It Is Well…
Posted by: limpingandloved on: February 10, 2010
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.Horatio Spafford
This song challenges me. I think it challenges the core of our culture, too. Today in lectures we were talking about me-ism – the idea that the world revolves around me and my feelings and perceptions, and nothing else matters but those. But this song speaks the message that whatever happens to me, it is well with my soul. Why? For reasons that Jesus spoke. “But in me you will find peace,” he said. Our peace is found in Christ alone, not in anything else… But, this forces me to consider where I look when I feel overwhelmed with stress, anger, sadness or any other emotion bar happiness.
There’s a store called T2 that sells weird and wonderful types of tea, and I have a bit of an addiction to some of their teas. I keep a few stored up just in case of a bad day and a cup of it makes me feel a teensy bit better. Should I find my peace there?
I have a punching bag that used to be hung up in my garage, but is currently waiting for a home. If life frustrated me, I would go home and escape for a bit into some exersise and afterwards, a mix of happyendorphins and relief would wash over me. Should I find my peace there?
Watching movies provides a quick escape into an alternate reality if you only let yourself be taken away into it. My personal favourite is X-men. It allows me to brood about how hard life is, with an excuse – because, let’s face it, a mutants life IS hard. Should I find peace there?
No. They are means of bringing peace, for a moment. But if I want solid, lasting peace that doesn’t fall away when the bottom drops out of my life, I need to stick with Jesus and the hope of the cross… The knowledge that he understands, the truth that he is my savior…
I need to stick with it. And so do you.
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
Moving Thoughts
Posted by: limpingandloved on: February 5, 2010
I don’t mean the emotional kind of moving, but the physical sort of moving house type of moving. Here’s where my mind is…
- It’s the beginning of a new part of my life, and I’m scared, but can’t wait to see if I can land on my feet.
- I have no idea what God has planned, and it worries me a little that I don’t know…
- Out of moving, I recieved a Baltimore Ravens jersey from a friend. Awesome!
- The next week will be nuts. Lots of coffee will be required.
And I will now proceed to enjoy a quiet night.
Peace.
What Are We Selling?
Posted by: limpingandloved on: February 3, 2010
Some products are hard to sell. Socks aren’t exactly interesting, and you don’t see many advertising campaigns that will try to make you buy them. The Superbowl next week won’t have ads for socks. It’ll have ads for McDonalds and cars and Pepsi or coke. Who really cares about socks? Not me! Now imagine you’re watching the Superbowl (which the Ravens are hypothetically playing in…) and an ad for wool socks comes on.
“They’re soft and silky!” grins a teenager on the screen. You grimace. Not going to run out to buy the brand new Bonds wool socks, are you? They say soft. But… you know better.
We spend time trying to sell Jesus to people. A lot of ministry strategies are merely different advertising campaigns put forward by ministers, trying to sell the Christian life to people. We try to make it sound glamorous, we try to appeal to a sense of adventure, or structure, or security or purpose… And more often than not, the viewer rolls their eyes and waits for the Ravens to be back on the screen.
Pitch failed.
Next model, please?
Do we lose out on actual ministry by spending so much time considering the theories behind the practice? Are we Missional, Incarnational, Relational, Prophetic…? Who knows? Why would we be one? Why would we not be one? Too many questions and not enough action on our part, I think.
There are times when the problem isn’t just the lack of action, it’s our own lack of conviction in the ‘product’ we’re selling. We think Jesus is too hard to sell, so we begin by promoting our ministry as fun, and then tack Jesus on the end. 
We sell donuts, because Jesus is just too hard to sell…
We sell entertainment, because commitment is too challenging…
We sell feel good, because the promise of suffering is too offensive…
We spend so much time strategising that we end up turning from the Christ and becoming the culture.
…Commit, please?
To something.
Drops Like Stars
Posted by: limpingandloved on: February 2, 2010
- In: Books| Personal
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“At a family gathering one time, this little boy started to yell “Stars! Stars!” when it began to rain outside. When Rob asked his sister-in-law why her son kept saying “Stars! Stars!”, she replied that for a brief moment, in her son’s understanding of his world, the rain drops would look like stars exploding when they hit the ground.That little boy saw exciting stars when he was surrounded on every side by the giant drops rain.
He saw the stars…not just the drops of rain.
He saw the beauty in the pain.
I want to see the drops like stars. Not just the drops. Because when I run away from the drops, I miss seeing the stars.”
I don’t know a lot about children. I gauge my knowledge off of knowing one particular almost 4 year by the name of Levi. He is adorable, and persistent in his curiousity. “But why?” is his most often asked question. “Because someone made it that way.” will be the response from the adult nearest. “But why?” he will respond, eyes wide and a smile on his face. “They thought that was the best way to do it.” the still entranced adult replies. “But why?” he persists. The now slightly annoyed adult grits their teeth and expands further, and will eventually speak the words Levi now knows to repeat back to questions when he is asked them. “Just is.”
And the conversation ends.
That is how my conversations with God go often. I constantly ask the same question, and he speaks into the situation in his own way. “But why?” I ask, even when he explains… “But why?” I ask as someone tends to my new wound. “But why?” I ask as someone holds my hand through the pain. “BUT WHY?!” I scream as the rain doesn’t stop and I continue trying to find futile cover from the constant drops. It’s an accurate picture of my last year. And oddly, I don’t regret the questions, but I do regret not taking a moment to realise the purprse for the rain. Honestly, I’m still unsure of the purpose… but God doesn’t owe me the answer. He simply says, “just is. Trust me.”
Stop. Stop screaming. Stop crying. Stop speaking. Stop. Look…
Look at the stars…
Sometimes it’s hard to tell when they’re there. Sometimes your eyes are clouded by tears. But in the rain, God is still good. And he has a purpose.
He does.
I want to see the drops like stars…
Open my eyes, Lord.
Parents & Youth Ministry
Posted by: limpingandloved on: February 2, 2010
- In: College| Ministry
- 2 Comments
As a youth, I had a great talent for keeping as much distance as possible between my parents and the concerned youth leaders who felt it important to let my disconnected parents in on some of the events of my life. They never let them in, because I pushed as hard as I could to keep that distance, and make it even wider at any opportunity. As college starts this year we’re talking about parents, and how to get them involved in our youth ministry, more specifically, how to get them involved in the spiritual welfare of their children, and if the parents are not Christian themselves, how to bring them into the church that their child seems to be giving a chance.
Here are my as yet untested, undiscussed thoughts.
Parents have a strong influence over their children. Ideally, it would be a positive influence, but in some cases it is a sorely negative influence. This means that we cannot detach a teenager from their parents and treat them as separate. A parent inputs into a teen, and a teen will often want their parents approval – and if no approval given, they will begin to seek attention. The first thing we must acknowledge is simple – parents matter in ministry.
With this presupposition established, the next step is to look at the practical implications of it. The most common way we try to engage parents is through the parent supper. Coffee, cake and a small talk from the head youth leader about what’s going on in the ministry that particular term. It seems half assed. It seems like there is no attempt made to actually develop and sustain mutual love relationships, between anyone – parents and leaders, parents and youth or even youth and leaders. There’s a lot of things we know don’t work, but what will work?
Here’s what I intend to try, and see if it works. Small groups mid-week, not within my house but instead in the houses of the youths whose parents are supportive. Eat dinner with the family, then spend time in another room going through a study and praying with the teenagers. I also want to get to know them as people, not merely as parents. I fall into the trap of only thinking of them as their role, and not as someone who is called a child of God.
I am not sure how to engage non-believing parents, to be honest. It is close to home, and I am sure many youth are like I was – wanting to keep them away from those who know the problems hurtful parents have caused…
But, I do know that I need to engage youth somehow…
Completion
Posted by: limpingandloved on: January 29, 2010
“God just doesn’t complete me like he used to.”
Someone I care about told me recently that God doesn’t complete her like he used to. My immediate response, at least in my mind, was a catch phrase used in a theology lecture about worship last year; “It’s not about you, stupid.” I didn’t verbalise this to her, but her words are still bouncing around my mind about a week later. Why? There’s two theories I’ve got about that.
One is that her words, and her reason for walking away, echo a feeling that I often have. After such a crazy year, I am not feeling sure of anything or comforted or secure, but I don’t walk away simply because I know God is sure and he is comforting and that I am secure in his hands – even if I don’t feel that way. That doesn’t mean the temptation to walk away isn’t present for me, or present for every other committed Christian, whether they are in ministry or not.
Theory two is that her view is prevalent among a lot of young believers, and maybe older, but I can’t speak for that demographic just yet. Their faith is not about God, it is about them feeling complete. John Dickson says that the most important doctrine in the Bible is monotheism – that is, the belief that there is only one God. That is the root of why we believe and why we encourage others to believe. If there is one God, then how can we live in a way that is not under his rightful Lordship? It doesn’t make sense to live another way. Any other way is leading to disappointment at best in a fanciful fantasy, and death in the cruel, but chosen, reality. This means that is isn’t about us. It is about God, and our love for and submission to him.
Our faith cannot rest upon our emotions – or all females would need to recommit to God after PMSing – and our faith cannot revolve around our own need for fulfillment, because while God does promise he will ‘complete’ us, that promise stands to be fulfilled upon the return of Jesus, and only given to those who endure in the faith until that time.
I may not always feel complete… but how can I stop taking steps towards the God who I am sure of in the deepest part of me, even if sometimes I falter in my trust for him and love of him…
What about you?
Is it about you? Or is it about God?
Family
Posted by: limpingandloved on: November 26, 2009
I feel like I have never had a real family. Part of me wonders if I was ever adored by my parents in the way that I see kids being treated when I’m around my friend’s families. I want that experience so much, and I know that my experience of it will not be had in recieving the love – but in giving it. As soon as I think about that, though, I have an echo of 1 John 3:1 in my head, the exhortation that we are children of God… Adopted into his family, and I have realised more than ever that this family I’ve been adopted into has been more than I ever realised they could be.
There are two things I am sure of: This year was tough. This year I was blessed more than ever.
People pray for me, some of whom I’ve never met. People gave me furniture, towels and anything else that I needed. People spent time with me when I was down. People gave me a push forward when all I wanted to do was sit down.
I am certain that my family are… here.
Music
Posted by: limpingandloved on: November 15, 2009
“You’re a lot more punk rock than I am,” says Amy.
I frown a little and look at the crowd at the Mest concert, who all look a whole lot more punk than me… “I’m punk by church standards, but not by concert standards.”
That gives you a bit of a glimpse into where I was on Friday. I had the night off youth group to go to a concert of a band that Amy and I have loved since we were 13 or so – we’re now 20. Scary, huh? It was a great night and has made me pretty nostalgic about the times when I went to gigs or just spent nights in my bedroom listening to music and writing fan fiction. Yes, I was that kid.
Right now I’m sitting in the church office filling in time before band practice by watching live videos of Mest – the band we saw on Friday night. The energy in the crowd is electric, and it’s making me wish I was there again, but then I think a bit more about what’s going on… It feels good at the time, but then you’re back to reality, hanging out until the next show when you can escape. And I can remember that outside those moments where I was lost in my own world, life sucked.
Today I’m playing bass at the youth service, and the 7:15 service. Sure, there are no fancy lights. There’s less of a mosh pit. But… we’re worshipping in that moment, and if we’ve got something right, then those moments aren’t the only ones we’re getting lost in God’s glory.
Sure, sometimes I think maybe I picked the wrong path.
But… I didn’t. I know I didn’t, because my life isn’t about those single, rare moments.
It’s about living every moment, for God.
Weak or Strong?
Posted by: limpingandloved on: November 12, 2009
- In: Bible| Personal
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“When I am weak, I am strong.”
This phrase from 2 Corinthians is haunting me. I cannot work out what it means. I cannot work out how it makes any sense. Weakness is not strength. Strength is the absence of weakness, isn’t it? That’s always the idea I had. I am struggling to make my idea of strength fit into the true definition of strength – that id’s definition of strength. Does Paul mean that when I can’t lift anymore weight, that is my greatest moment of strength? Does he mean that when he is weak, that is when GOD is strong? That’s the easiest way to define it, I suppose, but that isn’t what he says. That means I’d have to change a word that is not argued in different translations – when I am weak, I am strong… there is no debate over it.
I don’t have an answer. But I’m hoping someone will, or that maybe a commentary will tell me exactly what is being said, but it has got me thinking.
Lately I have been wrestling with admitting to weaknesses, and all at the same time taking up new responsibilities, adjusting to my newly discovered strengths. In the worldly sense, I find it impossible to reconcile the two. One takes me into the gutter, one takes me to the stage. One takes me to pulling out of ministry, another pushes me further into it. That is, if strength is what I thought it was, and if weakness is what I thought it was.
God is not in the business of selecting perfect people. If he was, then we’d all be looked over without a first thought, let alone a second. God is, however, in the business of making broken people pure in his sight through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and using them to build his church. One of the senior guys of the early church denied Jesus three times in one day – and Jesus didn’t throw him out of the group of disciples, tell him to get better and then come back. God will not neglect me because I struggle. Jesus came for the sick, not for the healthy.
Weakness.
Strength.
I still don’t understand!
As I write this I’m listening to a podcast from Mosaic church called The Energy Carrier. They make me a little uncomfortable in that their sermons can come across as self help talks more than Bible based sermons, but Steve Saccone might be onto something in what he’s saying right now. He’s talking about how the way we relate to people will be affected by where we draw our strength from. If I draw my strength from God, then I am strong. Maybe that’s it.
In my weakness, that is when I realize I cannot do this on my own. I cannot live the way I’m called to without help. I am weak. It is then that I turn to God and open myself up to him the most. It is then that His strength is what I fall on. He is always strong. But when I am weak, it is when I am strong because it is God than I rely on.
I don’t have a clear answer. But, am I getting somewhere?
How To: Honour God
Posted by: limpingandloved on: November 11, 2009
“8He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah 6:8
Someone asked me today, “How can I honour God?” It seems like such a simple question! The greatest commandment is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength. So, just do that and you’re fine. In answering this person’s question I realised that while the general principle is simple, often the lines in our lives are blurred and we find ourselves doing what isn’t the worst thing, but definitely not the best.. We find ourselves asking, “What is permissible?” as opposed to “What honours God?”
How can we go from the bare minimum, to giving our everything?
Here’s what I’m thinking, and it’s the beginning of the thoughts forming, and trying to make this idea of honouring God into a lifestyle…
1. Spend time with God.
That means you pick up the Bible, and read it. Not just skim a chapter but really let it sink in. Colossians 3 says we should let the word of Christ dwell richly in us, and that happens when we read it and let God change our hearts through it. That also means we pray in that time – give God our worries, our hopes and align our will to his. It means we think beyond our story and into God’s.
2. Commit to Community
Spend time with God’s people. Not just on a Sunday inside the church walls, but drink coffee, go to the beach, go to the movies, and live life together. We’re made for relationship, and if God’s giving you a community of people… why not honour him by serving them, and letting them serve you?
3. Forget You!
Pick up paper from the floor. Comfort a crying friend. Wash the dishes that you didn’t dirty. A God-honouring life isn’t about you – it’s about God.
4. Speak Up.
Tell people about Jesus. It seems so simple, but our purpose here is to be Christ’s ambasadors and we do that by proclaiming his name to those around us. You can’t love without reason, so share the reason and don’t be timid about it. Don’t tell them to listen to some sermon, but say something. Let them know they’re loved. It’s simple!
That’s the current place of my thought. Mostly, it’s putting God before you – who’d have thought, right?
More on that later, I think.
- limpingandloved: I think a similar thing happens most places... Youth leaders think that there is no hope with the parents, so we take up the job of role models oursel
- James Castle: My old youth group (went there for 6 months at the end of yr 12) was fairly anti-parent. We were led to have our youth leaders as the prominent rol
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