Give Generously

The past few weeks we have been discussing in 2 Corinthians about giving.  The specific context was for the church to give for the saints in Jerusalem.  Paul used the example of the church in Macedonia to encourage the church in Corinth to give generously.  He said in 2 Corinthians 8:2, “for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.”  I loved that Paul used the example of a church that was struggling and extremely poor, to encourage churches that are better off to give generously.  Our fleshly nature only wants to give when there is abundance, but the scriptures are pretty clear that a giving heart and attitude should be inside of us no matter what our bottom line.  Money is one of those things that is many times abused in a church setting because someone is a manipulator or someone has the ability to give an emotional plea in order for an offering to be then collected.  God never designed it like that.  God wants us to be giving because He first loved us and gave it all for us!  Paul later says in 2 Corinthians 9:5 that, “I want it to be a willing gift, not one given grudgingly.”  In this Christmas season that is so often consumed with shopping and the eager anticipation of what we will receive, I pray that we would be a church that is most concerned with giving and giving generously as Paul encouraged the church in Corinth.

 

Being generous and giving doesn’t always mean coughing up extra cash.  Being generous and giving goes much further than money; it is our time and our lives.  We as Christians should be generous with everything we have.  I have been encouraging the youth group to think of giving with their lives and service.  We do a lot of things as a youth group outside of the normal Wednesday and Sunday service.  Some of these events include cleaning or service projects, and the attendance is always lower.  How can this be that we as people saved and blessed by God, don’t want to give generously with our lives?  I encourage you as a church to be people that are known for giving, and not just sitting by and watching others live this out.  We have many opportunities in our church this month to give back and give generously.  We will be visiting homeless people and sharing Christmas cards and gifts, visiting the patients at Byron Health Center and giving them presents, providing gifts for kids that have moms in the prison system, and singing to the elderly in retirement homes.  Please pray how God can use you, and how you can give generously.  This isn’t a call to give money, but a call to give our lives to glorify God.  Lets be a church and a youth group that wants to draw closer to God and He will draw closer to us.

St Kitts Missions Trip Update

The first few days of being here at St. Kitts have flown by.  We arrived on Monday afternoon after a long day of travel.  We had to be at the airport at 3am!  Big thanks to my little brother for taking us to the airport after we spent the night there.

We arrived on Monday, got our bearings as best as we could, and then we essentially were baptized by fire into the VBS.  There are three different vacation bible schools that our group was helping at around the island, and our group was taken to a village called Cayon.  We knew it would be busy, but as soon as we got there we realized there is going to be more than the 100 or so kids that they told us would be there, and we ended up having 240 kids each day in a really small church.  It was essentially chaos and we didn’t have any idea on how to effectively manage that many kids with only 8 students, so we just did the best we could, we hung out with the kids, and tried to be an example of Jesus to them.  It is always weird when Americans go somewhere and teach or preach because I think there is an idea in the locals mind that we don’t care, or that we are just going to make ourselves feel better by doing the work.  Either way it was a blessing, and I got to teach like 5 times.  I don’t really get nervous teaching youth group aged kids, but when I have to teach a 5 year old the story of Jesus, I get a little intimidated.  I remember seeing on someone’s facebook post that Einstein said that if you can’t explain a concept or something to a 5 year old, them maybe you don’t really understand it at all.  Funny I taught a sermon with that concept just last Sunday not thinking it would apply to me in such a fast time frame, but sure enough God took me and put me in that situation, and I feel like it went pretty well.  it is just hard to keep their attention for a while.

In our afternoons we have several work projects and we break up our groups and go to various places around the island.  We are painting houses, schools, park walls, power washing stuff, picking up trash, installing swing sets, and several other things around the island.  Yesterday our group was able to go down to a local park and paint these walls.  The park is super run down, there is graffiti everywhere, and even some misspelled curse words on some of the walls.  Kids come in and out of the park, and adults to as well, except the adults are smoking weed on the benches.  There is a bar across from the park and we were allowed to buy drinks (pop—not beer).  So several times I went in there, and it smelled as bad as a Snoop Dog concert.  I swear there must have been like half a dozen guys just smoking weed.  Kinda weird to be in that environment, but I guess when left to our own flesh its what will happen.  

I feel like we are up against an enemy here on the island that only wants to steal, kill and destroy.  The kids are extremely violent.  I think I saw like 4 kids punch their buddies or I guess enemy in the face, like a real deal punch.  The kids constantly wrestle and fight while taunting each other.  Most of the smaller kids swear pretty frequently.  One kid had a t-shirt that said South Beach Mix in 3 different lines, and the S, E, and X were highlighted as they went across the back of the shirt.  And this kid was like 5 years old.

Most people know the future of the island is dependent on the kids, and if there is a destroying of anything that is good or pure, what is this place going to be like, and will anyone even want to come to St. Kitts.

We had a chance to drive up to this point yesterday that overlooks both the Caribbean and the Atlantic.  We had to drive to the “other” side of the island.  The “other” side actually has dogs that are actual breeds and on leashes.  No goats roaming, and you can’t tell there is a decent amount of money.  The Marriot is over here, and that is the one hotel that most tourists stay at.  In fact when we see anyone on the island, they assume we are staying there.  What a neat testimony to share with these kids that we are not here to vacation, but to serve and be an example of Jesus to an island that desperately needs the Lord.

Pray for us today, we are going to the beach.  Lets see what this sun is all about.  Either way that water is going to be amazing.  I have been sticky and sweating all week.

Praise Jesus that we can serve and swim after a week of long work.  Biblical!

Modern Warfare and Youth Group

When I say the word warfare in the youth group, the first thing that comes to mind is the Xbox game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.  This is a good and a bad thing.  It is bad in the sense that it makes warfare seem virtual and not real.  But it also can be good because there is many applicable things about the game that parallel with Christian warfare.  We started teaching through 1 Timothy, and there comes a part in the first chapter where Paul exhorts Timothy to wage the good warfare, to hold the faith, and have a good conscience.  Most people associate 1 Timothy with a letter that is written to a pastor and that is only applicable for full time church staff, which couldn’t be further from the truth.  I believe it applies to anyone, and especially Christians who are battling with things not going as planned, and being discouraged.  The message given by Paul is simple.  He says to keep teaching the word, battle, have faith, and keep a pure conscience.  I shared with the youth last sunday that even though they aren’t on a  church staff, their job is to build the church, and that is a battle, much like Modern Warfare.  It will take some knowledge of the enemy, a battle plan, supporting soldiers, and a passion for Jesus which compels us to fight.  So many of our kids are masters at the Xbox game, and I believe the parallels are very similar.  It is my prayer that they would take the concepts found in a video game battle, and translate that into their everyday lives.  The walk as a Christian is a battle, and we face a constant adversary, and we need to be waging war against the enemy.  Please pray for our youth that they would be strong and victorious, and to remain faithful to being a Godly influence to the people that they are around.

Evangelism…..fail(not featured on failblog)

here is my May 2010 newsletter article.  it is talking about a witnessing fail.

“Why is it that for some of us evangelism is such an awkward thing?  First of all I believe that it is a spiritual gift, and some of us aren’t evangelists.  But more often I believe that there often is a lack of boldness and confidence in Jesus.  Instead we worry about having clever questions or things to say.  Evangelism should be rooted in sharing the amazing story of the resurrection and the love that God has for us.  I recently was watching a musician and he was singing about the resurrection.  He started to cry at the end of the song, and you could tell that the crowd was somewhat weirded out.  He said something to the effect of “Sorry it is just hard to not get emotional when you think about what God has done.”  It then dawned on me how quickly I forget how powerful the resurrection is and the love that our God has for us.  Sharing this reality is what evangelism is!  I remember my first time that I evangelized to someone.  I was in England and I saw this lonely looking guy on a park bench.  I walked over and said something like “Hey how are you doing?  I just wanted to come by and tell you about the love of Jesus.”  He abruptly responded, “My brother was just murdered.”  If there ever was a statement that so changed the tone of a conversation it was that one.  I don’t even really remember what else was said, other than I told him I would pray for him and his family.  But I often think at that awkward situation, and how that really changed how I look at evangelism.  Some people are seriously hurting, and have huge issues and Christians need to be quick to offer more than just a “I’ll pray for you.”  No amount of clever or well orchestrated statements would be able to do anything for this man.  He needed to hear the heart of the gospel, and the resurrection, and the power of Jesus.  Those of us who are saved all need to have this fresh in our minds, and be ready to share the power of the resurrection with the people around us.  I pray that God would make us a church and a youth group that is focused on sharing the goodness of God.  Please lift up our group and pray for opportunities and open doors.”

I’m so legalistic..

Not really, but here is a post that I wrote for the April Harvest Fellowship Newsletter.  I am turing into one of those grace people.  Not really, but Im sick of legalistic people.

“Lately I have noticed a trend on some of our students in the youth group.  Several have taken it upon themselves to become CAPSS (Church Attendance Police & Secret Service).  I honestly laugh at this because I often think at how funny Jesus probably thinks it is that we equate our relationship with Him by attendance, or by simply rolling out of bed on Sunday morning.  In our sick and twisted minds, we have lost the gracious attitude that Jesus has exemplified for us, and have taken it upon ourselves to judge everyone.  John 3:17 says, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”  Jesus came to release captives, set the downtrodden free, heal, and pour out His grace upon us.  Since we are recipients of God’s undeserved favor and kindness, why do we expect to act any different to the people that we find around us.  One recent poll revealed that 87% of non-Christians see Christians as judgmental.  But since John 3:17 says that God did not send Jesus to judge the world, why do so many Christians feel that it is our job to do this? Looking at Jesus’ response to the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8 gives us a glimpse into how Jesus was actually gracious and compassionate, and not someone determined to judge every sinner that walked across His path.  As He asked the crowd consisting of the scribes and the Pharisees to figure out who was sinless, and then allow them to throw stones at the woman, He was showing them, and us, that we are all sinners!!  Jesus then approached the woman with compassion, and was able to listen to her and speak truth into her life.  I think this is a model for evangelism.  I am pretty sure that how the church deals with homosexuals is not in line with how Jesus would deal with them.  Instead of making the church’s mission to rid the world of homosexual people and have prayer meetings against them, why don’t we get down on their level, talk to them, listen, and display compassion much like Jesus did.  I am pretty confident that if we take this approach into evangelism with everyone, that it would greatly magnify the church’s testimony as not being hypocritical and allow the world around us to see Jesus in our lives.”

thoughts?

Microbiology and Lepers

A few weeks ago at church, our pastor, St. Paul Mowery of Leo, (no he is not a saint, yet) was teaching on the leper from Matthew 8.  As someone who just took Microbiology at IPFW, I was extremely interested in the biological aspect of this disease.  This disease has pondered scientists and cultures for decades, but only until recent times have they been able to study it and try to come up with a method of entry.  Scientists aren’t 100% sure, but it seems that it is spread by respiratory droplets from close contact.  Anyway, enough of that stuff.  But either way, when I heard this sermon, and then I thought about some biological aspects of bacteria and diseases, I stumbled upon something that has been stewing in my mind for weeks now.

When you are in your mothers womb, you are essentially in a sterile environment.  As soon as you make your entry to the world, you are exposed, and birthed into bacteria.  Even the actual passage into this world, allows bacteria to colonize on your skin, and begin to habitat there.  This is entirely normal, and there are many good bacteria that reside on your skin, but I found it interesting that only until you enter into this world that you are “born into sin.”  “What is man that he can be pure?  Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?” Job 15:14 seemed to allude to that.  Either way we are born into a world that is filthy and sinful.  Even as an infant we are exposed to the sins of the world at day one.

Similarly with the leper, he was exposed at some point to the bacteria that caused this disease.  Who knows for how long he was living with this disease.  How long had this man been away from his family and his friends?  A leper was cast out and told to never come in contact with the people again.  Consider if you were thrown into some random village in the desert, and you were not allowed to experience the joy of your children, their marriage, or your husband or wife ever again?  Imagine the loneliness, and amount of depression that would constantly haunt you?  But here comes Jesus, the great healer, with a calling of Mission to the Marginalized as my study Bible calls it.  A mission to go to the real people of the earth, and not the elitist and political giants.  He started his ministry with people that were in desperate need.  One part of this story in Matthew 8 that I find most interesting is that  this leper came into town, came to Jesus in the most desperate of ways.  He was risking it all, because he had living and active faith in Jesus, and prayed for God’s will to be done in his life.  He knew that Jesus had the power, but he was placing his faith in God to have His will done.  “And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying “I will; be clean.” How amazing that our God, reaches out, touches us, even in the midst of us getting our nasty lives on his hand.  The power of God was manifested in this simple physical motion, and I believe shows the simplicity of God working in our lives, and of how easy and attainable salvation really is.  Salvation isn’t achieved by some process, or online class, rather it is when we come to the end of ourselves, and place our ultimate faith in Jesus.

Santa blessed this kid..

This is awesome. Some people take XBox way to seriously!!!