Consuming vs. Sharing

Last week we had the wonderful opportunity to go to Walt Disney World. It is truly a magical place to us and one of our favorite places to go. And when we are there we try to be as nice as possible to the Cast Members (employees) who work there. We have seen people treat them horribly for things they can't control, and after taking that from so many people we'd rather build them up then tear them down.

What I realized in doing this on our last trip is how we had a different focus than many others. There are people there who are showing up to consume the magic of Disney. They deserve the best things. They paid for this trip and are going to get everything out of it.

But there are others who are there to share the magic. People make cards for Cast Members to say thank-you. They pick up trash even though it's not their job just because they see trash on the ground. They don't get mad when a ride breaks down because they understand it's not the Cast Member's fault and yelling isn't going to do anything but make everyone unhappy. Instead they try to find other magic to focus on and share.

After watching this all week I started to wonder if we do this to church on Sunday morning (or whenever you worship). Am I there to "consume" my time with Jesus? Does everything have to go my way, do I complain about the temperature, do I make sure I get my seat and if not those in it hear about it? Or am I "sharing" Jesus while at worship? Am I welcoming, hospitable, do I genuinely live-out Jesus to everyone I see while I am worshipping Him?

Worship, like Disney World, can be all about you or all about others? Which do you choose, and how do your actions reflect that?

T

Thankfulness

A moment of reflection:

You just spent the last weekend focusing on being thankful. So how did you show you were thankful? To whom and for what?

Sometimes being thankful is like eating healthy at Thanksgiving. We say we're doing it but have a plate full of stuffing. To really eat healthy at Thanksgiving you have to think about it, a lot.

So think about it, how were you thankful? What ways can you be thankful this week?

Just like eating healthy, it takes a while to see a difference. But if you keep at it everyone around you will notice the change in your thankfulness.

Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ Ephesians 4:20 (TLB)

T

When Reality Hits

Last week we celebrated our daughter's birthday. The interesting part of the day? She was way more excited for the anticipation than the actual event.

She had been asking for a present for about a month. She got it, then cried. She said we can't sing "Happy Birthday" until we have the candles in the cupcake. We did it, started to sing, she runs out the room crying.

Sometimes we live in a world that is completely in our mind and we don't realize it. We have a view of God or church or ______ and when reality hits it doesn't line up and so we want to give up.

But there is an alternative.

On her birthday we also told her we were going to the "bouncy slides". She had been before and loved it. But she wasn't sure. A couple of times during the day we did something that were way better than the bouncy slides could ever be. Eventually we had to convince her we were just going to see them or just to walk in.

She went crazy, ran around for the entire time with a smile on her face, and didn't want to leave.

Sometimes we just have to power through and show up when we don't want to or when the initial reaction isn't what we imagined in your head. Because if you can make it thought that one moment, you can enjoy the bouncy slides, love your cupcake, and play with the wonderful toy you wanted (all of which eventually happened).

Don't give up on God or a God experience too quickly...

T

Happy Thanksgiving

What are you thankful for?

No really. Don't play it off or do less here. Not the one word answer at the table Thursday waiting to eat. Stop and actually think about it.

What are you thankful for?

T

The Importance of the Whole Story

I hate driving. Really, I don't mind the act of driving, it's the time spent driving that I can't stand. If we had teleporters sign me up. Because of this I have been watching news of self-driving cars very closely. If I can afford it I will be a very early adopter.

But they keep getting in accidents. Google's cars have been in accidents over ten times. And last week a new driverless shuttle at the Vegas airport got into an accident on its first day.

They must be really bad then... or are they?

That was the headline I saw at first. "Self-driving bus involved in accident on its first day." And most people jump to the conclusion right away there was an error in the technology.

And that's why we need the whole story.

Google's multiple accidents in the self-driving car, all were the other person's fault. The error of the other driver. In the crash by the airport shuttle, the truck in front of it backed into the shuttle. The shuttle wasn't even moving. Even if it were a human driver there still would have been an accident and it still would have been 100% the other driver's fault.

We live in a society that loves headlines and the Twitter version of a news story. The problem is in cases like this reputations are damaged and fear is incited when the real story is something that happens every single day, just this time it happened to a robot car so it's news.

When it comes to Jesus, make sure you're getting the whole story, read the Bible for yourself and join a Bible Study. When it comes to church and family and friends, make sure you are getting the whole story. Without it all you get is fear and damage.

T

How Do Scientists Do It?

This past week I spent a few days with 16 students all in one house living together, living our normal daily lives together while trying to also spend time together learning about Jesus and who we are in Him. And at one point we talked about how we need to spiritual scientists.

Scientists live in this weird dichotomy. They have to accept that what they already know is true. But at the same time they have to challenge those facts to progress. They need to feel confident enough in what they know to say they can know more and move forward finding what they don't, possibly even changing what they knew to begin with.

To know God, we have to live in this place. We must have faith that what we know about God to be true, but not enough faith in it to stay there and say there is nothing else to know about Him. We need to dive into the mysteries before us and draw closer to Him.

Here's the Scripture we looked on the retreat:

We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it’s not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven’t a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That’s why we have this Scripture text:

                 No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this,
                 Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
                 What God has arranged for those who love him.

But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.
The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way. (I Cor. 2:6-13, MSG)

Are you willing to be scientists and dive into the unknown with God...?

T

We Shouldn't Exist

That's part of the conclusion in a latest experiment in Europe. You can read about it here.

That's the thing about miracles, they don't always make sense...

T

Egg Nog

I love egg nog. I mean really love it. It's fantastic. It's one of those drinks that warms my heart and hurts it at the same time. It's fantastic.

The other day I saw it in stores. Already. It's the middle of October and egg nog is for sale!

And that is horrible.

Why? Because I love egg nog. Every year the same thing happens. I see egg nog on sale for the first time that year. I quickly buy some to drink of it's liquid gold. Lorie says she will have a bit, but usually has half a cup and doesn't want any more. That's more for me. So much more. Too much more. And after downing a half gallon of nog in under 24 hours I get tired of it. So tired of it I don't drink it again for the season. When Christmas rolls around the drink that reminds me of my childhood repulses me because I drank too much too soon. I couldn't wait.

I wonder if this is part of the reason God takes His time blessing us or telling us His plans. Do I treat His gifts like egg nog, I see it and need it now, as much as possible in the quickest amount of time?

I'm trying to wait this year, but it's hard. Egg nog is soooo good.

T

Do You Recognize?

I had my Bible open on my computer and there was a note at the bottom that caught my eye. It was a part of Mark 6:54:

Immediately the people recognized Jesus

And it hit me. Do we recognize Jesus? I know I bug people about that all the time in my world, but seriously. If Jesus were in your life today would you recognize Him? Or is He already?

I hope I would, but it just reiterates to me the importance of knowing Jesus, so I will be able to recognize Him...

T

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving, so my social media is full of posts of people saying what they are thankful again. In two months the same thing will happen with my American friends and family.

But why do we only do this twice a year?

What do you think our lives would look like, even our online lives, if we were to post or share something that we are thankful for every week, maybe even every day? Forget how it would change others, how would it change you?

Being thankful is a choice and exercising it is like exercising any other muscle, it will get stronger the more you do it.

Be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus. ~ I Thessalonians 5:18 (TEV)

T

We Love It So Much We Choose To Be Busy

I haven't written a blog in two weeks (sorry). I realize that I missed it and I miss writing, it's fun for me. But the last few weeks have been full of a new Bible Study, Pumpkins arriving and a new laptop (which is working, yay).

But this time of year reminds me that we only have so much time to spend. I remember talking with the students about this a while back, I hate the phrase "make time". You can't make time. It's impossible. You can only choose how you want to spend the time you have.

And you will spend it on what's important to you. When there are multiple things we love, we choose to be busier. Don't complain to me about how busy you are in band, you signed up for it, you choose to be there, you do it because you love it. If you're too buys, quit.

But they don't quit. Why? They love it.

When you love something you will figure out how to spend more time on it.

So what do you love?

T

Why SPAM Doesn't Work On Me

Because I'm not desperate.

I realized this while going through my spam folder one morning. There are a lot of weird and really inappropriate offers. Why would anyone ever fall for them? And I started to think about it, if I were really, really in need of something, I was incredibly desperate, they might work.

I'm not desperate for a get rich quick scheme, but if I were days away from the house foreclosing on my family would I open it? I'm not desperate for human interaction, but if I were incredibly alone would even a stranger in an email be enticing? 

It got me thinking how desperate people will do crazy things. And they're not always bad. A financially desperate person may finally take the leap and patent that new idea. A desperate person in an abusive relationship will find the courage to leave and live somewhere new and unknown. Sometimes, desperation can cause us to do amazing things.

What would it look like if you were desperate for Jesus?

    I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me. 

      He freed me from all my fears. 

    Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; 

      no shadow of shame will darken their faces. 

    In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; 

      he saved me from all my troubles. 

    For the angel of the LORD is a guard; 

      he surrounds and defends all who fear him.  ~ Psalm 34:4-7 (NLT)

T

Are You Only Going to Church in Case You Miss Something?

That's an odd question, I know. I mean, who ever thinks of what they might miss at church Sunday morning before deciding if they should go to church or not? It seems ridiculous.

But do we do that?

I was reading last week about how there are studies (yes, multiple) about when selling to people of trying to sway people to be a part of whatever you are offering, they are more likely to buy in if you instill some fear of them missing out than what they may get out of the situation. So if I was selling a book (which I am), I can tell people how good the book is and what they will get from it but if I want to sell more copies a more effective tactic is to say, "only a few copies left".

It's a product of our Instagram society. Fear of mission out is one of the greatest fears of teenagers and younger people, as they get older I predict it takes the number one spot over fear of public speaking (this is also the YouTube generation). So when it comes to making a decision, people will commonly skip over "is this good for me" and think "will I miss something by not being there."

I wonder how this affects our worship. When we make plans for the week do we factor in if church is something that is healthy and necessary for our soul? Or do we think about what we will miss (or not miss) if we don't go? Hopefully each time we worship together we have a rich spiritual experience together and we see Jesus. After all, who'd want to miss that?

The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. ~ Acts 2:42 (CEB), from when the first church was forming.

T

Rest

Today's Labor Day. Instead of a long post, here's my one question:

When was the last time you rested (I mean really rested)?

Think about it...

T

What Rules Have You Broken

Last night we talked at FIRE & WATER about the rules to follow Jesus, the Pharisees (they loved rules) and what true worship really is. Here's the one thing I found out that I really didn't like:

They still get in trouble for breaking "rules".

I get it, no one is perfect and there are things we should and should not be doing that will help us know God better. But when and where you wear a hat probably isn't one of them.

If you are a part of a church or some group that worship, please, don't put your made up rules on visitors. If you are more worried about what a person wears to church then the fact they took the risk to visit for the first time you're missing the mark.

To those that aren't a part of a church, don't let one church's "rules" or even what you've heard about the "rules" stop you from coming. There are a ton of people that love Jesus and just want to get to know you. Try to find them, please.

As someone who has broken the rules many times and still occasionally gets in trouble for it, let's make it less about us and more about Jesus. Please.

T

Today the Moon Blocks the Sun

Have you ever thought about how crazy that is? The moon can block the sun and make the sky dark. The moon can make the sun so dark that you can stare directly at the sun and burn your retinas. I'm already gearing up to hide our daughter in the basement so I don't have to explain why it's already night time.

But how can this be since the moon is so much smaller than the sun? If the sun were hollow about 64.3 million moons can fit in the sun, that's how tiny the moon is compared to the sun. So how come the moon can completely block out something so much larger than it?

Proximity.

Because the moon is almost 400 times closer to us than the sun it can block it out. Because it is so much closer something incredibly bigger disappears.

I wonder how often this is true of Jesus in our lives. He is infinitely bigger than any problem we could have, but if we hold on to those problems closer and push Jesus further away doesn't it seem like that problem is bigger than Jesus?

Don't let the little things block you from seeing Jesus. The closer you hold them the less Light that gets through...

T

Listening to the Lawnmower

I have an old lawnmower. I don't know how old, we bought it second hand. I've had to do a few Macgyver-ish repairs to it over the years. The push assist doesn't work anymore. It's covered in duct tape and zip ties. But it mows the lawn.

One interesting thing about it is the sound it makes when the grass bag is full. There's a window in the bag so I should be able to see the grass clippings, but it is so old and dirty I have tried to clean it and it lasts about four minutes. So I have another way to tell when the bag is full: the sound. When grass starts feeding back into the mower there is a distinct clunking sound, different from the other clunking sounds of being an old mower. I know when I hear that sound it's time to stop and empty the grass clippings.

As I was mowing the other day I started to think how this in many ways is like hearing God. If I could choose some other way to tell when the bag was full, I'd do it. In a heartbeat. But I can't. I had to learn to let go of how I wanted things to work and learn to listen to the actual signs in the midst of all the other noise.

Sound like God a little?

Too often we have ideas of how we want God to speak or communicate to us. The problem is, it's not up to us. He does it His way. And until we recognize that we will never hear Him. We will miss His voice in the midst of all the other noise.

So what does God sound like? And will you start listening for Him?

My sheep recognize my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ~ John 10:27 (TLB)

T

Support Those Who Support Us

So after having a little time off from the mission trip, here's the one thing that really stuck out to me...

This happens every year, and every year I am surprised. But this year I had a precursor to this experience on our trip. I was a part of a conversation with a couple of youth pastors, one of whom did Youthworks this summer and was very upset with their staff. After hearing their complaints I asked a something more. These students could do anything for the summer but they decide to work at a grueling job for nominal pay so our students can encounter Christ. Did you say "thank-you" or offer them any support?

And as always, the answer is no.

A week before our trip I was talking to Alize, our site director. She was giving me the information on the trip and like always she asked at the end if there was something they could be praying for in regards to our group. And I asked if there were any requests for us to be praying for them.

I was the first person to ask that all summer. We are the second to last group of the year.

During the week we occasionally stop for a treat after a hard day of working, ice cream or Starbucks, something like that. And I purposely bought a few extra for our staff so they could have something too.

I was the first person to do that all summer.

The sad part is so many of us see roles in our society as expected. Don't bother cleaning up the mess you made, that's why we have janitors, it's their job. Why say thank you and help out the Youthworks staff, we paid for this trip and they are working for us.

Really these people are supporting us, whether paid or not. When was the last time you went out of your way to thank someone or support someone who you see as it's their job to support you?

T

Atlanta - Day 6

We are on our way back home. Although I now think Nashville traffic is worse than Atlanta, we managed to have a little fun downtown.

But more importantly we were able to have a little bit of discussion about our trip. During the week we meet together in church groups, but being a group of 35 it's impossible to do that every night and have everyone be a part so we split up into smaller cells. Tonight is the first night we are all together again and can share stories. Our students talked for almost 2.5 hours about the trip, where they saw Jesus, and what they want to remember from this mission experience.

Thanks to Youthworks and all the great staff for a wonderful week, and here are a few stories from our students.

T

This week has been nothing short of amazing. Serving the community in so many different ways is always an amazing time. Personally, I enjoyed going to AG Rhodes, a rehab center, and talking to the residences there. There were 3 ladies I talked to for the majority of my time there, and their amount of wisdom is astounding. They told about how life is such a complex and fragile chain of events. One woman took off at a young age to go to school and make groundbreaking leaps for all women. She came out of college and got a job at a massive company, being 1 of 15 female employees there. One lady described her faith to us and even prayed over us as we left that day. And lastly, the third discussed all her hardship she had in her life, including anxiety and depression. Seeing her that day however, she could not have been a sweeter and kinder lady, and as we talked she made clear how much our presence there means to her. To hear what you are doing means that much to them is quite humbling. Walking into AG Rhodes day one, I did not know how comfortable I was talking to these people I never met. However, at the end of the week, I could not be happier to have spent time with the residences there. I enjoyed that sight so much and I would not hesitate to do something like that again. I will miss mission trips like these a lot. - Adam

No need to worry, all of your family and friends did a wonderful job serving this year, and I’m going to miss all of them as I go off to college. They made this trip a lot of fun even in tasks that otherwise would not have been. This year I had the opportunity to work at places that involved meal packing, so it was pretty much manual labor the entire week. While it may be harder to see Jesus in that than with relational work, the sheer quantity of meals we were able to pack obviously had a huge impact on the individuals who received them. We were thanked by all of them we had the opportunity to meet personally, which was very nice to be able to see. I am very content with my past six years of being able to help at Youthworks, and I have been encouraged to continue serving throughout the rest of my life. - Tyler

I’ll start by saying that the amount of influences and role models in the graduation senior class is pretty much astounding. These people have been accepting and friendly since day one. Having a solid base of friends, especially in jr. high and high school where things change so easily. I will tell you that this change will probably be the hardest. Their friendship makes church and worship exponentially easier. On that note I would like to share my thoughts on this mission trip:

My overall favorite part is getting the opportunity to serve kids at the Nicolas House Camp which is a day camp for kids at the Nicolas House homeless shelter and even kids who don’t live at the shelter. They were rowdy like all little kids but also completely respectful to the authorities. On the first day I was with them in the afternoon when the gym was closed and everyone was packed in a classroom playing bored games there was this one lone kid in the corner, his name was Trenton. I asked him what he would like to play and he said Lego Batman. We did not have any action figures and most of the games were used without many pieces left in them. We ended up using clear packing tape and generic game pawns to reenact the complete story of Lego Batman. His giddy face and bright attitude struck me as the perfect symbolism far the overall theme of the week which was THE GOOD LIFE. I felt like that little kids bright face was how god wanted me to feel with him and his message sent to us through Jesus. I realized God wanted us to be happy with each other no matter the circumstance, He wants us to trust Him, He wants us to serve. Back to what I was saying in the beginning of this story when I reflected upon the influence of our great senior class, the good life is much easier to obtain with a solid support base. Thank you Lord for this truly great blessing. - Jacob

Atlanta - Day 5

It's Thursday! That means two things for our mission trip. It means a lot of good-byes as we have our last day of serving. Good-bye to those we are helping, the kids we are working with, the sites we have worked on. It also means that we will have a time of prayer together as we reflect on our service this week. In this we wash the students' feet and pray for them, then allow them to pray for each other. It's incredibly moving and they love to pray with each other (it took us about 2 1/2 hours).

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us, tomorrow we are up early, we clean and pack, then we head to our pit-stop for the night were we relax a little and all share stories and decompress from the weekend. So, hopefully we will have a blog tomorrow but we'll see what happens. Either way, here are some stories from today, enjoy!

T

Today I spent the morning working at an Atlanta Food Bank, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was nice to see all the things people had donated, and to see so many people working together to pack the food or other items to get them distributed. Packing boxes was actually calming, even though it was fast paced and in the midst of organized chaos. It was also satisfying to see all the boxes we had packed. At one point the table behind us was so full we couldn’t put anymore boxes on it and had to put them on the floor. At the end we were told we packed about 10,900 lbs. The sense of accomplishment and feeling like we made a difference was nice, and pretty much sums up how I feel about this whole trip. -Sabrina

Today we did a lot of things, we went to Atlanta Food Bank in the morning and I packaged food; then in the afternoon we went to Books for Africa for the second time and we sorted books so they can be shipped off to Africa. Afterwards we returned back to home base and did meal prep for dinner. Youthworks tradition dictates that you do a cook out for the community at some point during the week and for us that was today. Meal prep involved moving boxes and serving the community in a more literal sense. I was able to meet a lot of people while giving them a burger or hotdog.

After the cookout we returned back for Large Group Gathering (Nightly Church) where one of the Youthworks staff shared a very personal and touching story before we moved into Church Group Time which has its tradition on Thursday. On Thursday we learn about the foot washing at Passover and then kinda replicate it where the Youthworks staff wash our adult leaders’ feet and then they wash ours and pray for us. After that we are able to pray with other students and chillax. Praying with others is a very moving experience and every students cries at least a little during the process and it brings us all closer together. Thursday is my favorite day of Youthworks trips for that reason. – Carson

My mission trip until today was incredibly bland and uneventful. The worksites were easy and incredibly low interaction wise. Then today, my group was able to move on to work at Books for Africa because we finished the tasks which were required of us by the Salvation Army. Books for Africa was  where I was able to work in an actually challenging environment where the work made me feel as if I am making a difference as I could see the fruits of my labor. The joy this brought me was great and made all the doubt that I was making a difference flood away. Feeling this sense of accomplishment allowed for me to look back on my week and realize all my other accomplishments this week. -Rachel