Trust is a funny word.
It has many implications.
I trust God.
I trust my Wife.
I have trust in my friends and family.
I trust that the mode of transportation I choose will get me safely to my destination...
(I also trust in the men and women who operate those various modes...)
I trust in the electric company to keep the lights on.
I trust that my body will continue to function "normally".
I trust that the food I eat will not make me sick.
I trust in strangers, on whom I rely, to do their jobs.
and so on, and so on...
By definition trust is: reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence. Or, the confident expectation of something; hope.
I give trust without much thought in many instances,
yet I am reticent to give trust when it comes to things that I feel the need to control.
I find it easier to trust God for help in the major, crisis-like things, yet in the day to day stuff...I give little thought to the level of trust I give Him...because much of what I achieve appears to come from my hand.
Trust is easy as a philosophical consideration, but much more difficult to make a day to day practical application.
Trust: It is something that we often take for granted, never really thinking about it. (unless it comes to money...)
If we dwell on it, I think trust frightens some of us.
But I need to ask, do you need more of it in your life?
If yes, where or in whom will you place your trust?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
I LOVE MY JOB!
Over the past couple of weeks I've had the opportunity to enjoy some great times with our students at Bethel Church. And I've come to the conclusion...again...that we have some amazing teenagers who are a part of our student ministry.
For those of you who know me, I'm not an overly excitable person.
I'm pretty low-key and relaxed. However, there are a few things that bring the emotion out in me and one of those things is seeing students grow and transform as their relationship with God progresses and matures.
I've had the privilege of serving in youth ministry for the past 18 years, (and counting...), and over that period of time, Kathy and I have had the honor of serving with some incredible people.
The common thread, that weaves those of us who love youth ministry together, is that passion for students...to see them really get it! To see them grab on to God and really learn what it means to follow Him is what motivates and excites us.
I think that's why I've grabbed on to Rick Warren's words from the Catalyst conference in April...
"...we have to be about helping people move from a come and see approach to church, to a come and die devotion to Jesus Christ."
That's what our lives are to be about...transformation, and that's what has become my mission and passion, now more than ever, seeing students move from a state of ambivalence toward God to a place of complete and utter surrender to Jesus Christ.
So, through all the challenges and triumphs over the years, all of the flat tires and broken down church vans, the near death experiences in church vans, the horrible camp food, did I mention the awful camp food? teaching middle schoolers about "metric-time" in Canada, miles and miles of amusement park pavement and roller coaster track, Lost luggage on missions trips, encounters with scary street people, 7 foot tall transvestites and crazy Rastafarians, broken limbs and busted out teeth of skaters, irate parents, teaching people the wonder and elation of surfing, fainting episodes at Creation festival due to dehydration, countless relationship dramas, the histrionics of middle school girls, over-flowing toilets, puke fests and bathroom breaks along the road, doing "the Mexican two step" because we couldn't resist the road side taco stand, near drowning experiences on the Deschutes, the miraculous healings, Holy Spirit baptisms, radical transformations of drug dealing teenagers, party people learning to "party" with Jesus, athletes seeing there's more to life than what they can achieve on the field of play, bookworms coming out of their shells and discovering their gifts and purpose, kids really getting it and getting fired up enough to reach their entire campus for Christ, students grasping a mentality of service instead of consumption and discovering what it really means to love one another...man, I LOVE MY JOB!
And I'm looking forward to the start of the school year, where we can really ramp up the call, to move students from a come and see approach to church, to a come and die devotion to Jesus Christ!
For those of you who know me, I'm not an overly excitable person.
I'm pretty low-key and relaxed. However, there are a few things that bring the emotion out in me and one of those things is seeing students grow and transform as their relationship with God progresses and matures.
I've had the privilege of serving in youth ministry for the past 18 years, (and counting...), and over that period of time, Kathy and I have had the honor of serving with some incredible people.
The common thread, that weaves those of us who love youth ministry together, is that passion for students...to see them really get it! To see them grab on to God and really learn what it means to follow Him is what motivates and excites us.
I think that's why I've grabbed on to Rick Warren's words from the Catalyst conference in April...
"...we have to be about helping people move from a come and see approach to church, to a come and die devotion to Jesus Christ."
That's what our lives are to be about...transformation, and that's what has become my mission and passion, now more than ever, seeing students move from a state of ambivalence toward God to a place of complete and utter surrender to Jesus Christ.
So, through all the challenges and triumphs over the years, all of the flat tires and broken down church vans, the near death experiences in church vans, the horrible camp food, did I mention the awful camp food? teaching middle schoolers about "metric-time" in Canada, miles and miles of amusement park pavement and roller coaster track, Lost luggage on missions trips, encounters with scary street people, 7 foot tall transvestites and crazy Rastafarians, broken limbs and busted out teeth of skaters, irate parents, teaching people the wonder and elation of surfing, fainting episodes at Creation festival due to dehydration, countless relationship dramas, the histrionics of middle school girls, over-flowing toilets, puke fests and bathroom breaks along the road, doing "the Mexican two step" because we couldn't resist the road side taco stand, near drowning experiences on the Deschutes, the miraculous healings, Holy Spirit baptisms, radical transformations of drug dealing teenagers, party people learning to "party" with Jesus, athletes seeing there's more to life than what they can achieve on the field of play, bookworms coming out of their shells and discovering their gifts and purpose, kids really getting it and getting fired up enough to reach their entire campus for Christ, students grasping a mentality of service instead of consumption and discovering what it really means to love one another...man, I LOVE MY JOB!
And I'm looking forward to the start of the school year, where we can really ramp up the call, to move students from a come and see approach to church, to a come and die devotion to Jesus Christ!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Stupid Genius...
One of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons when i was a kid was the Bugs Bunny/Looney Toons Show. All those great characters, Bugs, Daffy, Elmer Fudd...classic! As i watch those Cartoons now, I realize how adult oriented they were with the political satire that was woven into the story lines and dialogue...anyway, I'm not writing to analyze the hidden political messages sent to generations through the brilliant script development of the Warner Bros. team.
However, i do want to write about one of the central characters of the later years of Looney Toondom. This is a character from whom we can learn many lessons about life, leadership and yes, even God.
This sage in a fur coat is none other than that anti-hero, Wile E. Coyote.
Wile E. was famous, or maybe infamous for chasing after the Road Runner and trying to make a meal out of that scrawny little bird. He used some far-out methods of trying to match the speed of the Road Runner in an attempt to snatch him...When that failed, Wile E. would create these intricate contraptions that were designed to capture the Road Runner, but when initiated, they always ended up catching, smashing, blowing Wile E. up, or dropping him off a cliff.
One of the things that I've learned from my observations of that self proclaimed "super-genius", Wile E., is that he was great with inspiration, but lousy with implementation.
The similarities between the coyote and me are frightening...so much so, that, in my ministry I've dreamed up these grand and glorious plans only to have them, like Wile E. Coyote, stall or even fail to launch because my inspiration never made it's way to the implementation phase.
My failure wasn't in that my ideas were necessarily bad, but in that I wasn't completely familiar with the intricacies of my personality or my gifts and consequently couldn't get the plan off the ground.
(it's actually pretty humbling to realize your personality can be summed up by a cartoon character...)
The upside is that, I now know I have to surround myself with people who are systems oriented. I need people who can take an idea and develop a strategy or a plan for executing the picture that I have in my head.
Because, I can come up with ideas and visions all day long, but if the implementation of those ideas is left solely up to me...it's going eventually blow up in my face.
The cool thing is that God has designed each of us to fill specific roles in life. When we discover how we are wired and learn how to function in our gifts and grow in our ability to mesh with others who are gifted in different ways, it is amazing to see what God does through us.
I hope you are learning some of these life lessons early on and that your journey of self-discovery begins with searching out God's design for you and not something you found in the "Acme Co." catalog.
However, i do want to write about one of the central characters of the later years of Looney Toondom. This is a character from whom we can learn many lessons about life, leadership and yes, even God.
This sage in a fur coat is none other than that anti-hero, Wile E. Coyote.
Wile E. was famous, or maybe infamous for chasing after the Road Runner and trying to make a meal out of that scrawny little bird. He used some far-out methods of trying to match the speed of the Road Runner in an attempt to snatch him...When that failed, Wile E. would create these intricate contraptions that were designed to capture the Road Runner, but when initiated, they always ended up catching, smashing, blowing Wile E. up, or dropping him off a cliff.
One of the things that I've learned from my observations of that self proclaimed "super-genius", Wile E., is that he was great with inspiration, but lousy with implementation.
The similarities between the coyote and me are frightening...so much so, that, in my ministry I've dreamed up these grand and glorious plans only to have them, like Wile E. Coyote, stall or even fail to launch because my inspiration never made it's way to the implementation phase.
My failure wasn't in that my ideas were necessarily bad, but in that I wasn't completely familiar with the intricacies of my personality or my gifts and consequently couldn't get the plan off the ground.
(it's actually pretty humbling to realize your personality can be summed up by a cartoon character...)
The upside is that, I now know I have to surround myself with people who are systems oriented. I need people who can take an idea and develop a strategy or a plan for executing the picture that I have in my head.
Because, I can come up with ideas and visions all day long, but if the implementation of those ideas is left solely up to me...it's going eventually blow up in my face.
The cool thing is that God has designed each of us to fill specific roles in life. When we discover how we are wired and learn how to function in our gifts and grow in our ability to mesh with others who are gifted in different ways, it is amazing to see what God does through us.
I hope you are learning some of these life lessons early on and that your journey of self-discovery begins with searching out God's design for you and not something you found in the "Acme Co." catalog.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
awaken the sleeper...
After a nearly 2-1/2 year hiatus from the blog roll, i re-enter with fear and trepidation...well, not really...like most people in my profession, the sound of my own voice, even typewritten is pleasing.
Actually, I've felt for awhile that blogging needed to become a component of my ministry, in hope that my ramblings would encourage, inspire, challenge or perhaps even cause a little chuckle.
Because, at this stage in life and ministry I have to become more committed to building the success of others than I am to that of my own. Even if it threatens job security, and my sense of accomplishment and worth, I must help train up the next generation. Whereby, if my only concerns are for building my little ivory tower of success, I have accomplished nothing. Besides, it would be awfully lonely up there.
So, with that in mind, I leave you to contemplate your own construction projects...
Actually, I've felt for awhile that blogging needed to become a component of my ministry, in hope that my ramblings would encourage, inspire, challenge or perhaps even cause a little chuckle.
Because, at this stage in life and ministry I have to become more committed to building the success of others than I am to that of my own. Even if it threatens job security, and my sense of accomplishment and worth, I must help train up the next generation. Whereby, if my only concerns are for building my little ivory tower of success, I have accomplished nothing. Besides, it would be awfully lonely up there.
So, with that in mind, I leave you to contemplate your own construction projects...
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