Christian Living – Page 24 – Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, Encouragement, Ministry

A Challenge to My Ministry Friends (and Everyone Else as Well)

The book of Hebrews and multiple writings of Paul make it pretty clear. The longer you are a Christ follower, you should be growing deeper and deeper in your faith and walk with Christ. You should not need to be taught the same thing over and over again. In fact, you should get to a point where you are feeding yourself instead of relying on someone else to feed you.

Hebrews 5:12-14 puts it this way; 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

In other words, you should get to a point in your walk with Christ that you are responsible for feeding yourself. Your own Bible study and prayer life should be helping you grow in Jesus. It even says that you should become teachers. I am not trying to argue that everyone who is a Christ follower is supposed to preach and teach, but you should be able to explain your relationship with Christ to someone who asks, instead of relying on someone else to do it for you.

At the same time, I have made a realization in my own walk, and in the way that I grow in my relationship with Jesus. Those of you that preach on a regular basis, I think you will get what I am about to say. Between our own personal devotion time, prayer life (for the church we serve and our own time with God), prepping Bible studies, Sunday School classes, and our sermons each week, it is easy to just feel drained spiritually by the end of the week. We are always teaching or preparing to teach.

Before you get the wrong idea, I am not complaining. I absolutely love my calling. There is nothing else that I want to do. Preaching the word of God is my passion. But when all we do is prepare to teach, and then teach, it is sometimes hard to find ways to continue to grow yourself. Yes, reading Scripture, spending time with God, and even reading books can help, but there is just something about hearing the word of God preached that speaks to my soul.

What I am getting out, fellow preachers and teachers, is that we need to find an outlet in which we get to hear the word of God preached. That is one of the reasons I love the age of technology that we are living in. You can easily find sermons on the internet, either audio or video files, and can listen to someone else teach God’s word.

I have not always been great at doing this though. My guess is that most of us struggle with this from time to time as well. Maybe it is that we just do not think we have the time, or that our pride gets in the way because we fear someone will be a better preacher than us. Or it could be that we just do not realize that we are struggling to refuel. That is what I realized just over the last couple of weeks. I was struggling to refuel and did not even realize it. I also thought that I did not have the time to block out everything and listen to a sermon or two.

Well now I realize that I actually do not have the time to not do this. It is vital for me to hear God’s word being presented by someone else, and for no other reason than my own personal growth. It is not for prepping an upcoming sermon or series, although I may find things that give me a new idea on how to present a certain passage or topic. It is not for me to compare my preaching to someone else. I need it for my own growth as a Christ follower.

So, I have built time into my weekly schedule to listen to one or two (or more) sermons from other ministers in the effort to help refuel, and feed my relationship with Jesus. Will I always be perfect at this? You know the answer. No! Things in ministry pop up out of nowhere, and schedules have to be flexible enough to handle the unexpected. But when I can (more often than not), I will be finding ways to listen to others preach. There are a couple of churches/ministers that I plan to start with on a weekly basis, and will go from there.

My challenge to you. Find someone you can listen to on a regular basis. Not for sermon prep, but for your own personal growth. If you are already doing this, great! If not, what is stopping you? In one of my first ministries, I had a preaching minister tell me that he preached because he could not stand to listen to anyone else preach. After I left that ministry, I found out that there were some other major issues in his life. Do not let pride get in the way. Do not let a busy schedule get in the way. Do not let the fact that you do not realize you need to be listening to others get in the way. Refuel. Listen to others present the word of God. Continue to develop your own personal walk with Christ, because if you are not filled with Him, how can you help fill others through preaching and teaching.

Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living

Nowhere But In Christ

I have been glued to my television every night for the past week, watching the prime time cover of the 2016 Olympic Games from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Even though I am exhausted trying to stay up and watch all the coverage, I absolutely love the Olympics. It does not matter if it is the summer games, winter games, if I know anything about the sport, or anything about any of the athletes competing. It is just fun to watch

There have been a few reports over the last week about some of the prominent American athletes that put God above even their competitions, and it is refreshing to hear that. Of course, the broadcasters try to stay away from reporting things like that, but some Christian organizations have been trying to make sure they get the word out about how God impacts the lives of these athletes that we get to enjoy watching.

After an event a few nights ago, however, not even the reporters could keep the name of Jesus being proclaimed! I do not know if you saw it or not, but was one of the best things that I have seen on television in a long time. David Boudia and Steele Johnson are American divers that competed in the Men’s 10-Meter Platform Synchronized Diving competition, the finals being on Monday, August 8. Both men have a strong Christian faith that I had already heard about from some acquaintances that have met them in person.

They had the competition of their lives, winning the Silver Medal behind the heavily favored Chinese team. Winning Silver in the Olympic games in any sport has got to be an incredible feeling, especially when you know that the team that beat you was supposed to beat you. As usual, the broadcast quickly interviewed the American team, to get their thoughts on what had just occurred and if they were pleased with the results. The interviewer also asked how the pair was able to stay so in sync with each other, and not succumb to the nerves that had to accompany competing at this top level.

And that was when God was brought to the front of the stage! Boudia and Johnson both let their faith in God shine on a world stage that night. Surprisingly to me, the company covering the Olympics actually aired the interview, but I am so glad that they did. Boudia started the interview stating that the way he handled the nerves was realizing that his identity did not lie in how well he did in the competition. He said something along the lines of “When your identity if found in Christ, as long as you give your maximum effort, nothing else matters.” Wow, what great perspective!

Then the interview turned to Johnson. I got the impression that the interviewer turned to him so quickly trying to move past the mention of the name of Jesus, but it did not work out that way. Johnson doubled down on giving God all the glory. He echoed Boudia’s statement of his identity being found in Christ alone, not in the outcome of the diving competition. Jesus was being proclaimed in a great and powerful way. Watching the broadcast, it literally had chills running up and down my spine.

If we claim to be followers of Christ, then we have to realize the truth behind what Boudia and Johnson shared. Our identity is found in nothing other than Jesus Christ. It is when we get our focus blurred, or our priorities misplaced, and try to make our identity in our own accomplishments that life gets messy. And it may not be your accomplishments; it may be your relationships, the size of your bank account, or whatever else you try to identify yourself by. Paul writes in II Corinthians 5:16-21;

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

In Christ Jesus, we are a new creation. That should be encouraging to us! We do not have to worry about where our identity comes from. Our worth is not found in anything other than being a child of God. No matter what comes our way, we can claim our identity in Christ as a Christ follower. Then and only then can we live out the words of Paul in Philippians 4:10-13;

10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

The last verse there is one that you are probably familiar with. It is one that many use to make the claim that they can do anything with the help of Jesus, especially in sports. While there may or may not be truth in that, in context Paul is telling us that we can live in a state of contentment, no matter what is happening in our lives at the time, through the strength found in Jesus. This is possible only when we make the conscious decision to find our identity in Jesus and Jesus alone. When we can keep that perspective, then nothing can rattle us! Of course, we are all human, and will lose that perspective from time to time, but just remember, our identity is in Christ and in Christ alone!

Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, Encouragement, Life

Heart Surgery, ALS, and a 12-Year Old’s Birthday Request

For my last newspaper article, I wrote about the idea of encouragement. You can read that article here. It is no secret that there are many many things in this world that can get us down, and it is also not a secret that if we do not look for the good in things, then most of the time the negative is going to win out. It is just the nature of the way things are. I wish it was easier to find encouragement, but you know as well as I do that it is not easy at all. You can have multiple people telling you what a good job you have done on something, and that one critical person pops up. Then all the positive things go right out the window, and we focus on the negative. For some reason, it seems that it is human nature to care more about what someone is criticizing us over than to remember all the positive reinforcements we might get.

Over the last few days, after writing about one of the ways that I look for encouragement (notecards that others have written to me over the years), I have come across a couple of really encouraging stories, both of which have continued to help me see that there is good still in this world. We just have to look for it. Let me share these stories with you.

I want to write about the most recent one first. We have a couple in our church here in New Mexico that for the last few months were not really sure what the future would hold for them. They are in their late 70’s or early 80’s, and he was going to have to have a stint put in one of his arteries last October. When the doctors attempted the stint, they were unable to complete the procedure, and he was then scheduled for a single bypass to fix the blockage in his artery. The concern was his age and the fact that he had had a bypass 10-years before, so the surgery was somewhat of a risk.

The surgery went better than expected, and he was then expected to make a full recovery without complication. That is until he ended up with a very serious infection in his digestive system. Months and months of antibiotics and a couple of other procedures took place, and we were all praying and hoping that he would pull through. He did, and has been back faithfully at church the last few months, saying he has not felt this good in a long time (Praise God!). That is encouraging in and of itself.

This past Sunday, however, this couple came into the church carrying a couple of good size boxes, and he stopped me and asked that I make an announcement that no-one leave without seeing them after the service. It is not unusual for them to do something like this, as they bring candy for everyone on a few different holidays throughout the year, so I did not think much about it, even forgetting that on the monthly newsletter I had recently published I had noted that Sunday was his birthday.

Well come to find out, the box contained a variety of very large, and delicious pieces of birthday cake. They had brought cake to give out to everyone because it was his birthday. Isn’t it usually the other way around? People give you things for your birthday, not you giving others gifts because it is your birthday! Here is the encouraging part, however, and it almost brought good tears to my eyes that morning (and now as I relive the moment). Tearfully, with a catch in his throat, he stated that over the last year, this birthday that he was celebrating was many times doubtful, but that it was through the encouragement, prayers, and support of our faith family that he was still here to celebrate it with us! Yes, the doctors faithfully and successfully treated him, but he also was giving glory to our God for bringing him through the last year.

Now, for the second story. There is a man in East Tennessee that I have had the pleasure of meeting and hearing speak on a couple of different occasions before moving to New Mexico. His name is Josh Wandell, and a few years back he was diagnosed with ALS. At the time, Wandell was the principal of a local elementary school, and a very active person. He has been using his battle with ALS to bring awareness to the disease, but more than that, he has been traveling to local churches, speaking about how he may be losing control of his muscles, but the battle of this disease is strengthening his faith in God. Wendell is a role model for anyone that is facing struggles in their own lives (which is all of us).

He has since had to retire from working, as he just physically cannot do the job anymore, but that has not stopped his influence. Wandell’s story is encouraging enough, however, seeing how his influence has spread is what I want to tell you about today. There is a page on Facebook called Team Wandell. Find it here or their website here. Over the weekend, the Team Wandell page relayed a story that completely blew me away. There was a student turning 12-years old. In lieu of presents for his birthday party, this young made made a simple request. Make donations to “Team Wandell”. How incredible is that? A 12 year old wanting do help someone else out through donations instead of receiving birthday presents for himself. It just blows me away, puts a huge smile on my face, and warms my heart.

May we all find encouragement in this world. There are good things taking place everywhere, we just have to look for them.

Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, God, Life, Ministry

Family Calling

I grew up as an only child, so when my wife and I got married, I not only gained a spouse, but I gained a brother that I had never had before. Kelley has a brother that is a few years younger than her, and he became my brother.

The family I grew up in is very faithful in being Christ followers, but when I answered God’s call after high school to go into ministry, I am pretty sure I was the first in my family to do so. I might be wrong, because I do not really know our family’s history past my grandparents on each side, for the most part. I did not really have a legacy of ministers in my family line, although I never even thought about that because it did not seem strange to me.

Then Kelley and I got married. Her dad, Kevin, is in ministry, and multiple grandparents, uncles, and cousins on both sides of her family are as well. I gained a legacy of ministry when our families joined together through our marriage. The incredible thing to me is that her younger brother is now studying to go into ministry as well. In other words, I now have a younger brother answering the call from God to go into the ministry.

While I was in school for ministry, I did an internship at Kelley’s home church in Georgetown, OH. That is actually how we met, as she was finishing her time in the youth group while I was there, and we started dating when my internship officialy ended that summer. While I was there as a student ministry intern, working with the teens mostly, I was given the opportunity to preach in the main adult worship service near the end of my time there. That was the first time I preached in front of a group of more than 100 people, and I got to do it twice, as there are two services every Sunday. It is an experience that I will never forget. It is also from this stage that Kelley and I got married as well. The stage at Georgetown Church of Christ has been a pretty special place in my life.

As I was stating earlier, Korey (Kelley’s brother) is currently working on his ministry degree at Johnson University. A few months ago, he had the opportunity to preach at Georgetown as well, as part of the requirements for a preaching class he was taking. Kelley and I were unfortunately unable to attend, as we live in New Mexico, but the church uploads the sermons every week, so we were both able to watch Korey preach. Sidenote, I love technology! While I was watching him preach, I was struck with an incredible thought. I have had the honor and privilege to share the same stage or pulpit with not only Kevin (Kelley’s dad), who is the preaching minister in Georgetown, but now with my brother as well. That is a very cool realization to make, and it is also very humbling. (I have also gotten to preach from the same stage as some of my biggest mentors in ministry as well, which is pretty awesome as well).

What got me thinking of all of this again is that Korey just preached at Georgetown again this past weekend, and again, I was able to listen to his sermon thanks to technology. I found out the morning of that he was going to be preaching, and immediately posted something about it on Twitter, offering a prayer of encouragement to Korey, and ended the tweet with the #FamilyCalling. When I got to listen to his sermon today (Monday), I was so proud of the growth that he is having in his communication skills, and the fact that he is so willing to use his talents for God. It again got me thinking about the idea of a family calling. I got to marry into a family that has many that have answered the call to ministry.

It is truly a calling as well. I do not believe that you can be successful in ministry if you make the decision on your own that you want to do it. As I listened to his sermon today, I was struck by the theme of his message, because it is something that I have been trying to stress in my own ministry as well. It is the idea that as Christ followers, we have work to do. We have a calling. Our faith in Jesus should lead us to put in some major hard work and dedication for Him.

I will not give away too much of what he had to say, because I am going to provide a link at the end of this for you to go check his message out yourself, but he was preaching on Ephesians 2. It is a very beautiful and powerful passage from Paul, and Korey nailed the idea from my favorite part of the passage, Ephesians 2:10. It states, “¹⁰For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”(NIV)

Other translations use the word masterpiece instead of handiwork. We are God’s masterpiece! And the fact that we are His masterpiece means that we were created for a specific purpose. We have a job to do; bringing glory to God. God has this work in mind for every single one of us. I mentioned earlier that those of us in ministry have “answered a calling”, that you cannot really be successful in ministry if you have not been called. What I did not mention then, I want to stress now. While you may not have been called to be in vocational ministry, if you are a Christ follower, you are called into some kind of ministry. It could be anything that you do to bring glory to your Creator, who created you as His masterpiece.

Korey made a statement in the middle of his sermon that was so dead on I just sat here in my office shaking my head in agreement. In fact, I have made very similar statements multiple times to my faith family here in New Mexico. He said, “Everywhere you go should be your mission field.” Think about that. You should be sharing Jesus and His love everywhere you go. Here is how I have tried to stress that idea here; I had signs made that are now hanging beside every exit door we have in our church building. They simply read, “You are now entering your mission field” and then quote Matthew 28:19-20, which reads, “‘¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'”

In other words, we all have a family calling if we are in the family of God. If you claim to be a Christ follower, answer your calling, and get busy in your mission field. It could be in your own back yard, or it could be half way around the world. Where it is does not really matter. What matters is that none of us sit idly by and expect someone else to do it for us. Let us all answer our “family calling”!

Click here to listen to Korey’s message on Vimeo.

Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, Life, Newspaper

Well That’s Encouraging! (Newspaper 8-6-16)

This world is full of frustration, disappointment, anger, sadness, and a long list of other words that just get us down. You know that just by looking at everything taking place. And if you let it, it’s easy to just get beaten down by everything negative. Sometimes it just seems so impossible to find anything positive going on around us, and it just drags us down even more. It’s so important to look for the positive things taking place, even if it means that we have to look even harder. Finding something that we can turn to when we are discouraged is vital.

I bought something for my office this week. It is a simple bulletin board, and I have hung it directly over my desk, where my computer sits, that way I see it just about all day long. There were a few different reasons that I got the board, and hung it where I did, but the most important reason is what I already have hanging on it. Over my years in ministry, especially working with teenagers, I have been given encouraging note cards from time to time. Some people would not hold on to things like that, especially since one of them just says “You are amazing”. No name or any other identifying mark on it. But if I have received a card from you in the past, I have tried to keep it. In fact, it has more than likely been laminated so it does not get destroyed accidentally, and it is now hanging on the bulletin board over my desk. I will see them everyday, and that it very much strategic on my part.

It is easy to forget why you are doing what you are doing, and it is no different in ministry. There are days that everything else going on, and even “failures” on your end, get you so discouraged. That is what those notecards are for for me. They remind me of why I do what I do. I have a chance to make a difference in someone’s life, and these cards remind me that I have done so, even in some small way, in the past. They are notes of encouragement that I can look to when I need to be reminded that no matter how hard life gets, there is hope.

We all need encouragement in our lives. Did you know that being an encourager of others is actually listed by Paul as one of the gifts that Christians can be given? In Romans 12:6-8, Paul writes, “6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” (bold added for emphasis is mine). Find someone that can encourage you. Other than the notecards that I wrote about above, I have a select number of people that I turn to when I need encouragement. We all need that. I try to be an encourager as well, but it comes naturally to some people.

In fact, Paul was joined on some of his missionary journeys by an encourager. Is that something you knew? I know many do not realize this, but a man named Barnabas accompanied Paul for a time. Barnabas’ name means “son of encouragement”. His name literally means that he is an encourager. If Paul, a man that wrote a majority of the New Testament, and saw God’s works up close and personal needed a friend that was an encourager, then I think it is safe to say that we all do. Find someone that can be an encouragement to you today. Do not continue to just see all the negative things in this world. Find encouragement, and try to encourage someone else that needs it as well!

Christian Living, God, Ministry

It’s (Almost) Football Time in Tennessee! (August 2016 Newsletter)

I don’t know about you, but I am having a hard time believing that we are already through July, and that school is starting here in town in just a couple weeks. Where has this year gone? Even though it has gotten to us fast, I love this time of year. There is almost a renewal of things. Not to mention that (hopefully) we’ll start seeing some cooler temperatures soon. A new school year is starting, high school football season is here, and in just a month’s time, I’ll be hearing those famous words that get my blood pumping UT Orange; IT’S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!

If you’re not familiar, that’s a phrase that is said by the radio and loud speaker announcers at the kickoff of every Tennessee Volunteer home football game. It’s the signal that the game has begun, and it’s time to pay attention. Along with the phrase, I’m looking forward to hearing “Rocky Top” played and watching the Big Orange take the field through the Power T. I’ve probably confused many of you if you’re not familiar with college football, or the Vols at all, but that’s ok, because there is a point to all of this, I promise.

Tennessee is expected to have one of their best years in recent memory, and there is a lot of excitement surrounding this team. There is also a little nervousness from the fans, however, because if something goes wrong, and the team disappoints, it could set the program back a few years. In other words, this season, in terms of college football, is very important. I’m extremely excited about the season, and no matter what happens, I will be a VFL (Vol For Life).

There is another reason that I love this time of year. And that is you! Our faith family, through the summer, is scattered. We don’t get to see each other as often as we do during the fall, winter, and spring. People are traveling, working longer hours (because of the daylight), and just generally busier during the summer. We’ve had weddings out of town, people traveling for work and vacation, and many other things that have kept us apart. It seems that every year, once school starts back, things settle in for the Church as well. While school is starting the second week of August, we are going to launch our Fall sermon series a few weeks later. This launch will be September 11, when we start a series about discipleship, looking specifically at the ways that Jesus discipled His disciples, and seeing how we can implement those same techniques as we try to build disciples today.

I’m even more excited about this series than I am about Tennessee football! And for those of you that know me well, you know that means a whole lot. I believe that we are poised here at Central for a great “season” of ministry. Things are coming into place, and it’s time that we fully trust God, get out of our comfort zones, and reach our potential that we have in regards to sharing Jesus with others. That’s why we are going to be focusing a lot on discipleship, and the things that get in the way of discipleship in the coming months. But just like the Vols, while the potential is high, this is a critical season. I will share more next month about what our “game plan” is for this season that we are entering in to, but there are two things that I’m sure of that I’ll end with. As the Wednesday Night Kid’s Ministry begins in August, and our Fall series starts in September, I’m excited to say, “IT’S MINISTRY TIME AT CENTRAL!” More importantly, no matter what happens, if this season goes as well as we could ever hope for, or there are some disappointments along the way, I will be a CFFL (Christ Follower For Life)! That is my prayer for you as well. Let’s get serious about building disciples!

Christian Living, God, Life, Ministry, Newspaper

It’s All Greek To Me (Newspaper 7-23-16)

I was sitting in my office this past Sunday morning (7-17-16), preparing for our Sunday services to start, when news came across my computer screen of more police officers being attacked, this time in Baton Rouge, LA. To say it effected me is a large understatement. Before the news broke, I was in a great mood, looking forward to worshiping and spending time with those that would be joining us that morning. After, the only way I can describe it was complete heartbreak.

I posted the following on my personal Facebook page moments after reading the first reports:

“My heart is breaking for this world. Another attack on police officers, this time in Baton Rouge. And I think what is breaking my heart more than anything is that Christians are not rising up unified doing what we need to do. We are fighting amongst ourselves, over what differences we have in our doctrines, instead of trying to introduce a lost and dying world to Jesus. Jesus is the only thing that can make any of this better, but instead of trying to proclaim Him, those of us that profess to follow Him fight with each other and keep Him to ourselves. IT’S TIME TO STOP! Whether you’re liberal, conservative, or somewhere in-between in your political views, I think it’s time that we come together as Christ followers. There will always be things that we disagree with each other over, but one thing, and one thing only should unite us. Jesus is King, and those that don’t know Him as such need to be introduced to Him. There will always be pain and suffering in the world, but when are we going to rise up and do our part by living out our Christianity in such a way that others want what we have? Pray for this world, pray for Baton Rouge, but also pray for opportunities to share Jesus with someone today…and then do it.”

I have had even more time to digest what is going on in our world today, and want to take a few moments to address it. It is not that I think I am any smarter than anyone else, but it seems obvious to me that whatever we are doing now is just simply not working. And it is not just these shootings that seem to be popping up everywhere. It is any time the subject of politics is brought up. We are so determined to be “right” that we forget we have to find our common ground. In doing some research for another project, I came across a ancient Greek word that we really do not have a good translation for, but when the idea is fleshed out a little, I believe it speaks to exactly the problems that we are facing today. Bear in mind, I do not claim to be a Greek scholar by any means, but stick with me for a moment.

The Greek word in question is metriopatheia. The ideas that follow come from William Barclay’s commentary The Letter to the Hebrews in the section on Hebrews 5:1-10. He says that the Greeks used this word “as the mid-point between extravagant grief and utter indifference.” Barclay quotes W. M. Macgregor, saying, “the mid-course between explosions of anger and lazy indulgence.” Again, Barclay wrote that Macgregor spoke of it as “that sympathetic feeling which enabled people to lift up and to save, and to spare and to hear.” Finally, Barclay describes it in his own words as, “It means the ability to put up with people without getting irritated; it means the ability not to lose one’s temper with people when they are foolish and will not learn and do the same thing over and over again. It describes the attitude which does not get angry at the faults of others and which does not condone them, but which to the end of the day devotes itself to offering gentle yet powerful sympathy which by its very patience directs people back to the right way.”

I will leave you to draw your own conclusions, except for this question; Would the world not be a much better place if we all learned to live with more metriopatheia?

Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, God, Life, Ministry, Newspaper

What Teenagers Taught Me (Newspaper 7-2-16)

I was very impressed this past week. If you read the last article I submitted, you will remember that I was one of the dean’s for Youth Camp at Guadalupe Christian Camp this past week. There is so much negativity going around about the younger generations these days, and I will admit that I have fallen in to this category at times as well. There are many things that are blamed for the actions and sometimes total lack of respect shown by teenagers today, but I discovered something that opened my eyes to a possible solution.

This past week I was reminded that there is a lot of hope for our future generations, on multiple occasions. The week started off a little on the rough side, with some of the campers not listening to directions and purposefully cheating at some of the group activities that we had planned as team building exercises. I was not sure what was going to happen by the end of the week, especially if things kept going the way they were.

On Wednesday morning, though, two of the adults, took a few minutes during breakfast just to remind the campers that they needed to listen and treat each other and the adults there with respect. We reminded them that we were going to be serving at a nursing home on Thursday, and that they needed to act with the utmost respect while there. It seems that the talk that morning had a great impact. We really did not see any lack or respect or lack of listening the rest of the week. In fact, the way the campers carried themselves the rest of the week gave me great hope for the future.

I saw teens step out of their comfort zones and spend time with the residents of one of Carlsbad’s nursing homes. We even did a service project there, and some of the teens came back to me asking if they could go tell some of the residents good-bye before we left to hang out at the beach area. There was a camper that even brought a verse from Leviticus 19:32 to my attention, so that we could share that with all the campers before leaving for the nursing home. The verse reads, “Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.” There was also a group that got a flat tire on the way home, and was stranded at the McDonald’s in Artesia for around 3 hours. My wife and I were able to go back and help take kids from the side of the road to McDonalds so they were out of the heat while their van got fixed. Not once did I hear anyone complain about the circumstances. In fact, they sat and played games the whole time, just going with the flow until the tire was replaced and they were able to get back on the road.

I realized one big thing this past week through all of this; teenagers have the potential to surprise us, they just need a little guidance. If we hold them to a higher standard, and ask them to act with composure and respect, they will. But if we expect them to act disrespectful and to not listen, then they will live up to those expectations as well. We need to treat them with respect and expect them to do the same, and guess what, you just might be surprised at the end results.

Christian Living, God, Life, Ministry, Newspaper

The Faith of a Child (Newspaper 6-18-16)

June is the month that the church camp that we work with, Guadalupe Christian Camp, hosts their weeks of camp for the summer. There is a Beginner week for K-2nd grade, Elementary week for 3rd-6th grade, and Youth week for Jr. and Sr. High this year. Beginner is already completed, but as I write this on Wednesday, Elementary camp is going strong. My wife and I went to visit the kids on Tuesday that we sent from Carlsbad (we had 16), and then we will be spending the week next week at Youth camp, as I’m one of the deans for that week. So, we spent about seven hours at the camp yesterday, just hanging out and spending time with the kids and adults that are there this week. And I was revitalized and reminded of something great while we were there, and as I prepare for spending the whole week there next week. What was I reminded of? Why I love being in ministry and how important it is to have the faith of a child.

While we were there, we got to see kids excited about learning God’s word through the Bible, and having fun while doing it. We got to see an adult that was there for the week talking to his own son about what being saved is all about. I’m not sure where the full conversation went, but the idea that some of the kids there are interested enough to start asking questions about giving their lives to Jesus is amazing. Also, we got to spend some time talking to the camp manager and his wife, and seeing their excitement about getting to invest in the lives of these kids is energizing. And I get to spend all week there next week with a bunch of teenagers. How can you not like this job!?

I was reminded of something a little greater than just all of this, however, and that is what I want to share with you today. These kids actually are a model of what we are supposed to be like in our faith. That is not saying that we should not mature and therefore have a weak faith. Actually it means just the opposite. The faith of a child is actually very strong. It holds excitement and commitment. It holds a longing for learning more and more. In fact, Jesus tells us that we all need to have the faith of a child. Matthew 18:1-5 reads, ‘At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.’

In a world where we tend to over-analyze everything, we need to be reminded to have child-like faith. That does not mean that we should not study and try to learn more. Just the opposite, because the kids that I know want to learn. They are on fire in their faith and cannot get enough about what it means to be a Christian. Seeing this in action again reminds me of why I love doing what I do. If you are reading this, and you do not have a relationship with Jesus, I would love to talk to you. Just name the time and the place and I will be there. Your life will never be the same!

Christian Living, God, Newspaper

The Need to Unplug (Newspaper 5-28-16)

My wife and I just took a trip back to my home town for a week long vacation, and it was wonderful. We got to see some people that we had not seen in over a year, as well as just unplug from technology and relax for the week. I want to start off saying that we, as human beings, were made to live in community with one another. We are meant to share life together, and one of the best ways of sharing life together is through being a part of a local church congregation. Getting to walk through life with others that believe in Jesus like you do is one of the best things about Christianity. We were never meant to do this thing called life on our own, and if you’re a believer but are not involved with other Christians regularly in some way, then you are missing out on something critical. Believe me when I say that this is one of the many reasons I love being in ministry, getting to spend time weekly with fellow Christ followers, even when we do not all see eye-to-eye on everything.

I write all of that above, however, to write this. There are times in life when it is necessary to unplug, and spend some time in solitude. This is something that I knew, in my mind at least, but that became a reality while we were on vacation. During this trip, while we spent time with friends and family in Tennessee, I did something that I had never really done before. I unplugged from my phone, tablet, e-mail, social media, and just tried to refocus, recalibrate, and refresh. That doesn’t mean that I left my phone and tablet completely, or that I didn’t spend some time on social media sites while we were gone. I checked in from time to time, it just means that I was not constantly trying to connect with just anyone and everyone like I normally do. In fact, I had close to 500 e-mails to filter through when I got back to the office last week. We are so inundated with technology and information in todays world that we seem to become addicted to it. At least I know I was getting there. And again, while we were built to be in community, we were also built to unplug from time to time.

Jesus Himself even modeled that for us during His time on this earth. There are numerous passages in the gospels that show us that He regularly left the crowds, and even at times His disciples and went to a mountainside alone to pray. In other words, He unplugged regularly. Again, there are numerous passages, but I picked out a few to show you here. Mark 6:45-46 states, “45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.” In Luke 6:12, which takes place at an earlier time in His ministry, Jesus again goes to the mountain alone. It records it this way; “12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” I will not quote it here, but on the night He was arrested, Jesus spent time alone praying as well. If Jesus found the need to unplug, and spend some time alone with God, what makes us think that we do not? Community is a great thing, but we all need to unplug for a short period from time to time.