This is one of my fav pics from 8GE. 

8GE Picture

That is one of my favorite pictures of the 8th Grade Excursion.

It has a sense of "we're going somewhere" and "we're together"...

When I picture ministry I see it a lot like this...walking with students, not lording things over them, but journeying beside them, enduring some of the same things, while taking them on a path with which I am somewhat familiar.

Whirlwind

Well, Aubrey and I have been in a whirlwind of activities these past couple of weeks.

For starters, we have decided to move closer to York. Aubrey resigned from Messiah, and we are moving to York, from where she will travel to Shippensburg to be a full time grad student. She got an assistantship, so we don't have to pay anything for her to go to school (She's a smart lady...I always tell people that I married up...).

Anyway, we've been packing all of our stuff and making arrangements....

And in the middle of it all, my sister, Sue graduated from Mt. Vernon Nazarene University on Saturday. Woohoo!!! Way to go Sue! I am so proud of her. She graduated with her class, despite major changes through it all. She is a strong woman and I'm glad she's my sister.

Besides seeing her graduate, we got to hang with my family. Uncle Dan, Uncle Jay, Aunt Beth, Aunt Becky, Uncle Randy, Aunt Nancy, Nana, Mom and Dad, Jake, Lydia, Natalie (David...her boyfriend)...were all there. It was great to see them...It's hard not being closer to them...I wish we weren't so spread out.

And next week we are going on vacation with my family someplace in VA. It will be nice to relax, play some rook, read some books, and be with familia.

After-thought to First-thought to Every-thought

Teaching on spiritual disciplines this month. Taught on prayer in a round a bout way last night with the senior high students.

While I was preparing for the lesson I made an effort to think about the normal human struggle with duplicity or hypocrisy. We had talked the week before about how we can be one person in school and another person at home, or it seems that there are two people in us, one wanting to behave this way and another wanting to behave another way (i.e. one wants to treat all friends with respect but the other wants to be accepted by certain friends who disrespect people). And often what we don't want to do, we do, or what we do want to do, we don't (see Paul in chapter 7 of his letter to the Romans on this...he's got some great thoughts). So, in the lesson we talked about how God wanted to make us one, to make us whole and complete, not wishy-washy.

As I was thinking about how to tie this to prayer, I thought about how often when we give in to that which we don't desire, we have an afterthought. It's like, "dang, I wish I didn't do that. I should have asked God for help." Or something like that. Kind of like what Adam experienced in the Garden after the fruit.

So, I was thinking that if we think of God after we are already in our harrowing situations, in our trying circumstances, then it is too late. But what if he was our first thought every day. Would that change anything? I think it would set the tone for the day. It would be a centering type of thing...

But I am not sure that the first thought is where we want to stay. Paul talks about praying continually (1 Thes. 5:16-17). Maybe God wants us to move from after-thought to first-thought to every-thought. Maybe that is a way of looking at the growth we experience in God.

I know there are monks who pray the Jesus Prayer in the attempt to make God their first thought before anything. They talk about how God transforms their hearts and actions through saying that prayer.

Worry or Expectancy

I wonder if the opposite of worry is expectancy. I'm sure somebody has written this somewhere, but it seems to me that worry just fills the person with fear of what lies around the corner. It consumes the person, drawing them into a cycle of "Oh no, what's going to happen next?".

But expectancy (maybe there is a better word for this) looks forward to what God is going to do. It trusts. It believes that God is a good God and will take care of Her beloved. Expectancy wants to see how God is going to make a difference and how God is going to affect the future.

While worry pines in the corner, expectancy prepares for the future.

8th Grade Excursion

We just got back from our annual 8th Grade Excursion, where we take the uprising freshmen on a "rites of passage" camping trip to work through the thrills and transitions of adolescence and high school life. This year was great! The students were fantastic and had excellent attitudes the whole weekend, even with the insane thunderstorm on Saturday night.

The small group conversations were my favorite part, because it was cool to watch the guys open up and encourage each other. But we also had a blast singing silly songs (Baby Shark, Little Cabin, Frog Song, Little Red Wagon, Morning Bird Song, Rise and Shine and Shut Up!,...)

My favorite Scenes

Daniel -Racoon Dancer and Fancy Stick Maker
Katie -Ever Encourager (Racoon stole her jacket for her trail mix)
Whitney -"Jeremy, help. The Racoon is on the table." and champion wood hunter
Abby -The Persevering and Crazy Swimmer (even though extremities were extremely cold) and resident smiler
Theresa -the enduring hiker
Abbey -1st female swimmer (Devon pursuer)
Jeremy -the "toothpaste oreo" eater (the hygenic dessert)
Cody -1st Student to brave the chilly waters
Anthony-Chicken Nugget and always helpful
Cassi -toilet stander on-er
Jelee-Always using Cassi as her seat
Amanda -crazy song leader and initiator
Bonnie -food coordinator and van sleep-er in-er and camera thief
Samantha -champion wood hunter
Holly -toothpaste oreo originator and pancake maker
Michelle -master fire/smoke maker
Leah -master of capture the flag (she's fast) and trail blazer
Trudy -resident photographer and blackmailer
Megan -ever cheery spirit

Following Christ Violently

When I think of Christ, I see a man of peace, a man who sought to bring comfort to the broken and strength to the weak. I see the Son of God reaching out to gently hold a child in his arms.

But when he speaks to the religious posers and fakers, he doesn't use mild language. And when he comes into the Temple during Passover and sees the corruption and greed in the place where God desires to have his light of generosity and love shown, he goes buck-wild on the vendors.

So Christ is meek and brutal.

Paul uses some serious language in Colossians. He talks of putting to death the sinful nature. This is no lethal injection, no slow process of falling asleep. They did not put things or people to death softly in Paul's day. They were brutal and ruthless. So, it seems that Paul calls us to a life of brutality and violence. Not with others, but with the sin within me and you.

Yet, there might be a violence that is seen with others. I think we can be brutal in our efforts to rid our worlds of injustice. I think we can confront abusive fathers with strong language.

But God's violence is never to destroy someone. His violence is always to redeem the person or system. His violence is against anything that is against him.

Further Thoughts on Just Worship

"An ancient saying suggested that there are two wings by which we rise, one being personal piety and the other community charity. No one can fly by flapping only one wing. It is impossible to be sincere in our worship of God without expecting to do the will of God. It is equally impossible to do the will of God without the guidance and empowering of a vital personal relationship with God."

Harvey and Lois Seifert "Liberation of Life"

I have been reading Ephesians 5 where it talks about imitating Christ. I had never noticed before, but in verse 10 Paul talks about finding out "what pleases the Lord", and in 17 he says "understand what the Lord's will is." I believe these two are connected. What pleases the Lord is what his will is. Worship that pleases God is worship that flows out of a life that understands and lives His will.

By the way, I am posting this from Panera Bread...yeehaw free wireless...thanks Brian for the enlightenment...

McDonalds

McDonald's, Panera Bread, Chick fil a, Barnes and Noble have it down. You can go to any of them anywhere in this country and find the same service and same flavor. Variety...yeah, somewhat in the building structure. But content is mostly the same. The colors are the same. The flavor of the burgers, soups, sandwiches: the same.

I'm sure somebody has written about this somewhere, but I was wondering if that happens in the church. A solid idea is discovered, one that brings success, brings joy and contentment. Perhaps a men's prayer breakfast on saturday morning. And when that idea is discovered it is shared with other churches, and then other churches make it their own, adopting that idea. So, we end up with a bunch of churches that look the same in form and content.

I haven't conveyed it very well, but for some reason that doesn't sit well in my spirit. Yes, there is unity in the Spirit, unity in our salvation, unity in our humanity, but i'm not sure that means conformity in Church. I wonder if we hinder the Spirit of the Kingdom by being McDonalds-Church...Is there anything here...?

Reunited

Well, my parents arrived in the states yesterday. I got to see them for the first time in 1.5 years. It was so cool.

I was halfway expecting it to be the magical moment when everything stops and you run into each others arms, but that wasn't it. I would describe it more like the "wow, I haven't seen my life-bearers in 1.5 years and I'm so excited, glad, happy, joyful, but I'm also feeling guilty because I'm 5 minutes late to pick them up" kind of feeling. Thankfully they didn't get to the release gate until I got there, so it looked like I had been waiting there, when in reality I had just walked up.

We stayed up until 12:30 (they hadn't slept for 29 hrs) reminiscing, hugging, being glad to see each other. It's fun to be with them as they readjust to our society and culture. Their eyes got big in the grocery store, and they got goosebumps because of the 40 degree temperature change. They enjoyed seeing the trees of VA, riding on smooth roads (apparently you can't go more than 25 mph on the bumpy roads over there), eating Klondike bars...

Man, it's great to see them. I'm thankful for parents who are still passionate about following God's heart for their lives. They really offer me a life worthy of following.

Fun fact: my parents left Bangkok at 2:30 on Thursday and arrived in Detroit at 2:20 on Thursday. That's crazy.

Summit 2005

Summit 2005

We just got back from my first sr. hi retreat as director. Wow, it was great. We went to Kenbrook Campground, (in Lebanon, PA…not sure if we’ll ever go back again, because they charge for every extra thing) and had a blast.

The students showed me Christ through their attitudes and the way they treated each other. The adults showed me the love of Christ in the way they looked out for those students who were on the fringe.

It was a good weekend to get away too. Had fun kayaking (Adam Holtzapple took a spill and Ryan and Bryce went down a hill), eating, watching Napoleon Dynamite, telling tales of the seniors, laughing with each other, singing to our Maker, crying with each other, processing God’s truth together, wrestling in the hall, doing ropes initiatives inside, getting frustrated together and working it out, watching God work through his people…

The personal meditation times were actually helpful for me too. I didn’t expect it, since normally the leader seems so distracted by stuff to get done, but I received fresh realizations of God’s enduring love during the silence. The first session was based out of Psalm 136, which has the repeated refrain, “His love endures forever.” And we were to write out events in our lives followed by the same refrain. And as I wrote out the high times and tough times in my life, writing the refrain caused me to be baffled by God’s overwhelming presence through it all. In all the events of my life, God’s love has endured. In my grief with Aubrey, his love has endured. In my joys of ministry, God’s love has endured. Every step of my life is balanced with God’s love.