There is a new song (well, new to me) out there written by Kristian Stanfill. It's called "Lord of All" and it's awesome! Reverent, glorifying, and ultimately a great song to sing praises to the Lord of all! Enjoy!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
My Jerusalem...
Coming off our Disciple Now weekend, themed Impacting My Space With God, I made a new discovery about what my “space” really is. There is a banner on our Youth room wall that displays Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my (Christ’s) witnesses is Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” We have been trying to embrace this as a major goal in each of our lives, as well as a unified group, thus creating the idea for this past D-Now weekend. When we consider being a witness for Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth, we must dial in exactly what and where those places are and how we (personally) can make an impact. Through talking with many of the Youth who attended D-Now God has brought me to the conclusion that everywhere we go is our Jerusalem. Let me break this down, and I’m going to start with the world-view.
“The end of the earth” is pretty self-explanatory, in that it lets us know, as Christ-followers, that we have a duty to spreading the Word of God for the sake of His kingdom. The Youth program at Quinault is heading to Haiti during late July and early August to make sure we’re meeting this call. Haiti, for us North-westerners, is considered to be part of this world-wide vision that Christ describes in the passage. We feel it is important to answer the call to take the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth, and Haiti is one way we are doing that.
“Samaria” would include a viewpoint that isn’t quite so broad as “to the end of the earth,” but it certainly does imply a rather large physical territory for us to reach. It describes a land mass (and people group) that is part of the United States and/or even North America. Another group of students (and adults) at Quinault is heading to Salt Lake City, Utah on July 3rd, 2009 for a mission trip organized by World Changers (WC). This trip may sound familiar to you as many of the Quinault Youth went of the same mission trip last summer. We are going down there to repair/build homes for the less fortunate. We felt very strongly the hand of God being present last summer, and we are excited to be getting back there to serve in this manner.
“Judea” would be an area consisting of the Northwest and its surroundings. Places like Seattle, Bozeman, Spokane, Portland, Boise, northern California, and even parts of Western Canada would be considered part of this geographical area. Certainly it is part of the world, and part of North America, but it has a much more localized focus. If you don’t already know, the Pacific Northwest, in conjunction with the North-eastern United States (which is a recent development), has the least evangelized communities and the least number of Christ-followers per capita than anywhere else in the nation. These are a couple of very tough eggs to crack as people become more and more secluded from human contact. People in these areas are truly becoming introverted with a few very close friends and very little human contact. The Youth of Quinault have been working on ways we can reach out to the people in our current day Judea.
Jerusalem for Jesus’ disciples was their immediate surroundings of the city they lived in. This would translate, for us, as the Tri-Cities and Columbia Basin area. I would put a 50-75 mile radius on this one to keep us pretty close. Specifically, this would include Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, Benton City, Finley, Burbank, and other “very close” communities.
What impacted me the most during our D-Now weekend was this:
~Wherever we are physically located at any given time, we are in Jerusalem. What I mean is, whether I’m in Kennewick, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Haiti, or China, my immediate surroundings are the “Jerusalem” that I am charged by Christ to witness to. This is huge! This means that no matter where I am in the world Jesus wants me, since I have received the Holy Spirit, to be His witness... right there... Not just when I get back to Kennewick; not just when I get to church on Sunday; not just when I’m with my friends. He wants me to be His witness no matter where I am! The impact I have on my immediate surroundings are what Jesus wants me to be concerned with! “My space” is right where I am whenever I’m there.
Whether I’m walking along a dirt trail in China, or a sidewalk in Richland, whoever I come into contact with is someone I can be a witness to... someone I can show the light and the love of God to with my words, attitude, and actions. God has sent the Holy Spirit to empower us, and keep us from fear, while we are telling His story. Shine the light that God has given you, and don’t be afraid to share His story, His love, and even your story to people you encounter in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the rest of the world!
“The end of the earth” is pretty self-explanatory, in that it lets us know, as Christ-followers, that we have a duty to spreading the Word of God for the sake of His kingdom. The Youth program at Quinault is heading to Haiti during late July and early August to make sure we’re meeting this call. Haiti, for us North-westerners, is considered to be part of this world-wide vision that Christ describes in the passage. We feel it is important to answer the call to take the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth, and Haiti is one way we are doing that.
“Samaria” would include a viewpoint that isn’t quite so broad as “to the end of the earth,” but it certainly does imply a rather large physical territory for us to reach. It describes a land mass (and people group) that is part of the United States and/or even North America. Another group of students (and adults) at Quinault is heading to Salt Lake City, Utah on July 3rd, 2009 for a mission trip organized by World Changers (WC). This trip may sound familiar to you as many of the Quinault Youth went of the same mission trip last summer. We are going down there to repair/build homes for the less fortunate. We felt very strongly the hand of God being present last summer, and we are excited to be getting back there to serve in this manner.
“Judea” would be an area consisting of the Northwest and its surroundings. Places like Seattle, Bozeman, Spokane, Portland, Boise, northern California, and even parts of Western Canada would be considered part of this geographical area. Certainly it is part of the world, and part of North America, but it has a much more localized focus. If you don’t already know, the Pacific Northwest, in conjunction with the North-eastern United States (which is a recent development), has the least evangelized communities and the least number of Christ-followers per capita than anywhere else in the nation. These are a couple of very tough eggs to crack as people become more and more secluded from human contact. People in these areas are truly becoming introverted with a few very close friends and very little human contact. The Youth of Quinault have been working on ways we can reach out to the people in our current day Judea.
Jerusalem for Jesus’ disciples was their immediate surroundings of the city they lived in. This would translate, for us, as the Tri-Cities and Columbia Basin area. I would put a 50-75 mile radius on this one to keep us pretty close. Specifically, this would include Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, Benton City, Finley, Burbank, and other “very close” communities.
What impacted me the most during our D-Now weekend was this:
~Wherever we are physically located at any given time, we are in Jerusalem. What I mean is, whether I’m in Kennewick, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Haiti, or China, my immediate surroundings are the “Jerusalem” that I am charged by Christ to witness to. This is huge! This means that no matter where I am in the world Jesus wants me, since I have received the Holy Spirit, to be His witness... right there... Not just when I get back to Kennewick; not just when I get to church on Sunday; not just when I’m with my friends. He wants me to be His witness no matter where I am! The impact I have on my immediate surroundings are what Jesus wants me to be concerned with! “My space” is right where I am whenever I’m there.
Whether I’m walking along a dirt trail in China, or a sidewalk in Richland, whoever I come into contact with is someone I can be a witness to... someone I can show the light and the love of God to with my words, attitude, and actions. God has sent the Holy Spirit to empower us, and keep us from fear, while we are telling His story. Shine the light that God has given you, and don’t be afraid to share His story, His love, and even your story to people you encounter in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the rest of the world!
Friday, April 10, 2009
It's that time again!
Well, it's that time again. The time of the year where the weather starts to warm up, and I find some excuse to make my way onto a baseball field. In case you're wondering, it's spring! Spring has finally made it's way to the Tri-Cities! I say this because, over the past 3-4 years I've noticed that the warm weather is actually coming slower every year. Some say "global warming" and others (like me) say it's the natural cycle of the earth. Which is accurate is irrelevant. What's important is the warm(er) season has been hitting SE Washington later over the past few years.
When warmer weather hits I am naturally drawn to the great outdoors, namely the baseball field. As many of you know I have been a baseball player longer than anything else I've been (other than a homosapien of the male gender). Seriously though, I've played since I was 4 years old. One of the saddest, yet best, things to happen to me was for God to show me that baseball was not what I was going to do for the rest of my life. This can be truly devastating to someone who has worked so stinkin' hard at something since they were 4 years old. After college I played in a local men's league for a few years, but I haven't for the past two years. Heartbreaking...
Why is this so hard for me? Why can't I just let it go? Well, I see it like this:
When I'm on a baseball field I come alive. I feel at home. I know baseball better than I know myself. Baseball is always there, is always the same, and all I have to do is go out there and have fun doing what I do best. I know this sounds silly, but I haven't played for two years and I can still go out there and throw strikes from the pitcher's mound, field ground balls and make the throw from short-stop with ease, and I can still crush the ball with a baseball bat. It's like my body was created to play baseball. It's heartbreaking to have worked so hard, and for so long (22 years), only to have it taken away. This is an issue I deal with every spring, and I wrestle with God... STILL... over the fact that baseball is not what He wants me doing.
I played competitive ball through college, though God began showing me He wanted something different for my life than baseball. It really began when I became a believer in Christ back when I was a teenager. I use the term "believer" because that's about all it was until just a few years ago. During my high school years I began to really excel and stand above the crowd of baseball players in the TC's. At 16 I made the "Dusters" baseball team, which was (at the time) the best of the best. From there my desire to play baseball past high school (and even college) began to take root. It was nose to the grindstone time. I began to take TONS of batting practice, show up early, stay late, take more swings than anyone, and I also began to work on my pitching ability even more. I developed 4 solid pitches, and I gained control enough over them that I could throw them anywhere I wanted within an inch. This may sound far-fetched for those of you who don't know baseball, but this is what it takes to be really good as a pitcher... especially one who didn't throw super hard like me. The following to years I really began to enjoy my success in baseball, and my growing talent(s).
Looking back I can see when it all started to unravel, and God began to do His work in my life. I, of course, had no idea what was going on and kept fighting to keep baseball at the front of my life (a pseudo God, if you will). My freshman though junior years of baseball had been played at a local public school, and the competition was pretty stiff. I played baseball for the public school, but attended a local private school because the education was better at the private school. I enjoyed 3 basketball seasons at the private school, but they never had a baseball program. That is, of course, until my senior year. In order for me to continue to play at the higher level of competition of the public school, I would have to transfer for my final semester back to the public school. This made for a rather difficult decision for me; do I choose to further my education and stay/graduate with all my friends, or do I choose baseball over those things? Well, I chose to stay with my friends because I felt they were more important than baseball. This proved to be my first step away from baseball, though I didn't yet know it.
Playing for my private high school proved fun because it was with my friends, but going from a 3-4A level of play to a B league is awful. Oh sure, I hit almost .700, was able to play shortstop, and did really well on the mound, but it was so easy! The difference in the leagues, in case you don't know, is like going from playing Major League baseball back to a no-name community college... It's still the game, but the difference in the level of play is night and day. I was still able to play Legion ball that summer to stay competitive, but I was very frustrated the entire season and didn't enjoy the same success that I had previously.
After high school I was talking to three colleges about playing baseball: Univ. Southern Utah, Northwest Nazarene, and Western Baptist College. The University of Southern Utah's coach called and was working out a letter of intent for me, and we had several phone conversations. Everything was looking good for me to head down there to play, but I called after not hearing anything for a couple weeks and found out the coach had been fired. I was never able to get hold of the new coach, thus making this path fall through. Northwest Nazarene offered me a nearly full-ride scholarship to play for them, but my best friend and I visited the college and just got a weird feeling while we were there so I chose not to got there. So I called Western Baptist College's (now Corban College) coach about playing there, and he offered me a small scholarship to play my first year. I decided that WBC would be a good fit for me, so I went there.
Now, I've always been a better fielder and hitter than I was a pitcher, but for some reason pitching was the only thing the coach down there wanted me to do! This is something I will probably never understand, unless all I need to understand is that God was taking baseball out of my life and pulling me to Himself.
To wrap of this little novel, God did slowly, yet painfully for me still, pull baseball out of my life... at least competitive baseball. As I said before I played a couple years in an adult men's league here in the TC's after college, but it really wasn't good baseball. It was fun, but it wasn't competitive.
So here I am once again at the start of the baseball season, my beloved Minnesota Twins have started their season with a 2-2 record (.500), and I am sitting here wondering why I'm not playing for them. To tell you the complete story of my baseball career, and how God gently began taking it out of my life, I would truly need to write a small book. I don't even know if anyone reads this blog, but it's been good for me to be able to write stuff out. But if anyone does actually read this blog and would like to know more about this story, I'd love to chat with you about it.
Throughout my entire baseball career I was never appreciated by my coaches, nor given a chance to show how good I really was, and I still have some frustration there. But I have reached a point, finally, that I am ok with where I am. I realize now that God is enough, that I don't need baseball to have worth, and that all my worth is found in my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He has saved me from pursuing something that would never have fullfilled me the way He can, and I am forever thankful for that. Do I miss baseball? Yes... Absolutely. Is God big enough to fill that void? Yes... Absolutely. Do I feel like I have a different outlook on life now that baseball is not priority 1, or 2, or 3, or even 4? Yes... and it's truly wonderful to find that freedom! God has granted me freedom from baseball, and now, when I do get the chance to play, it's just fun!! I'm not letting my baseball knowledge go to waste though. You know that private Christian high school I attended? Well, I'm in my first year of tying my best to impart my knowledge and passion for baseball into the current attendees at LCS. But first and foremost, I'm letting them know that God is priority 1, and that He never fails, abandons, lets go, leaves, or disappoints you.
God is good... All the time...
When warmer weather hits I am naturally drawn to the great outdoors, namely the baseball field. As many of you know I have been a baseball player longer than anything else I've been (other than a homosapien of the male gender). Seriously though, I've played since I was 4 years old. One of the saddest, yet best, things to happen to me was for God to show me that baseball was not what I was going to do for the rest of my life. This can be truly devastating to someone who has worked so stinkin' hard at something since they were 4 years old. After college I played in a local men's league for a few years, but I haven't for the past two years. Heartbreaking...
Why is this so hard for me? Why can't I just let it go? Well, I see it like this:
When I'm on a baseball field I come alive. I feel at home. I know baseball better than I know myself. Baseball is always there, is always the same, and all I have to do is go out there and have fun doing what I do best. I know this sounds silly, but I haven't played for two years and I can still go out there and throw strikes from the pitcher's mound, field ground balls and make the throw from short-stop with ease, and I can still crush the ball with a baseball bat. It's like my body was created to play baseball. It's heartbreaking to have worked so hard, and for so long (22 years), only to have it taken away. This is an issue I deal with every spring, and I wrestle with God... STILL... over the fact that baseball is not what He wants me doing.
I played competitive ball through college, though God began showing me He wanted something different for my life than baseball. It really began when I became a believer in Christ back when I was a teenager. I use the term "believer" because that's about all it was until just a few years ago. During my high school years I began to really excel and stand above the crowd of baseball players in the TC's. At 16 I made the "Dusters" baseball team, which was (at the time) the best of the best. From there my desire to play baseball past high school (and even college) began to take root. It was nose to the grindstone time. I began to take TONS of batting practice, show up early, stay late, take more swings than anyone, and I also began to work on my pitching ability even more. I developed 4 solid pitches, and I gained control enough over them that I could throw them anywhere I wanted within an inch. This may sound far-fetched for those of you who don't know baseball, but this is what it takes to be really good as a pitcher... especially one who didn't throw super hard like me. The following to years I really began to enjoy my success in baseball, and my growing talent(s).
Looking back I can see when it all started to unravel, and God began to do His work in my life. I, of course, had no idea what was going on and kept fighting to keep baseball at the front of my life (a pseudo God, if you will). My freshman though junior years of baseball had been played at a local public school, and the competition was pretty stiff. I played baseball for the public school, but attended a local private school because the education was better at the private school. I enjoyed 3 basketball seasons at the private school, but they never had a baseball program. That is, of course, until my senior year. In order for me to continue to play at the higher level of competition of the public school, I would have to transfer for my final semester back to the public school. This made for a rather difficult decision for me; do I choose to further my education and stay/graduate with all my friends, or do I choose baseball over those things? Well, I chose to stay with my friends because I felt they were more important than baseball. This proved to be my first step away from baseball, though I didn't yet know it.
Playing for my private high school proved fun because it was with my friends, but going from a 3-4A level of play to a B league is awful. Oh sure, I hit almost .700, was able to play shortstop, and did really well on the mound, but it was so easy! The difference in the leagues, in case you don't know, is like going from playing Major League baseball back to a no-name community college... It's still the game, but the difference in the level of play is night and day. I was still able to play Legion ball that summer to stay competitive, but I was very frustrated the entire season and didn't enjoy the same success that I had previously.
After high school I was talking to three colleges about playing baseball: Univ. Southern Utah, Northwest Nazarene, and Western Baptist College. The University of Southern Utah's coach called and was working out a letter of intent for me, and we had several phone conversations. Everything was looking good for me to head down there to play, but I called after not hearing anything for a couple weeks and found out the coach had been fired. I was never able to get hold of the new coach, thus making this path fall through. Northwest Nazarene offered me a nearly full-ride scholarship to play for them, but my best friend and I visited the college and just got a weird feeling while we were there so I chose not to got there. So I called Western Baptist College's (now Corban College) coach about playing there, and he offered me a small scholarship to play my first year. I decided that WBC would be a good fit for me, so I went there.
Now, I've always been a better fielder and hitter than I was a pitcher, but for some reason pitching was the only thing the coach down there wanted me to do! This is something I will probably never understand, unless all I need to understand is that God was taking baseball out of my life and pulling me to Himself.
To wrap of this little novel, God did slowly, yet painfully for me still, pull baseball out of my life... at least competitive baseball. As I said before I played a couple years in an adult men's league here in the TC's after college, but it really wasn't good baseball. It was fun, but it wasn't competitive.
So here I am once again at the start of the baseball season, my beloved Minnesota Twins have started their season with a 2-2 record (.500), and I am sitting here wondering why I'm not playing for them. To tell you the complete story of my baseball career, and how God gently began taking it out of my life, I would truly need to write a small book. I don't even know if anyone reads this blog, but it's been good for me to be able to write stuff out. But if anyone does actually read this blog and would like to know more about this story, I'd love to chat with you about it.
Throughout my entire baseball career I was never appreciated by my coaches, nor given a chance to show how good I really was, and I still have some frustration there. But I have reached a point, finally, that I am ok with where I am. I realize now that God is enough, that I don't need baseball to have worth, and that all my worth is found in my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He has saved me from pursuing something that would never have fullfilled me the way He can, and I am forever thankful for that. Do I miss baseball? Yes... Absolutely. Is God big enough to fill that void? Yes... Absolutely. Do I feel like I have a different outlook on life now that baseball is not priority 1, or 2, or 3, or even 4? Yes... and it's truly wonderful to find that freedom! God has granted me freedom from baseball, and now, when I do get the chance to play, it's just fun!! I'm not letting my baseball knowledge go to waste though. You know that private Christian high school I attended? Well, I'm in my first year of tying my best to impart my knowledge and passion for baseball into the current attendees at LCS. But first and foremost, I'm letting them know that God is priority 1, and that He never fails, abandons, lets go, leaves, or disappoints you.
God is good... All the time...
Thursday, December 11, 2008
We need adults to step up!
We need adults to lead the youth of today. I, personally, cannot take each of them under my wing and shelter them from every little thing they don't like. It's a physical impossibility. Quite frankly, I want them to learn to step up and get stuff done whether they "like" it or not. They need to realize this world isn't about them, that it's all God's... it's all His. And the adults (you, me, whoever) need to step up and take an interest in teaching youth how to function in the world while they're here, but to not be like the world. Many of them are very mature in their faith, but they're also very immature as a result of the society they are growing up in.
What do I mean by that? Well, they know the Bible in their head, and some of it has even gotten into their heart, but for the most part it's just recited mantras that will turn people off to the gospel. It's up to us, the adults, to lead them to be leaders. There are natural born leaders out there, sure, but they still need to learn how to lead effectively. Again, this is where the adults have to step it up.
If we want the youth to lead, then we must help facilitate their growth in leadership. This is where the discipleship comes in... you could even call it mentoring. We can't just throw them to the wolves. We can't just say, "Hey you... Go lead!" I take that back... We can, but it will only be detrimental. We (adults) need to come up with a training program, of sorts, so these youth can truly grow not only in Christ, but as a people! Youth today are cliquey. Cliquey people tend to be that way because they don't have direction; they don't have direction because an option isn't supplied to them to do something different; and if it is they're not going to take the initiative to get off their butt and do it unless something, or someone, makes them. Today's youth are not a generation who is outgoing and paving their own way. They prefer to be safe, stick to things they are comfortable with, and bail on anything that is not that way. They operate behind the scenes, prefer to stick to themselves, trust VERY FEW people (and the ones they do trust only earn that trust sometimes after years of trying), and they are extremely unwilling to try something "new" if they're not sure of the outcome. This is the breaking point. This is where their mentors come in.
Mentors have to encourage them and keep pushing them to grow. I'm truly afraid that this generation, in the low-touch society we live in (see MySpace, Facebook, Plaxo, etc) is going to end up a bunch of hermits who live by themselves, who possibly "find love" on places like Match.com (or worse), and that they are not going to know how to interact with people. And the worst part? It's not their fault... it's ours. Look at the parents! Most youth today don't have a stable home life, they have multiple people who are supposed to be father/mother figures in their life but usually do a pretty crummy job, they don't have to work because their parents give them whatever they want (because when they were a child they didn't get everything they wanted so they now vow to give their spoiled brats whatever their little wanter wants), and then they come to church and hear about the things of God and they can't even imagine a love like that!
They need coaching in life because their parents are so stinkin' caught up in themselves that they have almost no time to think about their kids... except to buy them something. I'm not saying this is the case with every youth out there, but this is the culture and society that they are living in... whether we like it or not, that's the way it is.
So c'mon adults! Get over yourself and mentor someone younger than you! Who cares if you think you can't do it, or think you're not "mature" enough to do it. These kids don't need some deep spiritual philosophy shoved down their throat, but they do need to be shown the love of Christ. They do need to be shown what it means to live in the world while still living out their Christian faith. So many of them have such unstable family lives, or lack thereof, that they don't even know how they're supposed to interact with other people. The "father" figure comes home drunk, cussing and swearing up a storm, maybe even hits the wife or girlfriend, or worse, hits the child, and that's what the youth thinks is normal... this is what he/she knows, so it has to be normal. Right? Or what about the mother who has custody of the kids, speaks beyond poorly about their father, has a new boyfriend every month, might even be addicted to drugs or painkillers, and the youth begin to think that's normal too? These are real scenarios of people I know, and youth that I know, and it's heartbreaking... yes... but what are we going to do about it? Are we just going to sit here and do nothing? Allow these atrocities to continue?
How about get off your butt and see if that kid is looking for a friend? How about take that child under your wing and show them the love of Christ? How about get involved in their life and maybe even their parents' lives? Make a difference Christian! You're sitting there with the greatest gift that could ever be given to you, and it's available for everyone else too... FOR FREE!! Get out there and share this stuff!!!
What do I mean by that? Well, they know the Bible in their head, and some of it has even gotten into their heart, but for the most part it's just recited mantras that will turn people off to the gospel. It's up to us, the adults, to lead them to be leaders. There are natural born leaders out there, sure, but they still need to learn how to lead effectively. Again, this is where the adults have to step it up.
If we want the youth to lead, then we must help facilitate their growth in leadership. This is where the discipleship comes in... you could even call it mentoring. We can't just throw them to the wolves. We can't just say, "Hey you... Go lead!" I take that back... We can, but it will only be detrimental. We (adults) need to come up with a training program, of sorts, so these youth can truly grow not only in Christ, but as a people! Youth today are cliquey. Cliquey people tend to be that way because they don't have direction; they don't have direction because an option isn't supplied to them to do something different; and if it is they're not going to take the initiative to get off their butt and do it unless something, or someone, makes them. Today's youth are not a generation who is outgoing and paving their own way. They prefer to be safe, stick to things they are comfortable with, and bail on anything that is not that way. They operate behind the scenes, prefer to stick to themselves, trust VERY FEW people (and the ones they do trust only earn that trust sometimes after years of trying), and they are extremely unwilling to try something "new" if they're not sure of the outcome. This is the breaking point. This is where their mentors come in.
Mentors have to encourage them and keep pushing them to grow. I'm truly afraid that this generation, in the low-touch society we live in (see MySpace, Facebook, Plaxo, etc) is going to end up a bunch of hermits who live by themselves, who possibly "find love" on places like Match.com (or worse), and that they are not going to know how to interact with people. And the worst part? It's not their fault... it's ours. Look at the parents! Most youth today don't have a stable home life, they have multiple people who are supposed to be father/mother figures in their life but usually do a pretty crummy job, they don't have to work because their parents give them whatever they want (because when they were a child they didn't get everything they wanted so they now vow to give their spoiled brats whatever their little wanter wants), and then they come to church and hear about the things of God and they can't even imagine a love like that!
They need coaching in life because their parents are so stinkin' caught up in themselves that they have almost no time to think about their kids... except to buy them something. I'm not saying this is the case with every youth out there, but this is the culture and society that they are living in... whether we like it or not, that's the way it is.
So c'mon adults! Get over yourself and mentor someone younger than you! Who cares if you think you can't do it, or think you're not "mature" enough to do it. These kids don't need some deep spiritual philosophy shoved down their throat, but they do need to be shown the love of Christ. They do need to be shown what it means to live in the world while still living out their Christian faith. So many of them have such unstable family lives, or lack thereof, that they don't even know how they're supposed to interact with other people. The "father" figure comes home drunk, cussing and swearing up a storm, maybe even hits the wife or girlfriend, or worse, hits the child, and that's what the youth thinks is normal... this is what he/she knows, so it has to be normal. Right? Or what about the mother who has custody of the kids, speaks beyond poorly about their father, has a new boyfriend every month, might even be addicted to drugs or painkillers, and the youth begin to think that's normal too? These are real scenarios of people I know, and youth that I know, and it's heartbreaking... yes... but what are we going to do about it? Are we just going to sit here and do nothing? Allow these atrocities to continue?
How about get off your butt and see if that kid is looking for a friend? How about take that child under your wing and show them the love of Christ? How about get involved in their life and maybe even their parents' lives? Make a difference Christian! You're sitting there with the greatest gift that could ever be given to you, and it's available for everyone else too... FOR FREE!! Get out there and share this stuff!!!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Don't Freak Out!
During all the craziness of the past several weeks with the market doing what it’s doing, and the Presidential race heating up, I’ve been inspired to write about our hearts. It seems that no matter who you talk to, they have some input on what’s wrong with America and the world. Many are even convinced that the End Times are right around the corner! Revelation does talk about "right will be wrong, and wrong will be right" though, doesn't it? Between gay marriage being “the norm” and considered “ok” by lawmakers, abortion being legal, our free-enterprise market being influenced by greed, the adult entertainment industry making money hand over fist, murder and kidnapping becoming an every day headline (that we usually skip over and don’t even give a second look), the threat of terrorism controlling our thoughts, consumerism being marketed to anyone age “0” and up, and several other morally reprehensible things taking place, I begin to wonder where we are really?? Is revelation around the corner? Are we really, actually, finally there? It seems like people have thought it was right around the corner with almost every generation though, so I guess that fact brings me back to the reality that it might not even be that bad yet! When I consider all of the craziness going on in the world, the only peace I have comes from knowing God is enough no matter what happens.
Here are some questions that have been posed to me regarding the current state of our economy, what’s around the corner, and the state of our country as a whole.
Questions:
1. What is God trying to teach us?
2. What is God trying to get us to do?
3. How can we come along side those being impacted worse than us to help comfort them?
4. What role are we going to take in turning this (perhaps long term) into a change where God will be glorified?
5. What immediate steps need to be taken to set the stage for achieving God's long term plans for each of us and the country?
These questions are good ones, and I firmly believe that they are questions that need to be addressed. They get to the very core of our beliefs and our existence while we're on this planet. I also think that the best way to tackle these questions is through a Godly perspective. What I mean by that is this (answered according to the questions posed):
1. God is teaching us that we must seek Him in everything we do. He is obviously trying to teach us to rely on Him, and to get us to realize that He is ultimately in control. I'm sure there is more to it, but I'm pretty sure it starts with us humbling ourselves and realizing that we cannot do anything apart from Him. We start this process by reading, studying, and taking to heart James 4 (all of it) and move through the rest of the Bible from there.
2. Also, we must seek to live as Christ lived while He walked this earth by reaching out to those who are hurting. Christ came alongside those who were hurting and those who needed love. In fact, He still does and always will! We are lucky in the fact that many times He chooses to use us (Christians) as His hands and feet. I think that God is trying to get the attention of Christians across this nation, and that He's giving us a bit of a shove out the door to get off our rumps and start making an impact for Him! For way too long we Christians have been satisfied with going to church, being “good,” and more often than not being complacent and luke-warm in our walk and with the Great Commission.
3. We must not only provide for their physical needs, but also show them the truth and love of Jesus Christ. I'm not saying hit them over the head with a bible, but showing them the love of Christ and telling them why we act in that manner, speaks to something much deeper inside the human spirit. Now, whether they reject it or not is up to them, but it is our responsibility to show others the way to Christ (see Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:14-16, Luke 24:44-49, John 21:15-17, Acts 1:8). We are supposed to reach all the nations of the world for Christ!
4. Again, I don't know what we're going to do as a country, but I sure know what would make a HUGE difference! Can you imagine if everyone in the United States who calls themselves a Christian truly made the commitment to live for Christ every day and every hour?!? Better yet, what if we all spoke the Name and message of Jesus out loud for people to hear? What if we started to show the love of Christ to every person we came in contact with? You talk about a revival of morals, and the revival of a nation! I can't think of a better way to rejuvenate the judgement of our elected officials. When our country was originally established the general populous was of (mainly) the same moral standards. Today, we have moral standards that run the gamut! What we lack are moral values, and there is no better way to revitalize those moral values than holding to biblical values!
5. In the famous slogan from Nike: Just Do It! We need to quit being afraid to share Jesus. He's the greatest thing that ever happened to us... why do we hide it?? God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and a sound mind! We need to quit accepting the issues that require a sacrifice of our morals. Tolerance, in love, can be beneficial to a point, but it should not push our moral values back; our morals (hopefully God's laws) are what should guide the tolerance, and love can sometimes be tough!
We must exalt God above anything else on this earth, which includes country, family, job, money, and anything else this world has to offer. The answers are actually obvious, but they are tough and we often don’t want to deal with them. They are tough to hear, and even tougher to carry out day to day. But you know what? It's doable, and it's necessary for our world to straighten up and fly right. I think that, rather than fighting the issues that everyone sees on the surface, we need to start fighting for the hearts of men so they can start fighting for the heart of God!
What's happened to the "American Christian" (myself included) is that we've become comfortable and soft! We go to church on Sundays and offer empty praise, maybe even sometimes real praise, to God, but a lot of the time we don't even think about God the entire week leading up to the church service! After the service we go out to lunch (some go “out to lunch” during the service), we are served food from those we pay to do it(which is a telltale sign of being rich in most countries), complain about the service we're receiving, maybe even complain about the service we just attended at church, pay the restaurant what is due(probably after scrutinizing the bill), maybe give the server a tip if they were "good enough"(who are we to judge?), get in our vehicle that burns fossil fuel(also a sign of being rich), drive along paved and painted roads, arrive at home where we have a pantry full of food that we probably could've eaten instead of going out (but it's easier to pay someone else to do it), open the door into our home (be it a house, apartment, condo, etc.) which is something that about 60% of the world's population only dreams of living in, then we'll sit down and watch TV, read a book, play a game, or do some other activity and dread the next day that we have to go to work so we can pay for all this. That gets us through about 4-5 hours on one day of the week. The rest of the week consists of going to work, hanging out with friends, catching a movie, talking about how to spend our money(HAHA! Our money!), planning for events in the future, going on vacation, driving to and from work, soccer games, baseball games, dance practice, piano recitals, talking on our cell phones, emailing, and whatever else might take up our time. That doesn’t leave much for God now does it! How about this? How about we start our day with God? How about we keep God’s rules the presiding factor over all our decisions... all day? How about we keep God at the forefront of any discussions we might have... all day? How about we go to God before we do anything... all day? I mean anything! Why not? We know it’s where we need to be, and we even know that life seems to go a lot better when God is our center, yet we rarely remember to even include God in our daily lives.
Let’s get a revival going by exalting the Most High God above anything else that may capture our interest on this planet! Let’s get our hearts back to the core of God’s principles, and abandon the world’s standards that are thrown in our face every day! Let’s get ourselves on the same page as God by reading our Bibles, studying His Word, and getting on our knees! Let’s STOP doing what we’re doing and turn to God... I mean it... Right now! This is the end of this entry...Go pray for God’s heart to become your heart!!
Here are some questions that have been posed to me regarding the current state of our economy, what’s around the corner, and the state of our country as a whole.
Questions:
1. What is God trying to teach us?
2. What is God trying to get us to do?
3. How can we come along side those being impacted worse than us to help comfort them?
4. What role are we going to take in turning this (perhaps long term) into a change where God will be glorified?
5. What immediate steps need to be taken to set the stage for achieving God's long term plans for each of us and the country?
These questions are good ones, and I firmly believe that they are questions that need to be addressed. They get to the very core of our beliefs and our existence while we're on this planet. I also think that the best way to tackle these questions is through a Godly perspective. What I mean by that is this (answered according to the questions posed):
1. God is teaching us that we must seek Him in everything we do. He is obviously trying to teach us to rely on Him, and to get us to realize that He is ultimately in control. I'm sure there is more to it, but I'm pretty sure it starts with us humbling ourselves and realizing that we cannot do anything apart from Him. We start this process by reading, studying, and taking to heart James 4 (all of it) and move through the rest of the Bible from there.
2. Also, we must seek to live as Christ lived while He walked this earth by reaching out to those who are hurting. Christ came alongside those who were hurting and those who needed love. In fact, He still does and always will! We are lucky in the fact that many times He chooses to use us (Christians) as His hands and feet. I think that God is trying to get the attention of Christians across this nation, and that He's giving us a bit of a shove out the door to get off our rumps and start making an impact for Him! For way too long we Christians have been satisfied with going to church, being “good,” and more often than not being complacent and luke-warm in our walk and with the Great Commission.
3. We must not only provide for their physical needs, but also show them the truth and love of Jesus Christ. I'm not saying hit them over the head with a bible, but showing them the love of Christ and telling them why we act in that manner, speaks to something much deeper inside the human spirit. Now, whether they reject it or not is up to them, but it is our responsibility to show others the way to Christ (see Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:14-16, Luke 24:44-49, John 21:15-17, Acts 1:8). We are supposed to reach all the nations of the world for Christ!
4. Again, I don't know what we're going to do as a country, but I sure know what would make a HUGE difference! Can you imagine if everyone in the United States who calls themselves a Christian truly made the commitment to live for Christ every day and every hour?!? Better yet, what if we all spoke the Name and message of Jesus out loud for people to hear? What if we started to show the love of Christ to every person we came in contact with? You talk about a revival of morals, and the revival of a nation! I can't think of a better way to rejuvenate the judgement of our elected officials. When our country was originally established the general populous was of (mainly) the same moral standards. Today, we have moral standards that run the gamut! What we lack are moral values, and there is no better way to revitalize those moral values than holding to biblical values!
5. In the famous slogan from Nike: Just Do It! We need to quit being afraid to share Jesus. He's the greatest thing that ever happened to us... why do we hide it?? God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and a sound mind! We need to quit accepting the issues that require a sacrifice of our morals. Tolerance, in love, can be beneficial to a point, but it should not push our moral values back; our morals (hopefully God's laws) are what should guide the tolerance, and love can sometimes be tough!
We must exalt God above anything else on this earth, which includes country, family, job, money, and anything else this world has to offer. The answers are actually obvious, but they are tough and we often don’t want to deal with them. They are tough to hear, and even tougher to carry out day to day. But you know what? It's doable, and it's necessary for our world to straighten up and fly right. I think that, rather than fighting the issues that everyone sees on the surface, we need to start fighting for the hearts of men so they can start fighting for the heart of God!
What's happened to the "American Christian" (myself included) is that we've become comfortable and soft! We go to church on Sundays and offer empty praise, maybe even sometimes real praise, to God, but a lot of the time we don't even think about God the entire week leading up to the church service! After the service we go out to lunch (some go “out to lunch” during the service), we are served food from those we pay to do it(which is a telltale sign of being rich in most countries), complain about the service we're receiving, maybe even complain about the service we just attended at church, pay the restaurant what is due(probably after scrutinizing the bill), maybe give the server a tip if they were "good enough"(who are we to judge?), get in our vehicle that burns fossil fuel(also a sign of being rich), drive along paved and painted roads, arrive at home where we have a pantry full of food that we probably could've eaten instead of going out (but it's easier to pay someone else to do it), open the door into our home (be it a house, apartment, condo, etc.) which is something that about 60% of the world's population only dreams of living in, then we'll sit down and watch TV, read a book, play a game, or do some other activity and dread the next day that we have to go to work so we can pay for all this. That gets us through about 4-5 hours on one day of the week. The rest of the week consists of going to work, hanging out with friends, catching a movie, talking about how to spend our money(HAHA! Our money!), planning for events in the future, going on vacation, driving to and from work, soccer games, baseball games, dance practice, piano recitals, talking on our cell phones, emailing, and whatever else might take up our time. That doesn’t leave much for God now does it! How about this? How about we start our day with God? How about we keep God’s rules the presiding factor over all our decisions... all day? How about we keep God at the forefront of any discussions we might have... all day? How about we go to God before we do anything... all day? I mean anything! Why not? We know it’s where we need to be, and we even know that life seems to go a lot better when God is our center, yet we rarely remember to even include God in our daily lives.
Let’s get a revival going by exalting the Most High God above anything else that may capture our interest on this planet! Let’s get our hearts back to the core of God’s principles, and abandon the world’s standards that are thrown in our face every day! Let’s get ourselves on the same page as God by reading our Bibles, studying His Word, and getting on our knees! Let’s STOP doing what we’re doing and turn to God... I mean it... Right now! This is the end of this entry...Go pray for God’s heart to become your heart!!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Economic Woes
Ok... Seriously. I'm about sick of hearing the blame game toward politicians on the crumbling market issue. I don't care if you're anit-Bush or for Obama or McCain. This whole financial crisis is due to our own stupidity and the predatory lending practices that many companies were involved in (and probably still are). The housing market boom, then bust, then failure is why Wall Street is in so much turmoil. Emotions are riding high, low, and everywhere in between because none of us know where the market is actually headed, and most of us don't have a clue what it means when the market fluctuates. Here's the thing that ticks me off more than anything else: Too many people out there are so ready to blame congress, the president, the big companies, and pretty much ANY other entity than themselves/ourselves. Yes...these predatory lending type companies should be allowed to fail; I think that's a fair statement. They wrote loans that should never have been written in the first place, and that's their fault. That being said, however, they were under pressure to write the loans because the government, during the Clinton administration, declared that people had to have equal rights to home loans. It's a little more involved than that, but that's what happened in a nutshell. The fact still remains, though, that these companies, though under pressure, still made these bad debt loans when they didn't have to. Another fair statement is that the credit turds who signed on the dotted line without reading their paperwork should be foreclosed on too! They took loans out because somebody told them they could get money! Whoohoo! Now look where we are!!
I mean really, do you think John McCain or Barak Obama really had something to do with people taking out stupid loans? Probably not. Do you think Obama or McCain will be able to fix stupidity? Probably not. Do you really think it's Bush's fault that people don't pay attention to what they're signing even if it's a loan for a house...their livelihood? Probably not that either. Listen, the only thing that's going to turn this country around is if we, as individual American citizens, become responsible for ourselves and quit blaming everyone/anyone else for our financial woes.
Maybe it's not you that did it; maybe you're not the fool who signed on the dotted line of a bad loan. Maybe you are. But that's not the issue. The issue is that it's time for change, and I'm not talking about the Obama campaign.
It's time to:
1. Change the way we think
2. Stop buying stuff with money we don't have
3. Stop buying stuff we don't need
4. Stop buying everything in sight that tickles our fancy at that moment
5. Pay attention to what you're buying, how you're buying it, and what the implications of that are
6. If you have to take out a loan, look at and read what you're signing
7. Take responsibility for your own actions; own up to your mistakes
8. Spread the word about being financially responsible, and just being responsible all-around!
If we ALL watched what we did our country would be a lot better off. The good news is this: It's not too late!! We still live in the greatest country in the world, no matter who's president, and as American citizens we would all benefit by becoming less selfish and start figuring out how we can help others in need so our government doesn't have to. If we were able to do this and help each other out, we might be able to do away with welfare programs all together! Oh no! I said get rid of welfare! Well yeah...I did! Because if we really helped others in need, then welfare wouldn't need to exist! Then there's less money taken by the government in taxes from your check, and you're able to help others, or yourself at that point, out even more! This is just one example of how we can help each other out, our country out, and ultimately ourselves!
Really it's not that hard to figure out. It takes changing our selfishness and the way we think, which will take time, but it's doable! It's so simple! Let's keep this country great before it goes down the tube with our own stupidity and selfishness at the helm. C'mon America...WAKE UP!!!
I mean really, do you think John McCain or Barak Obama really had something to do with people taking out stupid loans? Probably not. Do you think Obama or McCain will be able to fix stupidity? Probably not. Do you really think it's Bush's fault that people don't pay attention to what they're signing even if it's a loan for a house...their livelihood? Probably not that either. Listen, the only thing that's going to turn this country around is if we, as individual American citizens, become responsible for ourselves and quit blaming everyone/anyone else for our financial woes.
Maybe it's not you that did it; maybe you're not the fool who signed on the dotted line of a bad loan. Maybe you are. But that's not the issue. The issue is that it's time for change, and I'm not talking about the Obama campaign.
It's time to:
1. Change the way we think
2. Stop buying stuff with money we don't have
3. Stop buying stuff we don't need
4. Stop buying everything in sight that tickles our fancy at that moment
5. Pay attention to what you're buying, how you're buying it, and what the implications of that are
6. If you have to take out a loan, look at and read what you're signing
7. Take responsibility for your own actions; own up to your mistakes
8. Spread the word about being financially responsible, and just being responsible all-around!
If we ALL watched what we did our country would be a lot better off. The good news is this: It's not too late!! We still live in the greatest country in the world, no matter who's president, and as American citizens we would all benefit by becoming less selfish and start figuring out how we can help others in need so our government doesn't have to. If we were able to do this and help each other out, we might be able to do away with welfare programs all together! Oh no! I said get rid of welfare! Well yeah...I did! Because if we really helped others in need, then welfare wouldn't need to exist! Then there's less money taken by the government in taxes from your check, and you're able to help others, or yourself at that point, out even more! This is just one example of how we can help each other out, our country out, and ultimately ourselves!
Really it's not that hard to figure out. It takes changing our selfishness and the way we think, which will take time, but it's doable! It's so simple! Let's keep this country great before it goes down the tube with our own stupidity and selfishness at the helm. C'mon America...WAKE UP!!!
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