What a crazy story this is!
Lift up a prayer for the Aussies!
GC
Showing posts with label Prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prayer. Show all posts
January 12, 2011
June 8, 2010
My heart hurts...
Saturday, I received a text from Derry letting me know that Theda Dawes had been killed in a car accident. Theda is Cindi Lantz's mom and Kyle, Kory and Kalyn's grandma. I interacted with Theda a few times at BC Basketball games and other functions with the Lantz's. Needless to say, I was shocked and immediately pondering all the questions that go along with that kind of tragic event. Why? How? What can I do?
In the days following, my thoughts and prayers have found two specific focii: Haiti and the Lantz's.
The things that is so awesome to me is the level of groundedness I have come to expect from this family. They never lose hope in the One that gives them Hope.
This letter from Kory to his grandma is just another evidence of this. I'm impressed and broken hearted for this family and even more confident that He is going to work through this family, yet again, in crazy ways.
Pray for them.
GC
In the days following, my thoughts and prayers have found two specific focii: Haiti and the Lantz's.
The things that is so awesome to me is the level of groundedness I have come to expect from this family. They never lose hope in the One that gives them Hope.
This letter from Kory to his grandma is just another evidence of this. I'm impressed and broken hearted for this family and even more confident that He is going to work through this family, yet again, in crazy ways.
Pray for them.
GC
August 28, 2009
Secrets, Secrets
So, last night, I was in a very interesting discussion with my neighbors about what is ok when utilizing Twitter, Facebook, Myspace to portray our relationship with Jesus. I must say, I got quite heated. They didn't. But I did. Typical situation most times when getting into discussions about "Christian topics."
Anyway, the topic of discussion was about how much is too much when sharing your walk with Jesus on the Internet. I think that we were all in agreement of the discussion, but I felt that I needed to get it out of my system and write a post on the topic. Mainly, because I think that it is something that happens often, and I was affirmed by the guest post on the Stuff Christians Like blog. But, let me preface my comments by saying that, I, in no way, have perfected, mastered, or even achieved the rank of sensei on this topic and am pretty sure that I probably will always toe the line between what's ok and not ok due to my use of Twitter, Facebook, and this blog.
I believe that Jesus addresses this topic pretty clearly in Luke 18 with the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Now, in no way am I trying to say that Person A or B is a Pharisee or a Tax Collector, however, there is a principle that can be taken from this parable when it comes to Twitter and Facebook. And the hypocritical problem here is that I think that I am guilty of the offense myself. When it comes to our prayer lives and our deepest revelations from God, we are called to keep those things private, to an extent.
It is my feeling that there are some things that you share, and some things that are meant to be kept in a private setting like a journal, personal notes, or even something that only you and God can see. The problem with sharing everything under the sun seems to me to promote a mask of some sort or the opportunity to put out a facade for people to see. The same is true with this blog thing. If all I am doing is telling about what God is doing with my prayer life and putting it out on the Internet, for all people to see, it seems that the point is so that people can see me. It doesn't bring glory to God by doing that. There is no humility in that. There is a sense of pride and personal self-centeredness. And that is the point of the parable.
The Pharisee keeps looking at himself, comparing himself to others and lifting himself up. Jesus further comments on the topic in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. "...Do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men." it seems to me that the current synagogues are Twitter and Facebook. The passage continues further. "I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you." The point of this part, seems to be stressing the need to look for a reward that is POST-world and in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus never said, look to tomorrow cause it is going to bring you more glory and you will be lifted up. He says, look to the day of my return. Yes, He is coming soon. But look to His coming as the reward to all who follow Him.
Through this whole thing, I am convinced that the reason for these type of posts (mine, as well as others) is for personal gain; pride. Because of this, we are not looking to a reward that comes on this earth and not for the reward that is Jesus; which is a post-world reward. Yes, Jesus shows us HIS glory through our prayer life, but it is something that is meant to be between Him and I. Confirm things through His Word and through His People that we trust, but don't use our prayer lives to promote our own glory and our own "spirituality."
This is not something that I am quick to understand nor have I mastered it. But it is something that I am working on and I feel, after the recent conversation that I have had, it is something that we all can address.
Anyway, the topic of discussion was about how much is too much when sharing your walk with Jesus on the Internet. I think that we were all in agreement of the discussion, but I felt that I needed to get it out of my system and write a post on the topic. Mainly, because I think that it is something that happens often, and I was affirmed by the guest post on the Stuff Christians Like blog. But, let me preface my comments by saying that, I, in no way, have perfected, mastered, or even achieved the rank of sensei on this topic and am pretty sure that I probably will always toe the line between what's ok and not ok due to my use of Twitter, Facebook, and this blog.
I believe that Jesus addresses this topic pretty clearly in Luke 18 with the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Now, in no way am I trying to say that Person A or B is a Pharisee or a Tax Collector, however, there is a principle that can be taken from this parable when it comes to Twitter and Facebook. And the hypocritical problem here is that I think that I am guilty of the offense myself. When it comes to our prayer lives and our deepest revelations from God, we are called to keep those things private, to an extent.
It is my feeling that there are some things that you share, and some things that are meant to be kept in a private setting like a journal, personal notes, or even something that only you and God can see. The problem with sharing everything under the sun seems to me to promote a mask of some sort or the opportunity to put out a facade for people to see. The same is true with this blog thing. If all I am doing is telling about what God is doing with my prayer life and putting it out on the Internet, for all people to see, it seems that the point is so that people can see me. It doesn't bring glory to God by doing that. There is no humility in that. There is a sense of pride and personal self-centeredness. And that is the point of the parable.
The Pharisee keeps looking at himself, comparing himself to others and lifting himself up. Jesus further comments on the topic in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. "...Do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men." it seems to me that the current synagogues are Twitter and Facebook. The passage continues further. "I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you." The point of this part, seems to be stressing the need to look for a reward that is POST-world and in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus never said, look to tomorrow cause it is going to bring you more glory and you will be lifted up. He says, look to the day of my return. Yes, He is coming soon. But look to His coming as the reward to all who follow Him.
Through this whole thing, I am convinced that the reason for these type of posts (mine, as well as others) is for personal gain; pride. Because of this, we are not looking to a reward that comes on this earth and not for the reward that is Jesus; which is a post-world reward. Yes, Jesus shows us HIS glory through our prayer life, but it is something that is meant to be between Him and I. Confirm things through His Word and through His People that we trust, but don't use our prayer lives to promote our own glory and our own "spirituality."
This is not something that I am quick to understand nor have I mastered it. But it is something that I am working on and I feel, after the recent conversation that I have had, it is something that we all can address.
July 19, 2009
Parents, Camp, and Perspective
I stole this post from Derry. But it's only because I think that every parent should see it...
Just listened to a voice mail of a dad who gets it. It was a thanks to all those leaders involved at Summer Camp who pushed his daughter to go all out for Christ. He was overjoyed with the zeal and passion he saw in his daughter. The thank you meant a lot, but what really got me excited hearing from a dad had just thrown gasoline on the fire that was started in his daughter.
Many times (more than I want to count) a student will come home to share with a parent what has happened, and immediately be met by "the voice of reason." Although I believe there are good intentions in this, I cringe when I hear students are initially met with statements like,
"You're on a spiritual high."
"Let's not get too carried away."
"I better see some changes in you at home."
"Let's take it slow and see what happens."
These statements an be potentially dangerous... especially when they are the first words out. Those can all be correct and valuable phrases to be shared. A parent will have to play the voice of reason in his/her kids' lives, but they also have the opportunity to fuel a faith in children that can produce a ridiculous dreamer and radical follower of Jesus Christ.
I would hope the first phrases from parents who see kids return from camp with a fire in them be,
"Awesome."
"Go for it!"
"I love what I'm hearing."
"How can we best help and encourage you as you put this into action?"
"I/We believe in you and your potential."
"Anything I can do to see you grasp all God has for you, I'm in!"
Or maybe it's no words, just a huge smile, a laugh, and a gigantic hug!
Parents, there are far too many fires that have to be put out when raising teens. Don't let the fire of God that get's built up from a perspective gaining experience like camp be one of them. Fan that fire into a flame that will equal out to spiritual growth at home!
So what does this mean for students? It means that this is one of those battles that you may have to face and as much as this sounds negative, your parents can unknowingly can act as agents of Satan. That's right, you can do it to other people too unknowingly. If you want it, and God wants you to do it, then you have no choice as a Christ-follower but to do whatever IT is.
Just listened to a voice mail of a dad who gets it. It was a thanks to all those leaders involved at Summer Camp who pushed his daughter to go all out for Christ. He was overjoyed with the zeal and passion he saw in his daughter. The thank you meant a lot, but what really got me excited hearing from a dad had just thrown gasoline on the fire that was started in his daughter.
Many times (more than I want to count) a student will come home to share with a parent what has happened, and immediately be met by "the voice of reason." Although I believe there are good intentions in this, I cringe when I hear students are initially met with statements like,
"You're on a spiritual high."
"Let's not get too carried away."
"I better see some changes in you at home."
"Let's take it slow and see what happens."
These statements an be potentially dangerous... especially when they are the first words out. Those can all be correct and valuable phrases to be shared. A parent will have to play the voice of reason in his/her kids' lives, but they also have the opportunity to fuel a faith in children that can produce a ridiculous dreamer and radical follower of Jesus Christ.
I would hope the first phrases from parents who see kids return from camp with a fire in them be,
"Awesome."
"Go for it!"
"I love what I'm hearing."
"How can we best help and encourage you as you put this into action?"
"I/We believe in you and your potential."
"Anything I can do to see you grasp all God has for you, I'm in!"
Or maybe it's no words, just a huge smile, a laugh, and a gigantic hug!
Parents, there are far too many fires that have to be put out when raising teens. Don't let the fire of God that get's built up from a perspective gaining experience like camp be one of them. Fan that fire into a flame that will equal out to spiritual growth at home!
So what does this mean for students? It means that this is one of those battles that you may have to face and as much as this sounds negative, your parents can unknowingly can act as agents of Satan. That's right, you can do it to other people too unknowingly. If you want it, and God wants you to do it, then you have no choice as a Christ-follower but to do whatever IT is.
Lord, may parents that give this guidance not be able to sleep well or rest until they realize the need to support their students. And God, don't allow students who need to be resolved to accomplish certain acts commissioned by you, to rest either. Make their nights a time of tossing and turning and moments of frustration because you have spoken and we have heard; you have shown us your glory and your vision for our group and we have seen you and we are changed. May you use us even when the odds and troubles that face us are our parents. May we know what it means to honor them while we follow our God who loves us!
Amen.
July 7, 2009
Some thoughts on a Tuesday
So today is the first day that I have been in the office this week. I know not that big of a deal, I mean come on, it's Tuesday... However, yesterday I drove the luggage up to Camp for Jr. High Camp which you can follow on Chris's blog here. During this 3.5 hour trip, I had a lot of time to think and reflect, which is why I love driving the truck. It might be somewhat tiring, but it gives me time to reflect and talk to myself. I like that. Anyway, yesterday was another installment of this 3.5 hour adventure into my own mind.
During this time, I had a restless spirit concerning my future, my finances, and where God is leading me. Some of these things have been revealed this morning as I was reading the blogs that I read and diving even further into some of those blogs I ran over some other blogs that have me really thinking about what some of these guys are doing in ministry.
I ran over a pastor named Steven Furtick of South Carolina's Elevation Church. This guy seems so genuine in what he is doing with this church that God has charged him with. On his blog, he made a video using the camera on his computer! I mean come on! Can't get that announcement done with some professional equipment! (Sarcastic "Harry Caray" voice) It's this kind of guy that amazes me because of his passion and his youth-like or child-like excitement for doing ministry and doing it courageously outside of the bounds of this world's common stereotypes.
But it wasn't until I was checking out the line-ups for this year's National Youth Worker's Convention that I was more struck with the truth that God was revealing to me. Yet again, guys like Francis Chan and Tony Campolo are speaking for YS in their "Big Room." But I am faced with the question, because of my pride, what makes them so special that they get to do that? And because of my impatience, I ask myself, and probably God at the same time, "When do I get to do that?" I am both frustrated by the answer to that question, but also just the fact that I am asking the question.
I am a very passionate person when it comes to getting things done and doing them well. I recognize that. But I think, sometimes, my drive can push my mind to question the speed, or lack thereof, with which God moves and moves me in my life. And what God has revealed to me this morning is the story of the fig tree that Jesus encounters just before He clears the Temple. This tree looked like it was in season. It looked like it was ready to have figs, but "it was not the right season for figs."
These people that I look up to from afar and these guys that are doing what they are, are doing it because they aren't fig trees that look like they should be bearing fruit. They are Apple trees in Apple season! It is their season of fruit! If I were to be in that place, or worse, consumed with striving to be in that place, I would be a fig tree that is not bearing fruit yet putting on the look of a fig tree that looks like it is ready to bear fruit.
So, for me, right now I want to put myself in a place that allows me to do anything that He desires me to do. Specifically, I just recently paid off the TV that I probably shouldn't have bought, and the tires that I had to buy. I want to reduce my credit card debt to a place that I can pay it off each month without fail, and restructure my college debt to a place that I can have it paid off as quickly as possible. These are the financial goals that I have for the next 6 months. I think that by doing these things, I will set myself up to be even more available for God's use.
These are financial barriers that limit me I think. Maybe not literally, but in my mind they do and I don't want to allow that to happen. In my own life, I want to establish a priorities list; something that filters what makes the schedule and how much time each of these things gets on the schedule. I think that this is going to be one of my personal foci for camp. I don't plan to have too many as I want to focus on students, but this will probably be one of my personal ones.
May my life bless His name and glorify the one who saves! He has given me freedom! I pray I can use it to further His Kingdom, His Name, His glory. Amen
During this time, I had a restless spirit concerning my future, my finances, and where God is leading me. Some of these things have been revealed this morning as I was reading the blogs that I read and diving even further into some of those blogs I ran over some other blogs that have me really thinking about what some of these guys are doing in ministry.
I ran over a pastor named Steven Furtick of South Carolina's Elevation Church. This guy seems so genuine in what he is doing with this church that God has charged him with. On his blog, he made a video using the camera on his computer! I mean come on! Can't get that announcement done with some professional equipment! (Sarcastic "Harry Caray" voice) It's this kind of guy that amazes me because of his passion and his youth-like or child-like excitement for doing ministry and doing it courageously outside of the bounds of this world's common stereotypes.
But it wasn't until I was checking out the line-ups for this year's National Youth Worker's Convention that I was more struck with the truth that God was revealing to me. Yet again, guys like Francis Chan and Tony Campolo are speaking for YS in their "Big Room." But I am faced with the question, because of my pride, what makes them so special that they get to do that? And because of my impatience, I ask myself, and probably God at the same time, "When do I get to do that?" I am both frustrated by the answer to that question, but also just the fact that I am asking the question.
I am a very passionate person when it comes to getting things done and doing them well. I recognize that. But I think, sometimes, my drive can push my mind to question the speed, or lack thereof, with which God moves and moves me in my life. And what God has revealed to me this morning is the story of the fig tree that Jesus encounters just before He clears the Temple. This tree looked like it was in season. It looked like it was ready to have figs, but "it was not the right season for figs."
These people that I look up to from afar and these guys that are doing what they are, are doing it because they aren't fig trees that look like they should be bearing fruit. They are Apple trees in Apple season! It is their season of fruit! If I were to be in that place, or worse, consumed with striving to be in that place, I would be a fig tree that is not bearing fruit yet putting on the look of a fig tree that looks like it is ready to bear fruit.
So, for me, right now I want to put myself in a place that allows me to do anything that He desires me to do. Specifically, I just recently paid off the TV that I probably shouldn't have bought, and the tires that I had to buy. I want to reduce my credit card debt to a place that I can pay it off each month without fail, and restructure my college debt to a place that I can have it paid off as quickly as possible. These are the financial goals that I have for the next 6 months. I think that by doing these things, I will set myself up to be even more available for God's use.
These are financial barriers that limit me I think. Maybe not literally, but in my mind they do and I don't want to allow that to happen. In my own life, I want to establish a priorities list; something that filters what makes the schedule and how much time each of these things gets on the schedule. I think that this is going to be one of my personal foci for camp. I don't plan to have too many as I want to focus on students, but this will probably be one of my personal ones.
May my life bless His name and glorify the one who saves! He has given me freedom! I pray I can use it to further His Kingdom, His Name, His glory. Amen
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