Today I got to dream. About my future. About where God might take me. About how he could use the gifts he's given me.
The best part?
My boss initiated it.
We talked about what I've been learning over this last year, how I've grown and changed, and what God's been doing in my life.
And then he started thinking outside the box. Bold vision. Big opportunities. Grand ideas. Dreams.
I don't know what God's going to do. I don't know where he'll take me. I don't plan to leave CE anytime soon, nor was my boss suggesting that. But I was so encouraged today, because he really wants me to pursue whatever it is God has for my life. And he wants to help me dream.
Stacie and I got home Sunday afternoon. Final stats:
30days.
6042 miles.
16 states.
18 host homes.
God was so good and faithful to us. We got to meet with so many pastors, youth staff, and young people, and hear about what God is doing in churches all over the country. There were a number of times that I believe we were more refreshed and encouraged than the people we were meeting with. And he kept us safe through so many miles and so many states, which is something we have learned not to take for granted.
And now we're going to California, to live in the summer sun (I bet Kristin Artrip picked up on that song reference...) We'll be at the Northern California winter retreat for the weekend with Matt Wheeland and Ed. Walking out the door now.. update soon!
I think felt needs are so important. That's probably pretty clearly illustrated through the things I've chosen to invest my time and money in (like this, or this, or this). I don't say that to pat myself on the back, but I know that the Lord fills us with passion for different things, and I am definitely burdened for those who are hurting.
Sometimes my desire to address the felt needs (whether that's in a tsunami-destroyed village in Thailand, or with a girl I'm discipling) seems to overshadow my desire to share the gospel. The phrase 'People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care' sat well with me.
Lots of people who are wiser and more godly than me have challenged me in this, and pushed me to understand that both are necessary: as followers of Jesus we have to be about meeting both the physical and the spiritual needs. Recently as I was reading Total Church, I found a great summary of this idea:
...it is never enough to address people's felt needs. Felt needs can be a good point to start because the gospel address the human condition in all its complexity. But people do not as a rule express God's judgement as a felt need. People are blind to their true plight. They do not see their greatest need, which is to be reconciled to God through the gospel. If we do not keep people's eternal plight in mind, then immediate needs will force their way to the top of our agenda, and we will betray the gospel and the people we profess to love. The most loving thing we can do for the poor is to proclaim the good news of eternal salvation through Christ. It is by no means the only loving thing we can do for them, but it is the most loving thing we can do. It would be a crime of monumental proportions knowingly to withhold such good news.
A commitment to the proclamation of the gospel is what makes Christian social involvement distinctly Christian. This is challenging to me, because proclaiming the gospel is not always easy for me. But if I claim to love people, to love the poor, to love the hurting, then I should want to do the most loving thing. And that's to share the gospel.
We're in the middle of the Lititz winter retreat at Camp Joy-El. Stacie and I teaching on identity all weekend. It's amazing to me how as believers this is a lesson the Lord has to continue to teach and reteach and reteach us. I have a number of vivid memories of the Lord showing me how my identity was in all the wrong things. Every time, he broke me. And then, every time, he graciously and patiently drew me to himself, showing me through his Spirit and his Word how my identity is wholly and only to be found in him.
Just yesterday I was listening to a sermon on contentment by Josh Patterson. And he said something that hit me right in the face.
Do I believe that Jesus is sufficient?
Do I really believe that he is enough?
Talk about an identity check. Is Jesus sufficient for me? Or do I seek my fulfillment, contentment, definition from work, relationships, hobbies, possessions....
Back to Total Church by Chester & Timmis. Topic of the day? Community.
If you were at Grace College when I was, you probably fight off a cringe at that word. Community was THE buzz word of my time at Grace. (who knows, maybe it still is.) I think it's an unfortunate thing when a word that represents something so necessary is overused to the point of disgust.
Regardless of how you feel about the word, there's no question that community is biblical. That we were created for it. I love that Chester & Timmis discuss this issue from a God-centered perspective:
Our God is a triune God. He exists in community. We see it from the very beginning of His Word to us: 'Let us make man in our image.' (Genesis 1.26) And so, as we are created in the image of this God, it is a natural conclusion that we also are to exist in community.
We live in an individualistic society--we're all about doing it on our own, 'pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps'. I am part of a generation who has taken this mentality into the church: huge numbers of us have left the church altogether; many of us feel that we are better off reading, praying, listening to sermons on our own than being a part of 'irrelevant' church bodies; others of us see no issue with 'dating' the church-hopping from one to the next for various reasons, not ever really being established in any community.
The church isn't perfect. But she is Christ's bride. Can't love Jesus and hate His bride, as so many have said before. We are called to commune with each other.
Absolutely this means finding a church body and being committed. But that's so much more than Sundays. It's knowing people. Letting them know you. Finding 'family'. That's community. I have seen different churches do this in different ways. One is small groups: Mark Artrip does a great job of explaining what community can and should look like in small groups. Some do it through Sunday school; some have small enough congregations that it happens in the body as a whole.
I will tell [you] what a king is. A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall. A king does not command his men's loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold; he earns their love by the seat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake. That which comprises the harshest burden, a king lifts first and sets down last. A king does not require service of those he leads but provides it to them. He serves them, not they him.
(Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield)
A description in reference to a human king, a warrior. I am struck by how true these words are of our great King of all kings, Jesus Christ.
'For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.' Mark 10.45
So we officially have lived through 'snowpocalype 2010' here on the east coast. Many of our plans were rearranged during the last week, but we will continue on, as planned, to the lovely state of Connecticut today.
We move on to New Jersey Monday,
and Pennsylvania Thursday,
teach at Lititz's youth retreat at Camp Joyell this weekend,
and head back to Indiana next Sunday.
Can you believe it? It's already day 22 of the the 30 day adventure!
I posted yesterday about worry. And then I read this, by Ben Arment. He titles it, Your Dream by Way of Nightmare. If I believed these words, I would no doubt worry less, and trust God more.
God doesn’t allow one, single experience to be wasted on you. What you think might have been a worthless endeavor, a big mistake, or a pointless job was exactly what God needed you to experience for what’s coming ahead.
What if heartbreak and setback were qualifications for your dream? What if your dream required thick skin and you didn’t have it? Would you be okay with facing letdown after letdown if it helped prepare you?
Oswald Chambers says, “Before God can use a man greatly, he must wound him deeply.” Are you willing to accept pain for greatness?
...but I'm a worrier. Not about some things (I'll drink the milk that's been setting out for a day or so, I'll move to Thailand without knowing anyone, I'll hitchhike in Africa [okay that one did worry me some...]). The older I get, the more I find myself worrying. I read an article, 'Thinking Biblically about Worry' by Paul David Tripp, that was so insightful... instead of rewording it, I'm just going to give you some of my favorite parts:
'Worry is not caused by what exists outside of us. No, worry is caused by what is going on inside of us... Sin causes every one of us to live for ourselves... Sin makes us scarily self-focused, self-absorbed, and self-motivated... As a result of sin, no longer do we attach our inner peace to a God who is the definition of wisdom, power, and love and who will never, ever change... Things that were not designed to give us peace and over which we have no control become our replacement messiahs. We ask them to do for us what only God is able to do.'
'Matthew 6.19-34 ... teaches us that behind every moment of worry is a war for the heart. This battle is about whether our hearts will be effectively and functionally ruled by the kingdom of God or the kingdom of self.'
'Worry and rest always reveal the true treasures of your heart. You will rest the most when what you treasure the most is secure, and you will worry the most when what you treasure the most is at risk.'
2 truths about worry: '1. You will tend to worry when you've attached the vitality of your life to things you don't actually need and can't ever control. 2. You will tend to worry in the face of legitimate need when you forget your heavenly Father and His ever-faithful covenant love.'
'Defeating worry is about being a good soldier in this deeper war for the heart. It is about fighting the temptation to attach the peace of your heart to things that are temporary and, therefore, are not organically designed to give you lasting peace. It is about daily feeding your soul on the promises and provisions of your heavenly Father.'
When I understand worry as a war for my heart, that it's an issue of placing my trust in the Lord rather in myself (or my job, or my relationships, or my stuff), I am forced to acknowledge that worry is serious. It's sin. I'm not just 'naturally a worrier'. I'm naturally a sinner. Thank the Lord Jesus for his grace and forgiveness and patience as he sanctifies me. I want to pursue holiness, and so I want to think biblically about worry. I hope you'll join me.
I have always loved to read, and grew up loving fiction. I still read plenty, but a fiction book is rare amongst all the other reading I have/want to do.
Right now I'm in the middle of a few books, and one is a historical fiction about the battle of Thermopylae, where Sparta fought the Persian empire. There is a story of a Spartan warrior comforting a Spartan youth, Alexandros, after the boy's friend died. Here is the commentary on that conversation:
Throughout this conversation the older man maintained a voice tender and solicitous with love. Nothing Alexandros could do would ever make this voice love him less or abandon him. Such is the peculiar genius of the Spartan system of pairing each boy in training with a mentor other than his own father. A mentor may say things that a father cannot; a boy can confess to his mentor that which would bring shame to reveal to his father.
Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield
This depicts so many of the truths of discipleship.
the discipler genuinely loves his disciple, regardless of the disciple's struggles or shortcomings.
the discipler is, in some sense, bound to his disciple. There is a sense of responsibility to the younger.
the discipler ('mentor') can and should say the difficult things.
the disciple can be brutally honest with his discipler, and can expect him to respond appropriately (challenge, comfort, etc).
Note: Let me be totally clear -- in no way do I believe the discipler should take the place of the parent (In case you think this sentence, 'A mentor may say things that a father cannot; a boy can confess to his mentor that which would bring shame to reveal to his father,' conveys that.)
If warriors disciple to prepare people for physical battle,
should not believers disciple to prepare people for spiritual battle?
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
I'm reading Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis right now. (Recommended to us by Tony Hall of Cornerstone Church in Columbus. Thanks Tony.) In a chapter titled 'Why Gospel?', they discuss how the church must be gospel-centered, which implies that:
the gospel is a word; so
the church must be word-centered
the gospel is a missionary word; so
the church must be mission-centered
Those are 2 solid statements. They go on to discuss implications of being mission-centered (cited from Christopher J.H. Wright's The Mission of God):
We ask, 'Where does God fit into the story of my life?,' when the real question is 'Where does my little life fit into this great story of God's mission?'
We want to be driven by a purpose that has been tailored just right for our own individual lives, when we should be seeing the purpose of all life, including our own, wrapped up in the great mission of God for the whole of creation.
We talk about 'applying the Bible to our lives.' What would it mean to apply our lives to the Bible instead, assuming the Bible to be the reality-the real story-to which we are called to conform ourselves?
We wrestle with 'making the gospel relevant to the world.' But...God is about the business of transforming the world to fit the shape of the gospel.
We argue about what can legitimately be included in the mission that God expects from the church, when we should ask what kind of church God wants for the whole range of his mission.
I may wonder what kind of mission God has for me, when I should be asking what kind of me God wants for his mission.
These statements are incredibly humbling. They indicate a total shift in perspective. No longer can I think the world revolves around me. To think this way indicates that I understand that all things were created through him and for him (Col 1.16), that the Lord acts primary for the sake of His glory (Ezek. 36.22), that God is LORD and I am not (Joel 2.27). It becomes increasingly evident that I am oh so small, and God is, well, huge.
Even as I reread those statements, I believe them in with my mind. But it is so hard to live it. To daily think, act, make decisions, speak like I really believe that it's not all about me.
That's what I want though. I want to be transformed by the renewing of my mind (Rom 12.2)
Stacie and I are in BUENA VISTA, Virginia, hanging out with one of the sweetest youth groups in the country (don't be jealous). They're watching me write this right now...
Got to meet Morgan & Kiara, 2 students who are going on Operation Barnabas this summer, and Chase, who may or may not own a bakery. Oh yeah, and Christina Winston, a 2008 OB alumni who is going on Operation Barnabas International this summer.
We've had countless meetings and have moved around so much we can't remember where we are, where we've been, or where we're going.
I've been reading lots (leadership books and biblical prophecy) and listening to sermons. I'm full of thoughts and ideas... but we're busy hanging out with the famous Bill & Patti Willhite, so meaningful posts are going to have to wait a day or 2.
Just wanted you to know that we're still alive, currently in Virginia, and working on avoiding the forecast several feet of snow (yeah. that's no exaggeration.)
