiah 19:5-10 (LB)

Sometimes flooding is necessary. I have been to an area of the Mississippi that floods every year, and that flood deposits moisture rich silt and nutrients for miles and miles allowing crops to grow. The destruction that comes in the spring is crucial to the food and crops in the fall. Without devastating floods, many peoples of the world would starve.

Next time life seems like it's flooding all around you and you're to the brink of drowning, realize this may be necessary to fertilize something amazing in your future. It's horrible to be in the flood, but what the flood produces later could be amazing and bountiful.

T

Don't Forget...

I had Ephesians 2 left open on my computer from my blog last week, and something just hit me. Smack in the face.

Last week I quoted from Ephesians 2:8-10. The section that follows is all about reconciliation, talking about how Jesus saved Gentiles and Jews, all people (read it, it's good). That we are all saved through Christ Jesus. But there's an interesting start to that section. The Holy Spirit through Paul reminds us that we (the Gentiles) were outsiders. We were not invited into God's Holy Kingdom before. We were on the outside looking in.

What if looked around at people and remembered that we were once outsiders.
We didn't fit in at church
We didn't know the songs or when to stand or when to kneel
We didn't see the importance of joining with friends in a Bible Study
We didn't know or understand that God's guidelines for living are out of love and actually help us
We didn't have a pew to call our own
We didn't "feel" welcome
We didn't know people or have friends at church
We weren't invited or reminded of some fun event
We didn't see ourselves as holy or worthy enough to talk to God
We didn't know where to go, when to meet, or how to get there (church or any other gathering)
We didn't see understand how great serving feels

We didn't see the importance of getting to know God anyway

We just didn't know.

What if we understood that many people feel like outsiders looking in? Or maybe even outsiders not knowing they can get in or why they should bother. One of the best ways to cure that, when insiders invite the outsiders in.

What if you saw those who cross your paths as those on the outside without realizing it, understood where they are at and do what we could to move them from outsiders to insiders?

That's a Great Commission...

T

"Then Who In The World Can Be Saved?"

This was a question the disciples asked in something I was reading last night. It's a story in 3 of the 4 gospels, it obviously made a dent in the followers' minds.

It's a familiar story. A rich man wants to know how to get into heaven, and he tells Jesus he has followed all the laws since he was a young boy. So Jesus ups the ante. Give up everything, sell all your possessions and follow Him. And the young man walks away because he is very rich.

At this point Jesus turns to His disciples and tells them how incredibly hard it is for the rich to enter heaven, but He also says it is hard for everyone to enter the Kingdom of God. It is easier to shove a camel through the eye of a needle than it is to get into heaven.

Here the disciples ask that question. "Then who in the world can be saved?"

Jesus' answer: Humanly speaking, no one. No one can earn that right. But with God, all things are possible.

We have been talking about grace for the past few weeks at Fishers UMC, a really fitting topic during Lent, because this is the time we focus on what Christ did that none of us could do. Live a blameless life and earn salvation. And since He did it, He is also giving it away to anyone who wants it. For free. The truth is, there is nothing you can do to earn the right to heaven. There is nothing that can be done to somehow gain enough Jesus points to save ourselves. It is a gift, and one we should be incredibly thankful for and share.

Because of His kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. It is God Himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago He planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. ~ Ephesians 2:8-10 (LB)

(notice we don't do good to earn God's love, because of God's love we want to do good, there's a big difference there...)

T

There's No Snakes In Ireland

Today is that wonderful day we celebrate by wearing green and drinking too much. St. Patrick's Day.

Here's the scary thing. Why do we remember St. Patrick 1600 years later? What are we actually celebrating? If you ask many people, St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Well, that's not really true, there were never any snakes there to begin with.

St. Patrick is remembered because of what he did for Ireland. He was a slave there and escaped, but instead of hating this land that beat him and imprisoned him, he went back to share Christ's love. At a time when the church said worship could only be done their way in their language singing their songs, Patrick did things differently. He explained Christ in the language of the people (he learned it as a slave). He used things around them to help them better understand Christ including their own legends and fairy tales. Instead of starting churches as we would see it, he started communes, places people could come to get food and shelter for no charge (and if he was asked why, he would share the gospel). St. Patrick even went so far as to dress like the people he was ministering to instead of dressing like a priest and standing out as a "holy man".

The reason St. Patrick is remembered is his love for people who really didn't deserve it. And instead of forcing them to be loved his way, he learned about them and loved them in a way they would understand. That's something truly worth celebrating. And I think the best way to celebrate this is imitation...

T

Would You Drop Everything?

If Jesus were to ask you to do something, you knew for sure it was Him, would you drop whatever you were doing to do what He asked? I was reading a story that made me think of this. Sir Ernest Shackleton was a great explorer who decided to make a what turned out to be fateful trip to the Antarctic (he had originally planned to go to the Arctic, maybe he should have stuck with the plan). The interesting thing about this trip was the publicity. Usually Shackleton would rather do the trip than go public, this time he was incredibly forthcoming with his plans. The story goes a friend asked Shackleton why he was so public for this trip. The reason was Shackleton's friend Frank Wild. Mr. Wild had been a leader on many of these expeditions, but at this time Frank Wild was hunting in the heart of Africa. No phones, no telegraph, he was in the middle of nowhere. The reason Shackleton was so public with the trip was in hopes news would reach Wild. Shackleton said if Wild heard of the trip, he would come. Sure enough, Frank Wild showed up at Shackleton's office in London. When he heard of the expedition, he dropped his gun, picked up his luggage and started home. He showed up asking what his orders were for the new trip. If you were living your dream on the trip of a lifetime and Jesus called, would you drop it all to show up? Peter replied, “Remember, we left everything to be Your followers!” Jesus told him: "You can be sure that anyone who gives up home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land for Me and for the good news will be rewarded. In this world they will be given a hundred times as many houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and pieces of land, though they will also be mistreated. And in the world to come, they will have eternal life. ~ Mark 10:28-30 (CEV) T

The Take5 Initiative

For those of you who don't know, the Richards family loves Disney. We love the stories and the experience of Walt Disney World. Ever since I first visited I realized there has to be something more to this place, there has to be a way to take some magic home and use it for Jesus. So I have been reading all sorts of books about what Disney does and why they do it. Something really simple that's amazing in a business concept, Take5's. Have you ever heard stories of Disney Cast Members doing something nice like playing with children, giving someone a snack even though the kitchen is closed, making extra room key cards as souvenirs? There's a reason. Every person who works for Disney is empowered to do anything the can think of that will take a guest's vacation from good to "wow" as long as it takes less than 5 minutes and/or costs less than $5 (the reality is most are free and take less than 5 seconds, but they are able to do more if they would like). Everyone is empowered to do this with the understanding of their purpose, making the guest's experience amazing. Here's my question. What do you think FIRE & WATER (or your church) would look like if every member/Insider on a Sunday night looked around for ways to do a Take5 for others? Holding the door for the person behind them. Cleaning up someone else's trash. Smiling "Can I get you another soda/hot dog/cookie?" Being the first to say "hello". Moving over a little to give the person next to them more room. Getting someone a pen or note sheet (rather than throwing it at them). Asking someone how their night is going and if there is anything they can do to help. Asking someone about their weekend. If someone is new, helping them find their way around or understand what's coming next Telling someone how happy you are to see them at FIRE & WATER. What do you think a Refinery/Drink Deep on a Sunday night would look like if everyone did these things (and more)? Imagine someone who has never been to church showed up on a Sunday night and everybody treated them like this. What do you think their first impression of Jesus would be? Almost everything on that list takes 5 seconds, and I'm sure you could think of many more to do. You could probably even do more than one on a Sunday. You could even do them during the week and when asked why you're being so nice, "My whole church is like this, you should come one Sunday night." What would the community think of our church? Think about FIRE & WATER? Think about Jesus? The real question is, are you willing in the craziness and fun of a Sunday night to give God 5 seconds, give someone else 5 seconds. Just imagine how loving and caring FIRE & WATER would be. You could almost describe it as "magical"... Some of you may recognize this verse from a few weeks ago. And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus ~ Colossians 3:17a (LB) T