Clean House

It isn’t any kind of rumor that I allow clutter to well…clutter. I have an amazing ability to set something down and not pick it up again till sometime closer to the Eschaton. I also have developed the ability, through rigorous training mind you, to look past the clutter and sit at my desk to get my work done. For those of you that have seen my office over the past month or so are probably wondering how I can ignore the calamity. I don’t like it. As much as I don’t want to admit it, the ability to clutter is one of my worst attributes (can I get an Amen from my Mom?).

I didn’t say all that to simply point out something that many of you have probably been pointing out for a while. I just wanted to come out and say that I do actually come to a point where I finally look up, see the clutter, and desire to do something about it. I’m at that point now and I think Haggai got me there this past week.

In my last post as we looked into the Minor Prophet Haggai, we found God was a bit upset that His house wasn’t built because everyone was too concerned with everything but Him. The challenge from this is that God wants to sit on the Throne of your Heart but often we try to put the wrong blocks in the wrong holes, things get all messed up and we’ve left Him have left no room to sit. The God’s House image carries on to my clutter problem. Most of you don’t share my clutter problem as far as stuff goes but do you share the problem that most of us have of a cluttered schedule? I would venture to say that we all have a few things that we could cut out to de-clutter our schedules. Think about some things that you could quit for this month in order to de-clutter the Throne Room and put God back in His place in your heart.

The few times I have watched T.V. in the last year I’ve watched the show “Clean House.” I think I enjoyed the show because it made me feel good. I’m not nearly as bad as the people they get to be on this show. Some of the things these people hold on to are unbelievable. They plead, beg, yell, scream, and even from time to time they bribe these people into getting rid of their junk. Five years from now you won’t be missing that bellybutton lint collection…just give it up! At the end…it all works out. The house looks amazing. The turning point in the show is when they make the people get out of the house so they can actually get their work done (insert spiritual metaphor here).

Sometimes we need someone to come in and convince us to get rid of the junk. Not just in our houses or offices but in our schedules. We need to de-clutter all areas of our lives so that God can move back into His house. Summer is a great time to make changes in schedules. Get up thirty minutes earlier and have a cup of beverage of choice with God. Cut out one of your TV shows and go for a walk with God. As a family, go off for quiet time and get together to talk about what you read. Do it for a month and see how your life changes. I wonder if we stepped out of our “house” for a time and let God do His thing…would He help us get rid of our clutter? Let’s clean house!

Whose House Is This?

I had a cool little game as a kid that I remember playing at my Grandparent’s house. I’m sure they have some updated version of this game with flashing lights and sound effects but I guess I was on the cutting edge of awesome games since my blocks weren’t black and white. Anywho…this game was a simple one. The game consisted of a box with different shaped holes and inside the box there were shapes that would fit inside each hole. The object of the game was to be able to figure out which block went inside which hole. It was rather complicated. From time to time I’ll still drag it out and see if I can finish it.

I remember my old youth minister talking about how there is a “God shaped hole in your heart that can only be filled by God.” It always reminded me of that game I used to play with the blocks. Every once in a while I’d see if I could fit the round block into the star hole just to see if the tables had turned…you never know about those things…but it never worked. We spend so much time trying to fill ourselves with things that are not God and no matter how much we push, the blocks just don’t fit.

I think C.S. Lewis said it best in Mere Christianity, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” We are constantly chasing desire after looking for things that do not measure up to God only to find out that He is what we need. God wants to be seated on the Throne of Your Heart but the problem is when He gets there He usually finds it already occupied.

I decided this week to pick a Minor Prophet and camp out there for a while. Haggai has been my focus in my reading this week and has spoken so loudly things I needed to hear. The LORD spoke in 1:5-6, “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."

Israel has been trying to put the wrong blocks in the wrong holes for a while now. They can’t figure out why things won’t add up so God goes on to explain it to them in verses 7-9, “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored. You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why? Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.”

God used to meet His people in His house, the Temple. Now His house is inside of us through the Holy Spirit. The challenge question is when you break down your day to day activities, how much time is spent building God’s house?

Did God Get Bored?

Did God get bored? This question has come up from time to time in regards to God creating us. If God is eternal…what was he doing before He created us? Did He get bored one day and decide to start a new project? There are a lot of things that are assumed when questions like this are asked. Last week I talked about God being the Creator…creating from nothing and how this sheds some light on the mystery of God. My hope is that through unpacking these questions (or mullinating on them as Dan would call it) we will catch another glimpse of the mystery of God.

What is eternity? Some would say that eternity is a limitless amount of time. With this definition there is a lot of room for boredom within the realms of eternity. This definition also opens the door for questions about our eternity. Another way of defining eternity is: Timelessness, without time, outside of time. I feel like this is a better definition because it is something that we cannot fully comprehend.

What would it be like to simply exist? To have no tomorrow? No yesterday? To live in the eternal now? Boredom couldn’t be defined because it would not exist. I don’t know if this helps explain why God created us but it helps us see that we weren’t created out of boredom. If God did create us because He was bored one day then He probably wouldn’t care much about what happened to us. We would just be another 2nd grade school project thrown together with colored tissue paper and some Elmer’s Glue and tossed after it started falling apart three and a half weeks after creation.

When the world started falling apart, because of us running away from our creator, God didn’t cast us off. He wrote His story all around us. He made things beautiful for us. He provided for us. He loved us. When we did everything we could to run from Him, He kept on loving us. He even went as far to make Himself as one of us to show us how to live. We repaid Him by killing Him in our deep refusal to have true life. He didn’t create us out of boredom…if He did we wouldn’t still be here.

I’m not sure if this opens up any windows into the mystery of God…maybe it makes Him more mysterious. I am not real sure why a God so amazing and powerful, who lives in the ever present now, would create time for us to live in, provide so much for us, when we’re going to turn around and throw it back in His face. That, to me, makes a mysterious God even more amazing…and I’m glad He did it all for me, not because He was bored but because He is love.

Dependence

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1. This verse has been on my mind over this past week. Though the mystery of God is something that we’ll never fully understand, it is amazing how, through His Word, we are given glimpses of His face to better understand who He is…and in turn, better understand who we are and even why we are.

So…this verse has been on my mind a lot this week. I memorized Genesis 1:1 as a child. I’ve reverted back to it when asked if I had any scripture memorized. I’ve even used it as a joke to clarify that baseball is in the Bible because “In the Big Inning…God created.” As I was reading the Confessions of Augustine earlier in the week his musings about the mystery of God found in this verse stirred thoughts in me.

I can’t say I know much about building but I’m going to take a shot in the dark and assume that you probably start with a foundation. Maybe you need to even start before the foundation and pick out a good location for the foundation. Before doing that maybe there are other things to put in place first. What amazes me about the mystery of God is that Genesis didn’t say, “In the beginning God checked out the best universal real estate and then got to work.” What does that have to do with the mystery of God?

There are a number of questions that surround this verse: If God created from nothing, who created God? Did God get bored one day and then decided to create us…making us objects of His boredom rather than objects of His affection? These are questions often asked by those who are searching and should be treated carefully. I would like to go into these at a later time but not right now. What I would like to focus on is the mystery of God as THE Creator.

With no foundation, God laid the foundation of the heavens and the earth. All things were then created within the realms of that which was first created as a foundation. Nothing can be created that has not been created. God created me. God created you. The very air I breathe is because God created.

The first breath of God’s Word found in Genesis 1:1 paints the picture of dependence on God. From the very beginning, God has wanted us to understand that we were created in dependence on He who created. We find ourselves sprinting in the direction of deep independence...only going to God when we cannot do it ourselves. We try to create ourselves delving deeper into dependence on what our own hands bring to the table. The better we understand God as Creator the better understanding we’ll have of what God created us for…a relationship of dependence.

Little White Box

This past Thursday Night was the kickoff of our Thursday Night for the Master. Great things are going to happen. Lives will be touched. People will grow. And the family at Northview will be changed. Jim started us off with a challenge from Isaiah 42:18, “Forget the former things” and followed it up with, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” – Ephesians 3:20-21. With these two passages, the mood for outreach was set at Thursday Night for the Master.

Have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head that simply drives you up a wall? I get one from time to time. There for a while I was walking around with arms up singing, “If I were a rich man.” Over the past day or so I’ve had an old Vacation Bible School song stuck in my head. You probably remember it. “If I had a little white box to put my Jesus in, I’d take Him out and *Kiss*Kiss*Kiss* and share Him with a friend.”

I used to love that song as a kid…I think because I got to say “Bash his face” when I talked about taking the Devil out of his box. As I’ve thought more and more about this song I’ve began to wonder how big my “Little White Box” is. Ten years ago, my box wasn’t as big as it was five years ago and my box has grown even larger since. As Brothers and Sisters around tables Thursday night, ideas started to flow concerning how we would reach those around us who do not know the Relationship with God that we cherish so much.

The Jesus I began to see wasn’t coming from any kind of box. The Jesus generating the thoughts of evangelism Thursday night couldn’t be contained in a box. The Jesus that was being talked about Thursday night was a Jesus that can do immeasurably more than all we can imagine. The “Little White Box” is beginning to disappear and we’re going to start seeing imaginable things.

Here’s the question. How big is your box right now? What will it take to get you out of it and experience the “power that is at work within us?” Plant your seed and let God’s power make it grow into something immeasurably more than all we imagine.

Intentional Potential

Last weekend I had the awesome opportunity to walk among great people in our nation’s Capitol. Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Washington, the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Heroes of WWI, WWII, and Vietnam, and many others. What amazes me about these great people is their incredible potential lived out in amazing ways. How does one come to live out this kind of potential?

When in his late 20’s, Benjamin Franklin made a list of thirteen virtues that he would dedicate his life to live by. Franklin was a leading author and printer, comedian, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman and diplomat. It is quite evident that the acorn of Franklin’s potential developed him into an oak of a man. What we take from a man like him is not only did his define his potential through his list of virtues but he then lived them out. Some may say he was destined to do great things. Who am I that I’ll become like him?

That very question is what amazes me about The Greatest Generation (WWII Veterans). They were all simple people who saw what needed to be done and did it. They defined their potential was defined in different ways through their upbringing. What really gets me when I watch interviews of “Heroes of WWII” is that they do not see themselves as “Heroes.” They saw what needed to be done and they did it.

Jim Smith, glad he’s back in the office, keeps running around, talking about being intentional. He keeps trying to convince me, and anyone who will listen, that we have to be “Intentional Christians.” I think he might be on to something. Dan and I were talking about the idea of potential and I brought Jim up and almost simultaneously we came out with “Intentional Potential.” Not that we would give Jim any credit to a great idea, but we need to be intentional with the potential that is going to drive us as Christians.

How do we define it? A good list is found in Colossians 4:2-6: Devoted to Prayer, Watchful, Thankful, Be Wise in Action, Be Opportunists, and be Gracefully Salted Conversationalists. Let these be your Six Virtues for the Intentional Potential of a Christian. No matter what your age is, let’s define the greatness God has called us to and live up to this Intentional Potential.

Evangelistic Like a Dog

It has been three weeks since I've posted anything...some of you have been asking where I've been. Well...I guess you could say that my blogging voice had gone mute for a time. I couldn't find the words to share some of the things on my mind so I simply went mute. I wouldn't say that my voice has fully come back but here it is.

- Ryan




I have a dog…his name is Zeus. There are speculations as to how I came to own him but he’s been with me for about seven months now. I have only lived in my house for about nine months so Zeus has been with me for most of my time there. From time to time I’ve let him run loose in the neighborhood because it seems to be the thing to do where I live…and he was chewing through everything I put around his neck and running loose anyway. In the past nine months, I’ve only been able to get to know my next door neighbors just a little bit. Relationships weren’t really coming along that quickly till Zeus joined my household.

As I’ve ran into people around the neighborhood I’ve come to find out that they had already met Zeus and had fallen in love with him. A lot of my neighbors even have nicknames for him. I was contemplating finding a new home for Zeus because of how little I am home but my neighbor talked me out of it because their family loves him so much. I’ve met more of my neighbors and they all seem to already have a good relationship with Zeus.

We’ve been talking about evangelism a lot around the office in preparation for the things Jim is going to be doing with the congregation here. One of the major aspects of evangelism is relationships…genuine relationships…with people. It seems to be a lot easier to travel around the world, across the country, or even across town to tell others about a relationship with God. We often find it difficult to walk across the lawn or street and build a relationship with our neighbor.

Though I don’t agree with many of his methods, Zeus has quickly gotten to know many of the families in my neighborhood. The good side off all of this is that he’s been my foot in the door to getting to know everyone. Last Sunday evening, Jim challenged us to be “intentional” with our lives…to be “Intentional Christians.”

Take a moment to sit down, think of all the good relationships you have. How many of them are Christians? What percentage of them are not Christians? The reality is we tend to stick close to the people that make us feel comfortable. Be intentional. When you go outside to get the paper and your neighbor is standing there doing the same…don’t simply say “morning” and then head back inside the house. Strike up conversation. Start walking your neighborhood with your spouse and meet people. If your kids play in the backyard…cast your nets on the other side…and go play with them in the front yard.

I may not do all the things that Zeus does when he meets people but it is completely obvious that he wants to meet people. Let’s start being Intentional Christians. Let’s build relationships. Let’s bring them home to meet our Master.

Make Like a Tree

I love the theater! There is something about going to a play that ignites your imagination in a way that a movie simply cannot. When a play is done well…you find yourself in the middle of it…living it…becoming one with the characters. They capture you…almost like being a child again. This weekend has been full of plays for me. Thursday night I was taken into the Land of Oz by Amy Vannoy and the cast from the North Iredell Drama Department.

I am proud of my Amy. She had one of the most important parts in the play. When she first appeared on stage she was a tree…the best tree in the forest. Later the Land of Oz was brought to life with her dancing. I don’t know who the leads were…they did a good job…but you can’t have a forest without trees…you can’t have Oz without the dancers. Amy did a great job in her play…and was one of the most important parts.

To put on any kind of production is a lot of work. Everyone has to play their part. If there weren’t trees we might think the Cowardly Lion was in the desert. If no one made the props and there were no Oz Dancers…we might find Oz to be a boring place. Life is found, not in the main characters, but in the people and things surrounding the main characters. They give them setting. They bring them character. They provide them…life.

There is a Shakespeare quote I like from As You Like It, “All the world's a stage. And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances. And one man in his time plays many parts.” If this quote is true, I personally think we should have more special effects, theme music, and dance numbers but there is a good point to be made from this quote. In the Church, everyone must play his/her part. Everyone has different gifts…or roles…according to Romans 12:6-8.

Some people’s roles are more up front. Others are off to the side. There are people that are never seen but really are the ones that keep everything going. The important thing is that we all have to play the Role God has given us. In your church I am sure there are plenty of ministries for you to be a part of. If you are not sure what your role is find a ministry leader and they can help you find your role is this production of life. We need to be people of purpose. We need to do are part as best we can to bring life to this production. I guess I’ll end this with a quote from the great theologian, my Secratary, Liane Mullins, “Know your role!”

Transformers

This past week I went on a Prayer Retreat at a Monastery outside of Charleston, where they allow ministers to get away for a time and get revived, refocused, and refilled. My prayer life has been lacking for some time so I wanted to put my major focus for the week on my communication with God. I came back with a number of things from my time there but I quickly want to share some thoughts about relationship with God.

We were created for a relationship with God. There is no denying that. The hard part…at times…is figuring out how that relationship is going to grow. Throughout the week I kept coming back to John 4:23 where the “…true worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth.” As I sat around sitting and thinking on that verse I began to realize that I spend a lot of my time living in the “truth side of God.” What I mean by this is that, if you asked me to write a paper about “Who God is,” I could write a lot of great stuff for you. I’ve got the information side of God down.

I am setting out on the journey to figure out how to connect my head with my spirit…to where my spirit and the truth I possess both are in the relationship with God. I feel like Augustine captures this pretty well in his reflections on the Lord’s Supper. He talks about how Jesus is Bread that, no matter how much you eat, will never vanish. As you eat of this Bread, Augustine says, you continue to eat to the point where you are so filled with Jesus that you no longer exist but that Christ has transformed in you. I find these thoughts amazing since we are constantly being called to be like Christ.

So what does this have to do with the spirit side of the relationship with God? When you take the truth of God, i.e. “…your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36b), and apply it to your life, i.e. “Be merciful…” (Luke 6:36a), you are then transformed by the merciful nature of God…to where you are merciful. This causes the truth of God to then be lived out through your spirit. Here is my challenge for all of us: Make a list of the characteristics of God/Jesus. Look at the list and see where you need to be transformed (do not help your neighbor decipher this unless they ask for your help).

God will continue to call us to a deeper relationship with Him. As you grow with Him, you’ll grow to be more like Him. I’m not sure which comes first…will we understand God’s love first when we begin to love others like He loves or will we better love others when we find God’s love inside of us first? Let’s continue to be transformed by Him in this relationship so we can be better worshipers of Him in spirit and in truth…then we can tackle Luke 10:27, “Love the Lord your God with all your…heart…soul…strength…mind,” and go deeper and deeper into a transforming relationship with our Father.

Purpose?

Winterfest was incredible this year! I encourage you to talk to our teens about The Mission. They were challenged to: Know, Be, See, and Share…Jesus. Sounds familiar really…and I’m ecstatic about the excitement that our teens will bring to The Mission here at Northview. I’ve even heard from one of our teens who has already talked to a neighbor about God. “It was easy…I just did it,” was a part of the phone call I got. I’ve also talked to Dudley and they are getting all kinds of stories from all over the country of teens doing the same thing!! What an incredible challenge for us who sometimes find ourselves calling them the “Church of tomorrow.”

An interesting thing happened this morning before I sat down to write this blog. I regularly have breakfast with a mentor of mine…almost every Friday morning. Today was about the same as always…we had a variety of discussion because that is what good friends do. Because most people end up talking about that they are passionate about…we found ourselves talking about the Church. We don’t bog ourselves down in debating…most of the time we’re just simply talking about ministry…about purpose of the Church.

While sitting and talking, I noticed a young girl slowly walk in. Very timid. Probably no older than 18. She got her cup of coffee. Never said anything. Then slowly walked out and on down the street. You’re probably thinking she stole the coffee but the reality is…this coffee shop has kind of taken her in. They will often hand her a bag of food which one of them will slip a $5 bill in the bag because of the compassion they have for her. Neither of us knew her story but found out later by the workers at the coffee shop.

Why is this so interesting? It didn’t hit me till later. At Northview, we do a lot of good for a lot of people. I am amazed at the workers we have in our family here. There are a ton of people who work so hard without being seen by others. I had to wonder though, how many times we…the Churches scattered around the World…sit around and debate, talk about ministry, dwelling on what the purpose is for the Church, and looking for God’s guidance for what we should be doing with our lives…when there are people in need all around us.

Not all of us get to sit in a coffee shop on a Friday morning and watch something like this take place. The reality is that there a lots of hurting people in our lives that all we have to do is open our eyes to see. Take some time to think of the people you come into contact with daily. Where are they hurting? Do you look at them and SEE Jesus? What could you do to BE Jesus to them?

For all of you who are already working so hard in this world to help the hurting…I applaud you. One of the reasons I love working with teens is because of the way I am challenged by them to get up and do something that has purpose. Though they can scare us sometimes…sometimes we don’t understand their thought processes…or their language…they are a group of people that are filled with passion and desire to have purpose. I hope to extend this challenge to you from the passion and purpose of our teens. Let’s stop letting the world lead the way in helping the hurting when we are the ones who are called to do “Whatever we do for the least of these.”

Spiritual Trekking

Trekking. To trek. To hike. To trudge. To make a slow or arduous journey. As you have probably figured out by now…I like to hike. There is something about it that is freeing to me…and also rewarding. For me, it is one thing to see a beautiful view of the mountains from the side of the road, but another to get intimate with them and to see the mountain views from somewhere that I walked to.

Clint Ulmer and I continued our SB6K (South Beyond 6000) journey this past weekend. We started at the top of Mount Mitchell and ventured off along the Black Mountain Crest Trail in hopes of conquering six more peaks on our list. Apparently this 12 mile trek was going to be one of our hardest that we would have to do but we felt up to it.

I won’t lie that I was not adequately prepared for this trek. I could blame it on my age…but most of you would laugh at me. I’ve been in better shape in my life…but I’m not quite there anymore. No matter what the excuse may be…my legs just weren’t used to walking that far, especially with the uphill and downhill grades that we had to go over with 40lb packs on. When on a trek like this you might come to a point where you want to just quit but the reality is…you’re in the middle of nowhere and quitting would mean simply deciding to live where you are.

“The Spiritual Race is not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” is something I heard often growing up and I’m sure you’ve heard it too. I’ve changed that slogan in my life to, “Our Spiritual Walk aint no walk in the park, it’s a Trek.” There are a lot of ups and downs. It is really hard at times. There are times where the view is breathtaking. Times where your next step is completely because of the power and grace of God. This Spiritual Trek is something that we have to constantly work at, prepare for, and encourage one another on…or we simply choose to settle where we are, in the middle of nowhere.

T.R.E.K. (True Religion for the Eternal Kingdom) Bible Study is starting up this Thursday Night for the teens. It is a Bible Study that is going to be focused on going deeper into the Spiritual Trek we call life. We’ll be focusing on habitual practices of Spirituality to prepare and encourage one another in this Trek. I look forward to this time during the weeks because of what our teens will teach me about spirituality. They have so much to tell with their lives and I can’t wait to see how God works through them in each other’s lives.

Cycle of Stupidity

“The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD…They forgot the LORD… The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of…they cried out to the LORD…He raised up for them a deliverer…So the land had peace for forty years…deliverer died…The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD…They forgot the LORD………” – Cycle of Judges

We (the youth group) are taking a break from the Old Testament for a time…but my favorite quote that came out in almost every class is “Israel is SOOOO STUPID!!!” I like this quote because we surely aren’t as bad as Israel was…right? I’m not going to go there but you can talk amongst yourselves about it. What I’ve been mulling over for the past few weeks is this “cycle of stupidity” that is found in Judges. Why would something like this ever happen? I think the answer is found in Joshua before the famous verse “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

“So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant. Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers…But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:14-15

We’re called to be in a Relationship with God. With relationship comes dependence. In the Wilderness, Israel learned dependence on God. In the Promise Land, Israel “forgot the LORD.” Think hard about our lives. Where do we live? I live in a house I didn’t build. When I am hungry I go get something to eat. If I’m sick…I don’t call Dan…I call the doctor.

Where do I depend on God? This is a hard question…the first thing that comes to mind is…I depend on God when something bad happens…and most of the time I come to that point when I can fix it myself. Do you wrestle with this? I don’t want to fall into the “Stupid Cycle” with Israel. So…where do I find dependence on God in a country that provides for my every need?

We all have something that we struggle with…or people we struggle with…that we cannot handle on our own strength. Paul calls this his “Thorn in the Flesh.” I realized a long time ago that I have a sarcastic tongue. I have hurt people in my life because of it…never intending to. Though I have constantly struggled with it…and continue to struggle…I constantly have to ask God to help me be “slow to speak.” Though I don’t like it…I find hope in it…because I realize that I am not perfect. The only way I can find perfection is in Christ…and it’ll come sometime after I stop breathing. Let’s work as a family to find our dependence on God in a country that provides our every need.

“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.” – II Cor 12:7-9

Let's Talk About Nothing

I’d like to take a moment and talk to you about nothing. You’re probably saying to yourself that I normally talk about nothing…but I want you to consider the subject just for a few moments. When was the last time you did nothing? I don’t mean, “Tried to do something and ended up doing nothing.” What I am saying is…when was the last time you took time to do nothing? The next thing you are saying to yourself is…“Ryan, I don’t have time for nothing.” I am doing my best to add nothing to my schedule from time to time (you’re thinking that this is easy for me since I’m a youth minister and nothing is the majority of what I do.)

We live in a world that is constantly improving our electronics…causing life to become more and more hectic. You can check your e-mail and talk on the phone while watching two channels at the same time on the same TV. With each advance in technology life simply becomes more complex because we are expected to do more with our minute than our ancient forefathers of 10 years ago. So…before you throw away the idea of nothing I want you to try it on for a moment.

I am convinced that if we took a moment to do nothing before taking on major tasks, we would find ourselves working with more efficiency than one iota of technology can give us. Your mind becomes more focused. You will be opened to the direction you may need to go with what you are doing.

Here is how it works…Set aside a few minutes, sit in a relaxed position, close your eyes, breathe deep and allow everything to exit from your mind, then just simply sit there doing nothing. The idea is that you begin to silence the noise that is going on inside of you. The noise that our culture presses on us leads us into crazy ways of living. This noise also keeps us from hearing God speak into our lives. Allotting for times of nothing into your schedule will help keep you sane and help you listen more clearly to God.

I have heard a lot of people say, “When I do actually read my Bible, I often don’t get anything out of it.” I challenged the teens on Wednesday night to try this before entering into times of reading or times of prayer and to see how their experiences change. I’d like to extend this challenge on to you as well. Take time this week for nothing. Sit in the presence of God and be still.

I'm in, You're in, I'm in

It was around 4 in the morning. I had just finished Morning Vigils with the Brothers at Mepkin Abbey and set out for some solitude. As I focused on scripture that early morning I began to notice how God seemed to work through people in the Bible…not people doing amazing things for God. That was mulling around in my head as I had another cup of coffee.

I walked in the dark for some time simply repeating the words of Jesus found in John 14:20, “I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” I kept repeating what Jesus said…letting them work on me as I prepared to meditate and to listen to God’s voice through these words. We are interwoven with God…the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What an amazing thing! But…what does this have to do with God working through people…not people doing amazing things for God?

As I sat in the middle of nowhere in this retreat center I did everything I could to empty all distractions from within me so that I might clearly listen to God. “You will never be a great Youth Minister” is what I felt God was pressing on my heart…among other things that I will never be great at. Some of you are probably agreeing with God at this point…but I still love you. “You only need to be concerned with being the best Child of Mine that you can be. I will make you what I need you to be.”

As I look back on the wisdom in scripture that had been poking at me all week, “He must become greater, I must become less,” and “whoever loses his life for me will find it,” I began to understand what God wanted me to hear. I shouldn’t be concerned about being and doing great things for God but be concerned with being the best Child of His I can be…He’ll make me exactly what He needs me to be.

When I start looking at people, seeing how God is already working in their lives, I will no longer be concerned about changing the world…but be concerned with working side by side with God as He changes it. I want to challenge you to find presence: Presence of God in your life and your presence in the lives of those around you…those whom God loves. Because, He is in the Father, He is in us, and we are in Him.

Inside...Out

The National Conference on Youth Ministry was a great conference this year. It isn’t a week of a bunch of youth ministers getting together to compare shorts and sandal combinations and to talk about different approaches to wearing a new style of facial hair. It is an amazing week to get filled, see some old friends, and sit at the feet of veterans who have been in the trenches for 15 and 20+ years. The unbridled worship that takes place there, when hundreds and hundreds of youth ministers get together, is incredibly uplifting.

One of the greatest things about going to this conference is the reminder of why we do what we do. I feel like, at times, that I’ve done my ministry out of commitment to the church rather than something much deeper. Commitment is not a bad thing but it can be shallow. It is something that I have to keep in check from time to time. What I continue to strive for, and this week was a constant reminder of this, is to do my ministry from the inside out, to be so filled with God so that I am working from the overflow of God in my life, and not the outside in.

The world wants us to be crazy…Believe it or not, ministers even get crazy…We are called to step into the peace of Christ…where craziness ceases to be. Take a moment and look at your life. How often do you stop and sit in the presence of God? Would you consider your life to be crazy? We live in a world where we get frustrated when the microwave takes too long…or the fast food isn’t as fast as we would like. We live crazy kind of lives…and as a minister I find myself ministering out of this craziness. Something has to change and I have to keep this in check.

I know this is a little late but here is one of my New Years Resolutions for my ministry in 2008:

- Find my Song – that will drive this year
- Find my Passage – that will motivate this year
- Find my Literature – that will keep it all in perspective
- As I continue in my personal Bible study I want to look for how God is already working in people’s lives and see what He wants me to do

Like a Sweet Symphony

Tuesday evening I had the privilege of going to Brittany Keller’s Christmas-Band Concert. I have always had a deep respect for musicians…especially composers. I often, at concerts like this one, find my mind exploring each slice of the band, searching out each part. The rumble of the percussion. The blare of the trumpets (my favorite). The relaxing saxophones. The conductor dancing his arms through the air, making it all come to life! I sure love the symphony!

The magic that is music enchants me. How these instruments come together to bring life to the pieces of paper in front of them excites me. All by itself, each instrument can be played…and can even sound good. Very rarely do multitudes gather for…an oboe solo. Not to offend the oboist, but there is only so much one can take of an unaccompanied oboe. The oboe though, plays a major part in many pieces and cannot be discredited.

Somewhere there are two people arguing whether or not Jesus’ birthday is actually December 25…or…as Christians who preach Christ Crucified, should we even recognize this “pagan holiday of consumerism.” Jesus…had to be born. Is it ok to recognize this fact? I think so. Do we worship baby Jesus? I see this in the same aspect as only talking about His death on the cross. There is a symphony that is the Life of Christ. Each part…birth, life, death, resurrection, return…melodically weaves together the music that makes our souls come to life and dance. It moves us!

When we are truly engulfed by this sweet symphony movement happens. Movement is short lived when only listening to the drum rumble of the birth of Jesus. The question has to be asked…where is your movement taking you? Does the dance of your soul reflect the symphony playing in your heart? Is your dance in harmony with the culture around you or is it in cadence with the cross? If you let the full symphony of Christ subdue you: What would be different? Would the world know the difference? Would they be attracted to it? Would they by moved to dance too?

I am ready for some movement…myself included. I long for the sweet symphony of Christ to really take hold of my soul and move me. There is noise going on inside that keeps each of us from harmonizing the melody in our lives. Shall we stop waiting for the Trumpet Solo of Christ’s return…and start playing with the melody that He is playing in the world already? After all, doesn’t the symphony always build up to the solo?

Go...baptize...teach

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

It would be good for us to keep this at the focal point of our lives…profound statement I know. Keeping the Holiness of our Father in focus would do great lengths of good in our lives in the area of humility…but what about the second part? May God’s Will be done on earth as it is in heaven? How do we accomplish this?

Over the past month or so I’ve taken a deep interest in how the world views Christianity. I’ve been reading a few different books that are a bit depressing in the reality that is shown in the world view towards those who call themselves followers of Christ. In keeping “God’s Will being done on earth as it is in heaven” at the focal point of our lives, I have to ask how we are going about doing that.

From what I can tell, we as Christians (on the whole), have looked to politics in order to bring God’s Will to earth…as it is in heaven. There are some groups within Christianity that would banish all “sinners” from our country using the law if at all possible. I won’t list off a lot of the laws that would possibly be put in place because I don’t want to get too bogged down on this but I do want to make a quick point. I am not saying that those laws (whichever ones you might be thinking of) would be inherently bad to have around; I just want to get to a deeper issue.

Why do we have laws in this country? Isn’t it understood that it is wrong to murder, steal, commit adultery, etc.? At some point pride sets in and you begin to want what you want when you want it and take what is not yours: life, stuff, spouses, etc. Does imposing more laws changes someone’s pride/selfishness? I’ve yet to see it.

For centuries, in order to become a Christian, you had to be “Romanized,” meaning that you had to become civilized before encountering God’s Grace through Christ. It seems backwards to me…why are we still taking this approach? I think Jesus lays it out well for us in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

I think the approach Jesus would take to “God’s Will being done on earth” would be to change the heart of people. It doesn’t seem as though Jesus got offended much by the “sinners” surrounding Him. He felt compassion for them and went straight for their heart. Let’s start introducing people to Jesus, change their hearts, and then teach them His ways.

Pagan Banquets

In the past year and a half, I figured something out. I don’t like telling people that I am a Minister. Odd as that sounds, I do have my reasons. Just about every time someone has found out that I am a Minister they quickly change their demeanor, apologize for whatever profanity they had just spoken, or just simply…treat me different. I’m not a fan of it. I don’t like people to be different just because they might offend the little minister guy who has never heard a “dirty word” ever in his life. It is almost like standing in a building and saying, “You can’t say that here…this is a Church.”

A week ago I went to a pagan banquet…no that wasn’t the theme. Basically…it was my first “non-Christian” event. Though the other people there we not Christians, let’s say that the spirits were flowing for them. One of the women at my table had informed her boyfriend that I am a Minister and wanted him to be on his best behavior. He was who he was, against her wishes, and I appreciated that. She kept apologizing for his actions and comments. I appreciated his realness. I’d rather him be who he is than to put on a fake self because of my “position.” Should he change who he is for an evening just because I am who I am?

This all started coming together in my mind as I looked back on my time working with the church in Dundee, Scotland. There were three lads I met outside of our meeting hall one day: Kyle, Peter, and Dillon. They had been opening our door and cursing God while we tried to have our Holiday Bible School (VBS). We ended up going and playing footy (soccer) with them in the park once a week for the whole summer. We never asked them to not curse around us, or to act proper around us, but by the end of the summer they had changed. Why did they change? Because they had seen how we could have a good time without all of that. Maybe they were seeing Jesus bleeding through us into their lives.

I hope that I am living my life in a way that as I get to know those who do not know Christ, they will change who they are to become more like Him, not because I have a “title” but because they see something different…something that they are missing. Maybe I need to be going out of my way a little more to build relationships with pagans…maybe a difference can be made. Maybe a relationship will be formed that might lead to talks about Jesus. Maybe…this is what we are supposed to be about?

Your First Love

Every once in a while I flip through and read Revelation. I don’t do it too often because I don’t like taking pills for headaches but still…there are some things to be learned there. Revelation 2:4-5 has been plaguing me. “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” There are a lot of different things to take from this exclamation made by Jesus, but I’d like to focus on the last part, “do the things you did at first.” What does this mean in our lives?

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,” – Matthew 28:18-19. Mark puts it as “Go into all the world,” both of which I really like. Simply…Jesus says, “Go!” I have to ask who this call is for. Just the Apostles? Evangelistic ministers? Ministers in general? Or…every knee that is bowed to Jesus Christ?

A few weeks ago I took my teens on their “Search and Rescue” Fall Retreat. They were reminded of, as Revelation puts it, their first love. They were reminded of what they were called to do. Our fifth and final session, “Search and Rescue is What We Do…it is What He Did,” with a major focus on, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.”

I love the first six chapters of Isaiah. As it builds up, God is standing up in front of us, the world falling apart behind Him, “I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"” – Isaiah 6:8.

Isaiah answered the call. I answered the call when I put Christ on in Baptism. You have answered the call. Much like Jesus calling on the church in Ephesus, we need to examine ourselves to see if we have forsaken our first love…to see if we are doing the things we were called to do at first…not just as a church but as individuals. We often hide under the umbrella of “church” and say, “we have answered the call” when in reality we are letting others do the work for us. Let us remember Jesus, our First Love, and do what He has called us to do. Let’s GO!

Drought

Drought…something I didn’t think I’d find when I moved to North Carolina (I am really sorry if I brought it with me and this whole mess has been my fault). It has been a long time since it has rained. I talked to a woman the other day who was afraid she wouldn’t be able to take a bath if it didn’t rain. Droughts are painful. We are all affected by it. I remember when there was a huge fine if you got caught washing your car. We had to ration our water. Many of us would even look up at the sky, pumping our fists, “RAIN for crying out loud!!”

How often do we feel like we’re in a drought in our relationships with God? Is God lacking? Is He simply not there? Where is He? Why is He so far away when in such need of His refreshing reign? Is it healthy to wonder these things? Is it ok to pump your fist in the air and cry out?
I struggle with Psalms…there are times in my life where I feel like God walks away for a time…leaving me in a drought. Yes I know what you’re thinking. He didn’t walk away…I did. You’re probably right. Here is where I struggle with psalms…Psalm 13. Go read it…

Psalm 13
1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

Many of us were thinking it but Billy came out and said it, “God we need the rain.” It had been a long time since any real water had touched our soil. Brothers and Sisters from Texas and Oklahoma…you remember these prayers? I don’t think any of us ever really thought that it would never rain again. We just wanted it…because we needed it.

Back to Psalm 13…and my drought. Verses five and six are where we need to make sure our focus needs to be. “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.” Even though I feel like droughts happen often in my relationship with God, I will trust in His unfailing love. I will rejoice in His salvation. When the rains come…lets go outside, lift our hands up, and soak it all in. For we have an Almighty God! How beautiful is His Reign!