Help Haiti

I haven't said a whole lot about the earthquake in Haiti, and haven't posted at all about it up to this point because I didn't feel like I should advocate action until I'd taken some. Honestly, it feels like there is little I can do. I can write a check (and have), but I can't be there doing something useful. Lots of money has been sent to Haiti, and more will continue to be sent, but it's only a first step.

What do you really know about Haiti? Despite the fact that my church sends teams to work there several times each year and I do actually know exactly 1 Haitian... I have to confess mostly ignorance beyond the basic fact that it's the "poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere". But I'm learning. Check out the World Factbook for a quick snapshot of the nation. Dig around and learn of some of the history of the island nation (natives driven out by Spain, replaced by Africans as slave labor, the nation ceded to France, revolt, independence, political unrest...). Learn. Give. Pray.

Northwest Haitian Christian Mission is the organization with which our church works closely. They are located a pretty good distance from the quake's epicenter (the nation is not quite as large as the state of Maryland though, so relatively speaking it's not far away). Port-au-Prince is the hub of the nation, so they will be deeply affected in the coming months as 'normal' supplies will be scarce and difficult to transport. No one in the nation will be untouched by the earthquake. Despite the difficulty to come for them, they are sending their own people and supplies into the wreckage to help in every way possible. This is the church at it's best in the worst imaginable circumstances. They are set up to take donations which will be immediately put to use on the ground in Haiti through this link. That link is specifically for this Earthquake Relief effort, not their regular operating expenses (though you can find links to that giving as well).  Mike Grant is one of the directors at NWHCM who is giving some of their perspective on his blog (when local electricity allows). Jody Castillo is also with the mission and shares her perspective as she tries to keep in contact with her husband, Jose who is in PAP doing whatever he can to help.

In addition to the link to NWHCM's giving page, Samaritan's Purse is another organization that is already in Haiti at work (focusing right now on clean water and temporary housing) through which you can donate, as is Compassion. CNN has compiled a list of a number of other organizations as well if you're looking for something specific. When I give, I want it to be as direct as possible, so the 3 I've listed are agencies that have proven themselves, and were already at work in Haiti before the quake - they already have relationships established that will be necessary to get the assistance where it needs to go quickly.

I don't want to just sit in my comfort and cry about this devastation... Learn. Pray. Give.

Leave Me Alone?

As I read through Matthew 8, I can't help but think about how awesome Jesus is. As he's traveling around, he healed a leper, healed a Roman officer's suffering and paralyzed servant from a distance, healed Peter's mother-in-law, calmed a freakin' storm (!) and cast a bunch of demons into a herd of pigs.

Jesus is incredible and we need to not forget that. (Not just because of these amazing things, but because of who he is.) I love how Jesus stops the crowd for a moment when the Roman officer told him he wasn't worthy to have Jesus come to his house ("Could you just heal him from here?")... Jesus was amazed.

Does our faith amaze Jesus? Is he astonished at how we trust his authority? I'm afraid too often we're like the people of the town near the pig-in-a-lake incident. "The entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone." His authority threatened their system - He made it obvious that whatever control over their little slice of the world they thought they had was only an illusion. So they told Jesus to go away. One of the saddest moments in the Bible - Jesus was there with them, the power to make them whole... and they sent Him away. I know most of us would never say those words to Jesus - but the way we try to control our own lives speaks loudly to our Creator. "Leave me alone. I've got it covered. I can handle this."

But the truth is, we can't. Sometimes in difficult circumstances, you'll hear people say that "God will never give you more than you can handle". That may be the biggest load of crap ever twisted out of misinterpreted Scripture. But He can handle it. He is not surprised by the circumstances that cause us to go Psalm 22 ("My God, my God... why have you forsaken me?"). He wants to see in us a Psalm 23, amazing faith. ("I will fear no evil, for you are with me.") May we remember how awesome Jesus is (even if His followers make some colossal blunders sometimes) and lean on His authority in our lives.

Reorienting

"I believe there is more in store for the local church... that throws off meaningless things and embraces who God is and what He has called them to do."

I pulled that quote from Perry Noble's post on his blog today because it reminded me of something I wasn't really thinking about yesterday (but should have been). Actually, the whole post was something I needed to hear - What Keeps Me Focused as a Leader. Yesterday, I was out of focus (honestly not just yesterday, it's kind of been an ongoing thing) until a bit of a kick in the butt from God when I started to step back and worship Him. It's always great when those kicks come while you're standing behind a microphone and a guitar in front of a room full of students! [...awkward...]

I've been frustrated lately by some stuff that's outside the realm of my influence, and I've let that affect me way too much... distract me from the One that I'm here for. The One who loves this church infinitely more than I do, and who knows what He's doing with it. But I do believe that the best is yet to come, if we will abandon pointless things, embrace God, and do what He calls us to do.

I have two students getting baptized soon, others just floating with little understanding of why they're here, another feeling worthless and probably trying meth and doing who knows what to pay for it, others who are getting more and more passionate about revealing God to their friends and learning to love as God loves... I'd appreciate your prayers as I try to be the focused leader they deserve. The church is His people living on His mission - don't give up.

So you think you know their motives?

In reading today, I came across an episode in Joshua (ch. 22) that is a great example of conflict resolution on a social level (this wasn't just an individual in conflict with another individual). The tribes that were settling east of the Jordan (Reuben, Gad, & Manasseh) had sent warriors to help the rest of the tribes establish themselves. Once everyone was tucked into their new digs, Joshua thanked them for their selfless service to the nation and sent them back to their own clans.

These guys recognized the natural border of the Jordan River and anticipated that in the future, it may become a barrier between them and the rest of Israel. They were afraid they would be left out of the nation, essentially. So they built an altar there as a memorial - to remind the other tribes of the nation that they were family, too, and to remind their own descendants that they were part of the people on the other side of the river. This expression of their faith, however, was badly misinterpreted by the other tribes as an act of rebellion against God.  "The altar" (the Tabernacle altar) was the only appropriate altar - so they gathered to go to war against what they saw as an insurrection against the very God who'd rescued them from Egypt and given them this land. This was a major offense and they were ready to fight!

Wisely, however, they sent a delegation ahead of the war party that was able to find out what was going on. When the people of Rueben, Gad, and Manasseh humbly offered their defense for the altar (they weren't intending to betray God), and explained their intent (they wanted to stay connected to God and His people), the delegation was satisfied and war was averted. They would remain one people serving one God.

I wonder how well we offer this same grace to people today who express their faith a little differently than we do? Do we stick with the first conclusion we jump to (often the most negative one), or do we go to the group we've taken issue with and find out the truth of the matter? Or do we just ignore the problem and let bitterness hold us hostage? It's easy to gather a tribe within a congregation and nurse a grudge against 'the others' but it leaves "the people" less than whole. Don't let misconceptions separate your tribe from the rest of the body.

Crying over Dirty Water?

A few weeks ago, Josiah was crying at bedtime because I wouldn't let him drink some juice he wanted. He'd had some water and I told him that was enough. The truth is, he was way beyond tired and the water-only moment was more of a spur that popped the tear-balloon than anything else. But as I was trying to get him to stop wailing he made the comment that's always in the running for the "most likely to push Dad over the edge" title: "It's not fair!"

No, son, it's not fair that you've been born into a family where water is readily available, cool for your refreshment (or warmed for those cold days), and free of diseases that will kill you. I said something to the fact that millions of kids will go to bed tonight without any water, and millions more will have to drink dirty water that will kill them. "If you want to cry about something, cry about that."

I'm sure his dreams were less than pleasant that night. To be honest, I was tired, too, and was probably kind of a jerk about it. But the fact remains that millions of kids will die this year from lack of clean water. Living Water International is doing something more than just "cry about it." They are providing "a cup of water in Jesus' name" in places where such a "cup" is needed most desperately.

Last week, I registered for a half marathon in May in Colorado. I wanted to add a little extra purpose to my running, so I have also signed on to use the race to raise money for LWI. (That link will take you directly to a page where you can donate.) Maybe you want to do something more than "cry about it." Every dollar raised will provide roughly enough clean water for 1 person for a year. Thanks for your help.

Teach What Matters

Several years ago, when I was packing up my office in Auburn to move to Scottsbluff, several of my students were hanging out, helping me load books in boxes and transfer files and get the room cleared out and ready for Eli to work his magic. (Eli subsequently lost the territory to the church secretary and got stuck in a closet somewhere, but that's a whole other story!) While I wasn't looking, these students put a bunch of sticky notes in places where I'd find them later. For the first 6 months in my new office, I was finding little notes of thanks and encouragement and "Surprise!" notes all over the place.

I hadn't found any for a while, but I just found another one! It may be the best one yet. Tucked into the back of the book of Romans (in a translation I apparently haven't been using lately) was a little sticky note with a simple question:

"What does the Bible say?"

Glad to know that something that matters stuck with them. What I teach only matters if it's a reflection of what God has already said. What I say only matters when my words dance to the rhythm of His Word. It's too easy in youth ministry to become "the answer man" - instead, I want to direct students to dig into God's word for themselves. That way, I'm making disciples, not dependents.

Thanks for the reminder, guys. Keep digging into what matters most.

First Post of the Year...

For the first post of 2010, I looked back at what have been my first posts for the past few years.

2009... Part 4 of a series I called "Imagine"  I dealt with some obstacles to doing ministry out of imagination instead of memory (an important thought from Mark Batterson). This particular post had to do with using "past success as a vehicle that will launch us into tomorrow instead of a bed upon which to rest or a wall to prop us up." I really liked this post... wish I was doing a better job of living it out! But to be honest, I just wrote an article the other day about resting on past successes. Maybe this year, I'll listen to myself more intently. Maybe other people will listen too. Let's stop repeating the past and create the future!

2008... Who Belongs Here? In this post, I reflected on some thoughts I'd had as a visitor to a church and wondered what a guest experience at our church looks like. As I think about it, the system is still the same here as it was then. The positives are still in place and the deficiencies are still there, too. We can do better.

2007... DIA Din On the way to class at Hope (was that really 3 whole years ago?!), waiting in a very busy airport, I issued this call to truly live - to do more than "suck and blow air... do more than create some noise as we scurry about." I'm stilling playing this drum. Life is not a series of mundane breaths and busy activities - it is an adventure in bringing praise to our Creator!

2006... Insight from a 3 year old Dakota We were sitting in a Christmas Eve service and Dakota leaned over in the stillness, with wonder and concern in his eyes. I could tell he was a little worried about what he was going to do. The problem? In his own whispered words, "Dad, I'm running out of quiet." May we be so filled with the presence of God that we cannot possibly keep quiet!

2005... Hope for a new venture My first blog post of 2005 didn't come until April 7th. That's because that was the day I decided to start blogging. The theme was hope (not the Obama kind). What if we lived our lives with such hope that all fear was driven out of our lives? I still ask myself this question. There are times when discouragement threatens to wreck everything I've been learning in my 10 years of ministry. I need hope to keep going.
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It's interesting to look back at these snapshots of where God's been leading me (and maybe where I've redirected off course from time to time). It's a strange thing to think of collecting thoughts and throwing them out there for people to digest. I hope someone's been able to gain as much from reading my blog as I've gained from writing it. We have so far to go in our quest to know God. May we glean from each other as much as possible as we travel together...

Impossible is Nothing

"We're too young to know certain things are impossible, so we will do them anyway." (the William Pitt character in the movie Amazing Grace)

What a disservice we do to the world when we rob youth of their dreams and teach them what can't be done. What if instead, we showed them "Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine..." and helped them learn to fully love and follow His lead?

Too Easy...

I still remember the first time a teacher really joined my parents in pushing me to want to do my best. Mostly I'd been coasting through most of my classes - satisfied with doing better than others (instead of doing my best). I wonder who is pushing kids today to do their best? Who is coaching them to raise the bar of their own expectations?

It seems like everything is rewarded these days, to the point where very little is actually expected. Attendance awards, certificates of completion... I think I was in the first wave of recipients of the proverbial "participation ribbon". I was in about 4th Grade competing on the swim team. I did ok, but was definitely not culling a lot of blue ribbons from the pool! While my little brother won almost every backstroke race he entered, I mostly took home these ugly purple ribbons that boldly labeled me a "participant". (I have a theory that connects the genesis of Barney the dinosaur to the ubiquitous recycling of hordes of these purple "awards for showing up"... just a thought.) Who were they kidding? I didn't feel better because I got to take home such a "prize", I felt like a chump who didn't belong with the real swimmers.

I could churn my short little arms and skinny little legs as hard and fast as I wanted to, my ribbons were mostly going to have high numbers (or "participant") stamped on them. Then I discovered the long races. At every swim meet, there seemed to be a break time, where everyone just kind of sat around and did nothing. Long periods with no starting sounds, no cheering... maybe just a Popsicle and a wet towel to use for a bleacher pillow. One day I noticed that while almost everybody was sitting around, there were about 5 kids still in the pool - just plowing their rows back and forth in the water. These guys were doing what most of the rest of us wouldn't do... the longest races... the hardest races. I decided that was what I was going to do. If I couldn't swim faster than they could, I'd swim farther that they would. Suddenly, my ribbon collection was tinted blue. I was winning races.

But even that wasn't because I was a great swimmer... it was because I entered races that almost no one else wanted to do. They were too hard. There was little competition. It's easy to get the bronze when there are only 3 racers! Sometimes, you win by attrition... everyone else quits because it's too hard.

We need to be challenged to higher expectations - not just for young people, but for all of us. Just showing up is too easy. You can coast through life if you want to and stick to the status quo. That's exactly what a lot of people and churches do. But what if we didn't? What if we refuse to settle for the ordinary? What if we decided that the status quo is not good enough?
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A Few of My Favorite Things of 2009

No raindrops on roses here, or even whiskers on kittens... but since the year is winding down, here are a few of my favorite new and not so new things from 2009:

Experiences:
Lucid -WestWay hosted the 2009 rendition of the Spring Thing youth rally this year. The rain was incessant, and the attendance was low - but One Time Blind was awesome and God was simply amazing. It was a great weekend of worship and being challenged to deeper faith. Here's a post with some after thoughts regarding the weekend.
Catalyst West Coast - Immediately following Lucid, I headed to the west coast for Catalyst with my good friends, Jimmy and Rodd. (No that's not a euphemism for a couple travelling goodies packed away in my suitcase, it's the two names of two guys that I drug to California in April.) Catalyst was a great experience from which I took away so much that I'll spare you a rehash here.  But check out my posts from late April to see what we were gleaning from a great rented Mustang ride, Andy Stanley, Perry Noble, Guy Kawasaki (and the rest of an incredible speaker lineup), as well as In-n-Out, Jack in the Box, and Chick-fil-A induced euphoria.
The Coldwater Mission - This was the summer when I finally was able to pull together a group of students and adults to go on a mission trip to an unknown location with an unknown job to do.  We depended on God and got to see Him work in some exciting and wall-paper-scraping ways! Most of these posts from August revolve around Coldwater.

Books:
Sustainable Youth Ministry - A lot of youth ministry is not sustainable. It just can't keep going the way it's going. Youth ministers burn out, volunteers flame out, and students check out. This book will go a long way toward helping a church that wants to build a youth ministry with a larger view than the next big event. Any church looking for a youth minister needs to have the search team (or whoever is responsible for the selection) read and discuss this book early in the process.

Primal & Wild Goose Chase - Goose Chase is a challenging look at the Holy Spirit as the guiding force of our lives. We don't need to be in control as much as we need to be responsive. Primal digs into what is really at the essence of Christianity - and what is all too often deficient in our day to day living: loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, & strength. I really appreciate how Batterson pulls together so many different fields of interest in illuminating Scripture.

An Unstoppable Force - The first book by Erwin McManus I came across several years ago, I still think it's his best. I don't re-read very many books, but this one is one of my annual favorites. The church can (and should) be so much more than what most people (even many of those on the inside) think it is. I gave away my copy this year, but will definitely be buying another in 2010.

Tribes - This book was a freebie from Catalyst this spring. Glad I got it! Lots of great stuff about how a group of people can come together with leadership. I'm still not completely comfortable with calling someone my "tribe" but there is a lot of wisdom to be found here.

Jim & Casper Go to Church - Henderson and Casper let us in on a great experiment: church guy and atheist visit churches together all across the country and share perspectives/observations with each other. Lots of eye-opening stuff.

They Like Jesus, But not the Church - Kimball shares the stories of a generation who has grown very skeptical of the church, but still have a pretty high opinion of Jesus (even if it's based on an incomplete perception of him). Enlightening thoughts about some areas where we (the church) may not be reflecting Jesus as well as we think we are.

UnChristian - Completing the "take of the insider-blinders" trifecta, this book, based on solid research, shares what young people outside the church see when they look at the church. Perception is important, and younger generations are not perceiving the church in a very healthy light - we need to do better.

Crazy Love & Forgotten God - Are we really in love with Jesus? Does our faith make too much sense? Francis Chan opens his heart and shares a glimpse of what it looks like to really love Jesus in Crazy Love. Forgotten God focuses on the "third person" of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit. Why is it that we don't seem to talk about Him near as much as the Father and the Son? Is He really just a "silent partner" in the Godhead? I don't think so, and Chan does a great job leading the reader into a deeper walk with the Holy Spirit.

Music:
new worship music - Steve Fee led a number of the sessions of worship at Catalyst West Coast with the Hillsong United crew leading a couple times. The passion with which these guys approach their craft sparked something within me that's been a little dormant for way too long. The church needs to continually create great art that is an expression of worship given to our Creator.

Websites/Tech:
NewSpring Community Church - After being so encouraged by their pastor in April, I began to dig into the website of this church in South Carolina. These guys are doing awesome stuff with technology and teamwork. Check out their services sometime (either live or archived).
Twitter - I'm usually way too wordy for only 140 characters, but decided to give this a shot earlier this year. It's a fun and interesting way to share thoughts. I've especially loved getting a peak into the everyday workings of some leaders I greatly respect. You'll find me as 6drews on twitter if you're dying to see if I can really say anything with such a restricted word count! One thought that twitter has brought to mind is that if I can't tweet a sermon (summarize it in 140 characters), the people I'm talking to probably don't know what I'm talking about either...
Friends Starting Blogs
Several friends have started blogging this year - some often, some not quite so often. I'm excited to see what will develop as my WestWay friends share what God is doing through this forum. I've gained a great deal from blogging and am praying they will too. Check the "Blogs of Local Friends and Family" area on the left side of this page to see what they're saying.  Feel free to castigate any of them who have not posted lately!

Family:
Mine is awesome! No additions this year, but Liz turned 3, Josiah is still hilarious, Dakota is the coolest 1st grader I know, and Emily is closer to the age I was when I got married than to the age she was when she started to walk! Their mom spent the year being incredible. She is definitely my favorite.

Things I Just Don't Get This Time of Year

Do you ever just step back and look at the way things are going around you and wonder why they're going that way?  I do.  And sometimes, like the end of every year, I just don't get it. Maybe someone can explain these things about the holidays to me...

-"The Sweater" - What is it about Christmas that makes people think it's appropriate to buy someone a shirt that looks like a pile of technicolor mohair vomit?

-Fruitcake

-Standing in line to buy stuff for people that don't really want it, who are also standing in line to buy stuff for you that you don't really want. What if we just spent that time doing something together for someone else who actually needs our help?

-Parents enduring untold stress to "protect" their children from finding out that Santa's not really a part of this whole thing we call reality. Santa's a fun character. Let him be fun, but ask yourself why are you working so hard to maintain a lie?

-"The Sweater Team Photo" - Sorry mom, we don't really want to look like the Partridge family in our matching mohair for the latest Christmas photo op.

-Adults fighting over toys in stores - and (the near tangent) parents desperately seeking "this year's Elmo". Seriously people, your child's Christmas will not be ruined if they don't get the poo-poo pet or PS720 or whatever else "the hot new thing" is supposed to be next year.

-Why no one ever does a Christmas play re-enacting the Revelation 12 account of Jesus' advent?  Really, go look it up. This whole Christmas thing isn't just about a baby in a manger and family time and presents and bowl games, it's about the winning salvo in a war much larger than we may imagine.

-Thinking that coercing someone into saying "Merry Christmas" is some kind of victory. We can't expect the world to tell our story. That's our job.

The baby in the manger came for a reason. He had a mission that he passed on to his followers, to be carried out until he comes again. Don't misplace your part in that mission among the tinsel and figgy-pudding.

Primal Book Review

A few months ago, I caught an invitation on Mark Batterson's blog to review his upcoming release Primal as part of a blog tour for the book. I signed up with the publisher, then sort of forgot about it. Over the next several weeks, Batterson had giveaways on his blog of his book to various groups; campus pastors, worship pastors, lead pastors... I eagerly waited for the book to be offered to youth pastors, but to no avail. Then an e-mail came from the publisher and I remembered I did indeed have a free book on the way, anyway!

I've enjoyed Batterson's blog and the other two books I've read from him, so I had high expectations for Primal. The subtitle of the book (A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity) really struck a chord with me. As a youth minister, I work with a lot of people who's faith seems to have lost (or never really found) its soul... so many people acting out what they think they "should" be doing and not really fully living.

The book digs into the question, "What is the primal essence of Christianity?" and discovers that at the heart of our faith is the Great Commandment: to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. "We need to be great at the Great Commandment."  Batterson dives into what it means to love God in 4 parts within the book (heart, soul, mind, strength). In each segment, he weaves Scripture with research and stories from a broad range of topics to explore loving God completely.

All of this, for Batterson, leads to a new Reformation of the church. A reformation not led by powerful personalities or creedal figures, but by "millions of reformers living compassionately, creatively, and courageously for the cause of Christ. It will be marked by broken hearts and sanctified imaginations. And the driving force will be the love of God. A love that is full of compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy."

I looked back over the year and found that the first book I read in 2009 was Batterson's Wild Goose Chase. It was a great place to start the year. Primal is a great place for you to start 2010. Rediscover your primal love for God.

Heard of Advent Conspiracy?

Some great stuff over at Advent Conspiracy. If you haven't heard of this, do the world a favor and spend a few minutes at their site. See what happens. Christmas CAN still change the world.

A Frozen Walk with an Affirming Father

I need affirmation. Maybe I'm not internally motivated enough, maybe my confidence is not what it should be, but I need to hear how I'm doing from someone else's perspective. I settle sometimes for other people's perceptions, but what I really need is the affirmation of my Father. You do, too. There is a question in all of us that begs to be answered with God's "Well done. Come enter into my rest."

Last night after all the students had gone home, all the lights were shut off and the doors were locked, I headed home feeling as good as I've felt for a long time. The question we covered in our series last night dealt with the mystery of the Trinity - how can God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit be three and be one? The simple truth is I don't know how, but the question brought me to wonder again. If we stop wondering about God, we may begin to think we know all we need to know about Him - and that's a dangerous place to be.

God knows us more intimately than we can fathom, and He wants us to know Him more deeply as well. He is not merely a far-off overlord watching from a distance - He became one of us! He is not just an amazing teacher or caring humanitarian that used to live in the Middle East - He is THE creative power living inside of us!

I went for a walk late last night after I got home. Just a short walk - it was well below zero (about 20 below Celsius for my Canadian friends). Being that cold, there weren't too many dogs out barking, only a few vehicles passing by, and the more sane of our local species tucked away in their warm homes. It was incredibly still - a moment of rest. If anyone noticed me out there, they may have only seen some dope out wandering around in the cold, but I saw more. Fascinated by the God who made the cold, dry snow crunch beneath every step, who made every star I could see and every one I couldn't, and who drew out the longest-burning meteorite I've ever seen... I saw God.

It was as if He spread out His canvas for me to see and said "Look... I'm still here." And though I know there is much I can and should be doing better, it was a moment of affirmation. A reminder that I'm being obedient, and a nudge to keep being so. The designer of the Denver Art Museum, Daniel Libeskind said of the building "I hope the building has an openness that everyone can fill with their own imagination." I was reminded last night, in a frozen moment of clarity, that my life needs to have an openness, too. An openness to the mysteries of God. I hope my life has an openness that God can fill with His imagination. I pray yours does, too...

Faith is measured by action, not attendance.

"I think many of us doubt Scripture simply because we haven't done it." - Mark Batterson

I came across this quote yesterday in Batterson's new book, Primal, and it made me think about whether I'm "doing" the Bible very well and how the church is doing in living out our faith. Too often, I think we measure faith by attendance frequency and coloring inside the lines - But the Bible has a whole lot more to say than "Be good and go to church."

My faith isn't measured by how many verses I can find faster than the next guy or my perfect attendance on Sundays (especially since that's pretty much a job requirement anyway). My faith is measured by the impact it has in the world around me. It's measured by how well I'm doing what Scripture says.

Last week a lady measured my faith by the fact that she didn't have to sleep outside in the cold... She called at about the single most inconvenient time in the week for me. It was Wednesday night about 5:30 or so - students coming at 7:00, music team coming in half an hour, lots of last minute things to get ready. But the phone rang, and I was the only one in the building, so I answered. For the next 25 minutes, I went through every option I could think of to steer this lady to someone else who could help her. "This place won't let me stay there because I'm not abused - this place won't let me stay there because I'm not bipolar - they won't help because I'm not just passing through..." On and on it went. She had sought solutions and found lots of closed doors, sending her back out into all 10 degrees. The desperation on the other end of the line didn't need me to go to church on Sunday - didn't need me to stand up and recite Psalm 23 - She needed me to take seriously what Jesus said in Mt. 25. She needed me to DO what Jesus says, not just read it.

As we talked I kept thinking about all the other things I had to get done in the next hour... but then the voice of Jesus broke through the clutter in my head and asked me "What good is it going to do to wish her well and send her on her way?" Then his brother James was a little more blunt: "Don't merely listen to the word... Do what it says." How could I stand in front of a group of students and worship and teach them how to help a friend in need (which was ironically the topic that night) if I just hung up the phone and did nothing? I couldn't. So I grabbed the first kid that showed up and we went on a little ride to find a total stranger and take her someplace warm and dry.

We grow in our understanding of Scripture only when we do what it says.

What are you doing today?

It's All Him

I often wonder if I'm tragically destined to beat my head against one wall after another. It just seems like I often find myself compelled to beat a drum that no one really wants to hear. It's a frustrating way to live, but the alternative feels like disobedience or faithlessness or maybe even rejecting the God who made me & telling Him I know better than He does.

I found a great reminder reading Perry Noble's post today - Why I Am Frustrated. He lists some conditions that lead to frustration, and the fourth one is "Not Realizing That Zechariah 4:6 is True!!!" He writes that,

"So many times I will work myself into a frenzy thinking that ministry results are up to me (which is SO dangerous because it either always leads to pride or depression!) God said it's not up to me...but up to HIM!!! This means I am called to do my very best...and then know that HE is going to bring about HIS fruit in HIS time!!!"

The city of Jerusalem wasn't rebuilt because a couple guys became great leaders and were able to rally the people to complete the project. It was rebuilt because the Spirit of God was moving to have it rebuilt. I desperately need to remember that the results of my ministry are not up to me.

I've always been wary of becoming prideful at the work God has done around me. I'm careful to remember that it's Him who's doing the real work on people's hearts when I see things going well. I can't really think of a time where I pridefully took credit for what God did (thankfully)... But I haven't done as well at knowing that forgetting the fact that "it's all Him" can lead me into depression when things aren't going as well. It's easy for me to become frustrated at the change that isn't happening (or isn't happening fast enough) and get into a funk that spirals downward, robbing me of the hope that anything will ever change at all.

God is in the business of transformation, and I LOVE to see that happening in people and churches and communities. I love to be a small part of God's transforming work. I just need to remember that the results are up to Him.

When I start thinking too much about the lack of outcomes or the perceived slowness of transformation, I can get so dejected that I fail to do my part. "It's not working anyway... why bother... someone else is going to just undo whatever good this great idea/sermon/song/event is going to do... it's not worth the effort..." These lies sap the strength from our efforts to do our part. They keep us (or maybe it's just me) focused on what WE are NOT accomplishing instead of what God CAN do.

May I see again what God can do...

May I simply do my part...

Even if that feels like beating my head against a wall.