74 mph [Part One]

As I was driving to Syracuse to hear my friend Marlin Stutzman speak today, I couldn't help but think about this analogy:

Most of us have received a speeding ticket at some point in our lives.  When the cop pulled you over what was your excuse?

Many times, the excuses can seem legitimate:
"I'm late for work"
"I just heard that my friend is having a baby"
"I didn't see the speed limit sign"
"I thought it was higher than posted"

But then the officer says, "Sir/Ma'am, why were you going 60 mph in a 45 mph zone?"

What do you say to that?!  And really, there's no answer you can give that sounds rational.  Why?  Because you were the one behind the driver's seat, the speed limit signs are clearly visible, and you passed the drivers training test at the BMV that gave you all the rules.

There is no excuse.

But I remember many times when I would drive on the highway and think, "Well, I can go 74 mph in a 70 mph zone because the cop won't bother wasting his time on me.  It's technically breaking the law, but I have a little 'wiggle room' that I can play with."

And it's true.  I would drive past police officers going 4 mph over the speed limit and they would never stop me.  Technically, I am breaking the law but because it was right on the edge, they would give me some leeway (I've heard it's around 7 mph).

So here's the question:  Is it that way for God?

Is there an edge that I can skirt along where He will just let me fly past Him even though I am technically breaking His laws?

Too often I choose to go 74 mph thinking that God will just let me pass on by.


"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.  And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.  So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith."
~Galatians 6:7-10

Christian Friend or Business Associate?

Recently I have felt prompted to tell my friends how valuable they are and how important they are to my life development.  One of my best friends, who definitely lives up to this is Ty Robbins.  I have had the privilege of knowing Ty for almost two years and it has been such a great adventure!

Our friendship began through a church's local college ministry and we have strived to live Proverbs 27:17 through thick and thin.  There have been times of struggle for sure, times of growth, and times of extreme excitement and energy.  Many of the exciting times revolve around our passion for ministry and our mutual enjoyment of nature and the great outdoors.

It is so awesome to watch Ty live his life while witnessing to those around him.  These include his GSM small group, the AMWED small group, his 5 Star guys, and his hockey teammates.  I am encouraged when I hear of his love for his family and how he strives to be a good example to his parents and siblings.  I enjoy getting up in the morning to see Ty already making breakfast and reading his One Year Bible.  Not many housemates have that privilege!  

The greatest thing I have learned through my friendship with Ty is that each person desperately needs to have someone in their life with whom they can be honest and open, someone who will encourage them to take the narrow road vs the wide road (Matthew 7:13), and someone who will fight alongside them through prayer.

Unfortunately, for most people, the idea of "christian friendship" simply means someone that you hang out with at church.  Very similar to the term "business associate" the only difference being that the location has changed to a church building rather than an office!

The New Testament paints a very different picture of friendship.  It is a friendship that you are willing to lay down your life for, one that you are partnering with to spread the Gospel (koinonia), one that you can build confidence and trust on, and one that you can see marked progression of steps toward the image of Christ:

• Christian friends are to love sacrificially
• "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
• A friendship should never be all about me, and vice versa.  Friends should be mutually willing to sacrifice for the other person.
• Christian friends accept unconditionally
• "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." (Proverbs 17:17)
• There are going to be hard times in a friendship, that's obvious.  What most people do though, is leave a friend who stumbles across difficult times in order to find a friend that is "easier to hang out with".  This is the world's stance on friendship, not the Bible's.  The Bible says that Christian friendship is BORN for adversity.  That we are given the strength inside to endure it along with our Christian brother or sister.  That's so encouraging!
• Christian friends trust completely
• "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." (Proverbs 18:24)
• I honestly believe that Christian friends, over time, can prove that they are willing to stick closer than a brother or sister.
• Christian friends keep healthy boundaries
• "Love is patient, love is kind..." (1 Corinthians 13:4)
• Sometimes, instead of confronting the sin all the time, it is best to be patient and remain dedicated to praying for a close Christian friend.  Prayer is powerful and it works!
• Christian friends give mutual edification
• "Wounds from a friend can be trusted..." (Proverbs 27:6)
• Sometimes the hard messages have to be delivered and I have found that most people in my life choose not to deliver that message because they don't want to hurt my feelings.  This is not the case with Ty!  He is willing to tell me when I am making mistakes, even if it means stepping on my toes.

A few quotes on friendship:

"A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down." 

~ Arnold Glasow

"Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a fire?"

~ C.S. Lewis

"Would you throw away a diamond because it pricked you? 

One good friend is not to be weighed against all the jewels of all the earth. 

If there is coolness or unkindness between us, let us come face to face and have it out. 

Quick, before the love grows cold. Life is too short to quarrel in, or carry dark thoughts of friends. 

It is easy to lose a friend, but a new one will not come for calling, nor make up for the old one when he comes."

~ Leaves of Gold

"A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend; 

one human soul whom we can trust utterly; 

who knows the best and the worst of us, 

and who loves us in spite of all our faults;

 who will speak the honest truth to us, 

while the world flatters us to our face and laughs at us behind our back."

~Charles Kingsley

From girls to God

As I sat talking with my friend Arnold, I realized just how awesome it is to have solid Christian friends in my life.  We talked about everything from girls to God and it was amazing to see how Arnold's passion for life and service to the Lord came out in every sentence he spoke.

God-honoring friendships are critical to getting through this life.  We were never meant to live alone and are commanded to "spur one another on towards love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24)

And that's exactly what we did, and boy was it encouraging.  It was so encouraging, in fact, that we moved from eating at Five Guys to having coffee at Romy's; talking for over 2 1/2 hours!  It's hard to stop talking about God once you get into deep conversations with Christian friends.

If you know about the parking garage at ESCO, you only get two hours for free, then you have to pay.  I thought, "Shoot!  The time flew by, now we have to pay for it!"  Even worse, between the two of us, we managed to only scrounge up $1, definitely not enough to open the gate.

But, as we were pulling up to pay, we noticed that the gate was already open!  I have been to that parking garage many times and this has never happened before.

Very cool.

"On the first day of the week,
when we were gathered together to break bread,
Paul talked with them,
intending to depart on the next day,
and he prolonged his speech until midnight."
~Acts 20:7

Twice as much light? [Part Two]

Now a few thoughts from Scripture.

Personally, I know how important a good day of rest is.  There have been so many times in my life where I have taken a personal retreat day (or week!) and have needed it so that I could refocus and rekindle my drive and motivation.

This may be a blurry line, but this is not the type of work/rest that I am talking about with these posts.

What I am referring to are the tendencies I have to be only talk and no action with my Christian journey.  To be someone who will tell others to talk about God, but never share my faith with those who I work with or those I see on a regular basis. 

What are the ways we can receive eternal rewards here on earth?  Almost every example that I found in the Bible deals with action of some type:

“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water…he will certainly not lose his reward.”

~Matthew 10:42

“The Son of Man… will reward each person according to what he has done.”

~Matthew 16:27

“Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them.  Then your reward will be great.”

~Luke 6:35

“You know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does.”

~Ephesians 6:8

“You know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

~Colossians 3:24

“Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.”

~2 John 8

Okay, I am seeing a pattern here.  That there are some people who will receive more reward when they get to heaven and some people who will “escape the flames” through salvation alone, not receiving any rewards for deeds on earth.

Sound too harsh?

Let’s read on.

“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.  But each one should be careful how he builds.  For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.  If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.  It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.  If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”

~1 Corinthians 3:10-15

Now, what do we do with that verse?  Pretend it isn’t in the Bible?  Keep our eternal perspective only when we come to church on Sunday, then forget it the rest of the week? 

So, back to the original statement that I am “too involved in the ‘doing part’ of my faith”.  After this week of reflection I have concluded that given enough moments of rest, not stretching myself too thin (view previous entry), and keeping an eternal perspective, this cannot be true in my life, especially now, when I have so much time, talent, and energy to give to God.

Yes, there are times people need a break, myself included.  But I honestly believe these times of rest should be short punctuation marks in our life stories that are surrounded by PARAGRAPHS of work that advance God’s Kingdom!

If Jesus himself came down today and said, “Will you serve me?”  How hard would you work for Him?  I know that I would bust my fourth-point-of-contact to do whatever He needed.  If He said, “work for me in the High School ministry”, then I would do it, sold out, 100%. 

Would any of your lives change if you saw Jesus right now and He asked you that?  Because I can tell you this, HE ALREADY HAS!

And a final thought.  Too many times I believed that God wanted me to sing praises to Him at church and that if I truly meant it I was a good Christian.  Jesus never said, “If you love me, you’ll sing to me” or “If you love me you’ll read about me every morning before work”.

Yes, those are all good things, but if we aren’t DOING what He has commanded, then I think many times we’re missing out on the bigger picture.

“If you love me, you’ll DO what I command”

~John 14:15

Thoughts?

Change it up!

I read a quote recently that said, "teenagers aren't houseplants that need water every three days".

Haha!  But it's so true!  If ministries that I am doing are not seeing any fruit or are the same old thing week after week, then there is a problem.  Fresh ideas and new ways of engaging the younger generation will lead to changed perspectives, and ultimately, the hope of transformation.

Our God is not a duplicator, but a Creator!

Chicken wings

The most exhilarating times of my life are when God opens opportunities to advance His kingdom.  This past weekend was another addition to that category.

This picture explains it all.  A group of guys, gathered around some wings at BW3, watching some football, and laughing can make an atmosphere ripe for mentoring the church leaders of tomorrow.  It was such an encouraging weekend.  These young men are reading their Bibles and speaking to each other as true Christian brothers.  Their joy and excitement is expressed in every conversation they have.

"I always thank God when I pray for you
because I keep hearing of your trust in the Lord Jesus
and your love for all of God's people."
~Philemon 4 and 5

Twice as much light? [Part One]

The old saying “don’t burn the candle at both ends” is used to warn people not to become overly committed to something to the point of exhaustion. 

Recently a Christian friend of mine told me that I was “too involved in the ‘doing’ part of my faith”.  Wow.  What a statement.  Is it possible to be overly involved in ministry?

I have been meditating on this question all week and have decided to split this into a two-part discussion.  The first part will be my initial reaction to that statement and the second will be what the Bible says about work and rest.

My thoughts:

1.  I don’t know how long I will live.  We sing songs about it all the time, but seriously, if this is my last day on earth, would I do what I am currently doing?

2.  One of my favorite mentors is the Apostle Paul who may have been labeled a “double-end burner”.  More on him tomorrow.

3.  I don’t want to become comfortable with my current situation or become apathetic towards the moving of God.  Too often I have become stagnant doing the same thing I’ve done every day that eventually a year passes and I ask myself “what did I accomplish this past year?!”

4.  Some people are not thinking eternally when they condemn the ministry efforts of other Christians.  This is the first response I gave my friend: “I don’t think you’ll say that I did too much ministry when we are standing before the throne room of God”.  Honestly.  That is the end state.  It all comes down to giving Him my all and at the end of my life I want to look back and say that I did that.  I have a feeling that the moment I die and come before Christ, everything on earth that I have dedicated my time towards will be viewed, in full spectrum, before God.  The question is not AM I DOING TOO MUCH MINISTRY, but when I get to heaven is DID I DO ENOUGH MINISTRY?

5.  Rest is good and is desperately needed.  I will talk more about rest tomorrow.

6.  And finally, I don’t think God wires everyone the same.  God has wired some people to get more and more excited at His moving to the point that it is all they think about!  In his recent book Axiom, Bill Hybels explains this concept:

Sometimes while [Dr. B] was talking about the local church, I felt the passion so strongly I could barely keep myself from crying.  Other times I wanted to jump up and shout, “Gang, this is it!  Don’t you see it?  Can’t you feel it?  The local church is the hope of the world!  It’s the God-ordained redemptive agency that the future of the entire world hangs on.  Cancel your career plans!  Do something important with your one and only life!  Lay it down for the sake of the local church!”  The local church – it still stirs the deepest kinds of feelings in me.  Nothing else does this to me.  I’ve had some other exhilarating experiences in my life, but they pale in comparison to what stirs in my heart when it comes to giving my life to help renew the local church.  Vision and passion are inextricably bound together in the life of a leader.  God made it so.  When you have eyes to see the vision that God has given you, you’ll know it because your heart will feel it so deeply that, over time, any lingering uncertainty will vanish.  Leaders, don’t ever apologize for the strength of feeling you have for the vision that God has put into your life.  (pg 30-31)

Worship

It is such a joy to watch our worship team sing praises to God.  This past Sunday was no exception.  I was deeply blessed by the passion and heart of Gennie Sanchez, Mario Dunlap, and Carol Hurt as they gave their all to worship our wonderful God!

"Come, let us sing to the LORD!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come to Him with thanksgiving.
Let us sing psalms of praise to Him.
For the LORD is a great God,
a great King above all gods."
~Psalm 95:1-3

Burning Hawk

During the Gulf War, a massive psychological operation campaign took place. Known as 'Operation Burning Hawk', it was designed to force the Iraqi Army to surrender before any shots were fired.

The plan was simple. Destroy a town in southern Iraq through precision air strikes. Then drop over 29 million leaflets to every town to the north which said:

WE HAVE COMPLETELY DESTROYED THE TOWN TO THE SOUTH.

SURRENDER BY NOON TOMORROW OR YOU WILL ALSO BE DESTROYED.

It was amazing to see hundreds of Iraqi soldiers coming out of buildings and foxholes in single file, AK-47s over their heads, ready to surrender to the more powerful army. An estimated 40-60 % of the army deserted their posts and fled!

I read stories like that and think, "if I were in that situation I would surrender too!"

But the fact is, that when it comes to God, I don't always surrender.

In Jeremiah 44:2, 10 it says,

"This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw what I did to Jerusalem and to all the towns of Judah. They now lie in ruins, and no one lives in them...yet to this very hour no one has shown remorse or reverence, or chosen to follow my decrees that I gave you."

It gets worse. The people visibly shake their fists at Jeremiah and say (v. 16),

"We will not listen to your messages from the LORD! We will do whatever we want."

How sad that when God drops leaflets in my life warning of imminent danger, that I would refuse to listen to them. Some of my friends would say, "Well that sounds like a mean God, who would destroy you for not listening to Him." To which I reply, "He isn't the one destroying me, but I am destroying myself" (v. 7).

A fresh face for ministry

I like to have fresh things. A fresh sandwich at Subway, a clean fresh room, a fresh pair of underwear... you get the idea.

Lately the idea of being fresh has caused me to question some of the practices that I have been doing for years. Is the current system and style that I do things grabbing the next generation? Am I constantly trying to understand who my audience is and how I can best approach them?

A lot has changed since I was in high school. I didn't have a cell phone, didn't have streaming internet, and certainly didn't have facebook. Each of these readily accessible items has caused quite a stir among the younger crowd. The very idea of "free-time" has changed, relationships have morphed into a new quasi-informal entity, and personal accountability has decreased to record levels.

Last night the youth leaders of Calvary sat in a room together and tried to shake off the old and bring in fresh new ideas. And I think it's working. Sure, we had to go through a few bad ideas, but in the end I think we came out with a couple of winners. The excitement in the room was amazing as we began latching on to these winning ideas. I look forward to carrying them out.

High schoolers, like myself, enjoy fresh things. Am I being fresh?