haven't had the time to blog much lately...but here's some very random thoughts from life right now:
- as a ministry we are doing the 30 Hour Famine today and tomorrow. REALLY beginning to look forward to this event, the awareness that it raises to the issue of world hunger and our responsibility. maybe it's the youth pastor part of me right now, but i think i'm even more excited about the names on the list of those coming to this event - a number of teens we've either never met or have had very little contact with. still wondering what about giving up food for 30 straight hours is attractive to teenagers...
- just last night finished up a two week series called 'more than a glance' to help us get ready for the famine. powerful series. last Thursday Todd Bush came and spoke and really challenged us all in big ways - super practical, very fun, highly interactive, and immensely powerful!
- shanna and i were looking at the calendar the other day and realized that we have successfully stacked the last 5 weekends with ministry stuff, and the one before that we made the big move into the house. i'm thinking that might be a new definition of insanity...or stupidity.
- we are REALLY getting pumped for alaina & brendan's wedding...pumped because those are always fun times...but definitely pumped also because it's on the beach in florida. we're planning to extend the few days down there in may an extra couple days...and take the rest of the week off as a quiet vacation.
- easter's coming and i'm extremely excited. easter is one of those times when "not-really-into-church" kind of people are more likely to come. i love lakeshore because when people come to church there it doesn't really feel like "church"...which is good because many time the "feel" of church is kind of uncomfortable, and if we're honest we'd rather just go to the dentist. lakeshore doesn't feel like that...and i'm pumped that people will be able to connect with God in some new and refreshing ways!
ok gotta go...
3.27.2009
3.20.2009
just going through the motions
so God has been doing lots in my heart lately and to be honest it has messed me up in a number of ways. time for blogging has been scarce lately because the pace right now (admittedly unhealthy) has not allowed it. was just at the hospital visiting a friend who's really sick, and on the way home on the radio came the following song:
as i listened, i'm not sure exactly if the "connection" between the song and life right now is easily noticeable, but it reinforces a new cry in my heart that i feel God is developing. and God broke me with it. God is working on my heart to notice people for the first time all over again...to notice people as people and love them because of the image of God inside them. i'm rediscovering a new heart and passion for lost people, and i think i'm starting to come to grips with the reality of the Christ-less eternity that so many will spend. i want hurt and pain to go away, and i long for the day when every tear is wiped away. but in a way i can't explain i so desperately don't want that day to come. not yet.
some of what i've been noticing lately:
- the friend i went to starbucks with a few weeks ago who desperately wants to believe but needs proof
- the time shared with a friend while eating a garbage plate and talking about the commitment involved in turning from sin and following God
- our new neighbors at the house who are so warm and friendly
- the girl at youth group last night who nearly broke into tears as we affirmed her and told her that she's beautiful in God's eyes and loved by us
- the uncertainty of hospital beds
- the incredible minority that i'm a part of...and our responsibility to the world's poorest as well as those down the street
i don't want to go through the motions anymore; i'm sick of cheap christianity and shallow faith...
as i listened, i'm not sure exactly if the "connection" between the song and life right now is easily noticeable, but it reinforces a new cry in my heart that i feel God is developing. and God broke me with it. God is working on my heart to notice people for the first time all over again...to notice people as people and love them because of the image of God inside them. i'm rediscovering a new heart and passion for lost people, and i think i'm starting to come to grips with the reality of the Christ-less eternity that so many will spend. i want hurt and pain to go away, and i long for the day when every tear is wiped away. but in a way i can't explain i so desperately don't want that day to come. not yet.
some of what i've been noticing lately:
- the friend i went to starbucks with a few weeks ago who desperately wants to believe but needs proof
- the time shared with a friend while eating a garbage plate and talking about the commitment involved in turning from sin and following God
- our new neighbors at the house who are so warm and friendly
- the girl at youth group last night who nearly broke into tears as we affirmed her and told her that she's beautiful in God's eyes and loved by us
- the uncertainty of hospital beds
- the incredible minority that i'm a part of...and our responsibility to the world's poorest as well as those down the street
i don't want to go through the motions anymore; i'm sick of cheap christianity and shallow faith...
3.18.2009
3.11.2009
overwhelmed
from the lack of posts lately you'd grow to believe that we either gave up blogging, don't believe in it anymore, or lost our computer. but it actually isn't any of these...it's just that life has been too busy to make it a priority. there's lots and lots to share and i can't wait to get some time to do it...but it's not now either. just wanted to let you know we are still here, but blogging has been placed on the back burner. cya soon...
2.24.2009
i want that
had an experience the other day that for me really challenged me and where i'm at right now. it's funny how when we get around other people there's unplanned and unanticipated moments where God uses their life to point you in a direction you need to head.
we were just about to start a student leadership meeting (all of our ministry teams come together once a month for lunch, training, discussion, and prayer). as the meeting was just about to get started some things occurred that absolutely torqued me - my blood was boiling. i knew it needed to be addressed in the meeting, and i knew i needed to use a specific passage of scripture, namely the one where the disciples are arguing about who's gonna be first in the kingdom, and Jesus comes at them and says the famous line 'whoever wants to be great among you must be a servant of all'. i felt like as a team we were really missing the boat on the heart of leadership - that at it's core it's completely about selflessness and servant-based. i knew this passage was right for it...but i had a problem... i couldn't find it. i searched and searched, but came up empty. the dinky concordance in the back of the bible i had wasn't cutting it. it was like it had entries for "jesus" and "God" and "love"...but nothing else. i asked some of our adult leaders if they knew where it was, and they began pulling out their bibles and searching as well.
finally i knew the meeting had to get started. in one last effort, i asked one of our other adult leaders who's known for spending hours upon hours reading and studying God's Word if he knew where it was. after asking, he said...'give me a second'...and literally i stood there for 5 seconds watching him close his eyes, think really hard, and then he said: 'mark 10'.
i turned there, and sure enough mark 10:35-45 was exactly what i was looking for. amazing.
as i left the meeting for the next thing in my schedule, all i could say in my mind and heart is 'i want that'. i want to be able to have read, stared at, breathed in, meditated on, looked at, and studied up God's Word to the point where i can just shout out where something is on command. not to puff my already stuffed ego up any higher or give myself some sense of spiritual elitism... but to be able to use His Word as it was designed. any soldier over in afghanistan knows how to use his gun - he knows how the specific parts of the gun were designed for different functions, and he's been trained and is ready to use it when needed.
i want that. wow...i want that!
we were just about to start a student leadership meeting (all of our ministry teams come together once a month for lunch, training, discussion, and prayer). as the meeting was just about to get started some things occurred that absolutely torqued me - my blood was boiling. i knew it needed to be addressed in the meeting, and i knew i needed to use a specific passage of scripture, namely the one where the disciples are arguing about who's gonna be first in the kingdom, and Jesus comes at them and says the famous line 'whoever wants to be great among you must be a servant of all'. i felt like as a team we were really missing the boat on the heart of leadership - that at it's core it's completely about selflessness and servant-based. i knew this passage was right for it...but i had a problem... i couldn't find it. i searched and searched, but came up empty. the dinky concordance in the back of the bible i had wasn't cutting it. it was like it had entries for "jesus" and "God" and "love"...but nothing else. i asked some of our adult leaders if they knew where it was, and they began pulling out their bibles and searching as well.
finally i knew the meeting had to get started. in one last effort, i asked one of our other adult leaders who's known for spending hours upon hours reading and studying God's Word if he knew where it was. after asking, he said...'give me a second'...and literally i stood there for 5 seconds watching him close his eyes, think really hard, and then he said: 'mark 10'.
i turned there, and sure enough mark 10:35-45 was exactly what i was looking for. amazing.
as i left the meeting for the next thing in my schedule, all i could say in my mind and heart is 'i want that'. i want to be able to have read, stared at, breathed in, meditated on, looked at, and studied up God's Word to the point where i can just shout out where something is on command. not to puff my already stuffed ego up any higher or give myself some sense of spiritual elitism... but to be able to use His Word as it was designed. any soldier over in afghanistan knows how to use his gun - he knows how the specific parts of the gun were designed for different functions, and he's been trained and is ready to use it when needed.
i want that. wow...i want that!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)