Commitment to Purity Night: A Night to Put a Stake in the Ground

This coming Wednesday we are hosting a Commitment to Purity Night. We are inviting Students and their Parents to join us for a night to enter into a commitment to remain pure in their relationship and their hearts. It's a night for many students to put some stakes in the ground. It's a night to make a commitment with those around us that care and want the best for us.

There has been a recent flurry of thoughts surrounding the need to get away from "stakes" because of our inability to hold true to them. While I don't believe that stakes cure us, change us, or make us different, I do believe that putting stakes in the ground gives us something to grasp when we can find anything else to hold on to. The bigger problem with putting stakes in the ground is when we shame ourselves into thinking that we cannot fail. That's a bigger, longer, more involved blog post which I don't have time for right now.

Anyway, I'd love for you to join us and there is still time! Email Kristy if you would like to join us!

GC

Feeling far from God and some personal commitments that I will begin to hold to.

What do you do when you feel far from God?
How do you know that you are far from God?

I've recently been in what I feel is a spiritual funk. I'm not entirely sure why but I have my inclinations as to why and it derives out of a lack of discipline in my life. Do you ever find that when we stop doing the things that seem routine and monotonous, we find our lives out of equilibrium? We find ourselves "out of whack" or "on edge." Interestingly, the things that are the most important in my life, have been the things that have fallen out of my life.

TAWG. Exercise. Personal Worship. All replaced with TV. Gaming. Sleep.

So what do you do to get out of a spiritual funk?

Some of the things that I came to determine needed to reenter my life are:

Regular TAWG
This one is hard for me sometimes. Do I read just to read? Or does it need to be an all out emotional experience in which I experience the complete existence of His presence? I've been wrestling through this one and I land at the point that I need to continually have Him be part of my life; emotional or otherwise. In any case, this has to happen.

Consistent Exercise
Not very hard to think through. Just do something regularly. Read and Ride. That's all.

Personal Worship
Because of my typical responsibilities that I have on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, I will periodically be unable to spend time in corporate worship. However, even outside of this variable, I need some personal time of worship if I truly want to fully grasp my relationship with Christ.

After our weekend in Chicago at Simply Youth Ministry Conference, Doug Fields convinced me how much I need to make commitments and hold to them. These are just three commitments that are going to become pretty hard-line in my personal life.

What about you? What things do you do that keeps you close to God? What commitments do you have to ensure that you don't fall from God?

Just Do Something About It...

I have said this all the time about spiritual things and doing things to develop my spiritual life, as well as those around me, but I have really kind of put it in a silo. I haven't allowed this to permeate into other areas of my life. Physical Fitness is one of those areas. Well, I'm sick of it.

I was watching The Biggest Loser 8 last night and there was a guy who weighed like 450 pounds. He was a Youth Pastor. He was like 29 years old or something from Tulsa, OK. He's at the left. He went into the doctor's office and wrote down that he didn't have any health problems. The doctor asked him, "How can a guy that weighs 450 pounds actually put down that he didn't have any health problems?"

Sean responded with, "I don't know. I guess I just didn't think that I did. I mean I don't have like Type II Diabetes or anything."

The doctor responded with, "Sean, you do have Type II Diabetes."

This moment on the show really struck me. I'm not 450 pounds. But I'm hauling around 3 bucks and some change and that is pretty heavy for 6'1. I don't know if I have Diabetes. But if I keep it up, I might.

So, it's time to just do something about it. So I am.

Ran/Walk about 5.5 miles last night. Did some exercises this morning. Something everyday. I don't care what it is. I "DOOO (dough) NOT CARE" (thanks Rose City Motors guys). I may not be able to afford going to some gym for $33/month, but I can do something; anything.

Just do something about it.