Ears to hear...

Typically my blog leans more toward the philosophical than the practical...but perhaps today I can blend the two a little more intentionally.
I'm a youth pastor and very shortly will have been in youth ministry for 20 years...
I've seen and experienced a little over those years, however, I don't pretend for a minute that I have this all figured out.
I love students and will always love students, but not everyone shares my affection for the pubescent masses.
Probably because, now, more than ever, teenagers are direct. Students speak their minds even if it's not polite or socially acceptable...which I happen to find refreshing, but to some, this is offensive.
To the aged ones out there, (anyone over 25) who feel disconnected and like you've lost touch or control or both... Don't worry, we all have those days, but this freedom of speech is striking you as disrespectful or irreverent and so it rubs you the wrong way.
This is more often symptomatic of a generational disconnect than it is a cultural norm, although we have experienced a consistent decline in the respect for our elders department over the last 50 years...but, I digress.
What we, like all other generations of adults before us must realize is this: Students are saying more than we are hearing. I don't think this is a startling new revelation, but, If you really want to connect with the teens in your life, hear them. Don't just listen to them and respond out of your annoyance at their lingo or feigned disinterest.
Actually take a moment and listen...focus and hear them.

In many instances, they are dying for you to hear them. yeah, you might not understand everything that's going on or coming out, but for God's sake...try. You'll never know how significant the effort is to them and the impact that it makes until you do. Though we may never permanently span the generation gaps, we certainly can make the effort to build a few little walking bridges here and there and be amazed at what comes of it.

Though Youth Ministry might not be for everyone, we all have a responsibility to bring those generations along that follow us...at the very least we should try and do it intentionally...Lord knows we're reaping the rewards of the accidental influence past generations of adults have had on the "angry youth" around them.

Stop, look, listen and be amazed.

Oh, give me ears that i might see more clearly, than i do through eyes that oft deceive me...hearing, not only listening...discerning, learning, loving, being.

Sensory Recall

It has always boggled my mind at how memories are attached to smells...
our brain, that amazing lump of mush, nestled safe behind the bulk of our skull, sends out these little electronic impulses whenever a particular smell happens to waft through the air in our general vicinity, recalling joys and pains of days gone by.
Today it is the smell of plywood burning as a saw cuts through its length and breadth.
I love that smell. It reminds me of spending time with my grandfather...
If you know me, you know that my grandfather is one of the most important and influential people in my life.
That smell of burning plywood and the whine of a circular saw, reminds me of countless hours spent working on some little project in his wood shop or garage.
I love those times with him. Not only do I love them for the things we created and the time we spent, but for the knowledge and wisdom I gained from just being around him.
One such nugget of wisdom mined out of conversation with my grandfather is to always make sure that my energy and activity finds its source in my relationship with Jesus.
For instance, when fall rolls around, it brings a sense of security, with its predictable routine and schedule of activity.
Danger also lurks there in that daily routine. In our going and coming and doing, we are lured into this false sense of security, that with well scheduled and predictable routine comes order. The opposite is almost inevitably true. Because deep beneath the surface of our serene exterior lies a maelstrom of conflict and chaos.
You see, we often mistake our busyness for growth and productivity when it comes to our relationship with Christ. When in reality, we allow the activity to replace the relationship, and we find ourselves in this spiritual wasteland, starving for the very thing we think we are achieving through work or effort.
Relationship never flows out of activity that occurs purely for activities sake.
Our activity has to flow out of our relationship with Christ. It is there that we find our rhythm and rhyme. Without Him, we are like a leaf tossed on the wind of circumstance, going wherever the storms of life blow us, purposeless and angry. Because no matter how much we achieve, or think we achieve, it is empty and meaningless unless God is the originator.
So grab yourself a hand saw or some beefy cutting tool and go to work on the plywood of your life and allow Christ to burn some meaningful memories into your soul as he guides your hands through the busyness of the day.

"I say yes...you say no..."

Forgive me father, it has been two weeks since my last blog...

I really need to put this in my weekly plan (Ryan) so that i mark out the time to just do this. Otherwise, it goes by the wayside as the "urgency" of so many other things crowd out the blog.

So, last night at the Wednesday Night SHIFT_ I did something that is pretty uncharacteristic of me...
For you who know me, I'm pretty laid back and don't typically have a confrontational tone to my communication/teaching.
However, and maybe this is because I'm getting old and cranky, I firmly planted my foot in the sit down part of our student body last night...

I was talking about the love of God, (yes, I know, the irony is comical) and what our response to his love is to be.

For those of you who read this who were there, this will be a bit of a re-run, but none the less, for context sake, I press on.

For many of us, our problem when it comes to responding to God's love is; we put Him on this sliding scale of relationship worthiness...similar to what we'd use for any other potential suitor.
Example: when we're "falling" for someone we base much of our opinion or impression of them on what we see...are they visually appealing? etc...

With God, it's like dating in the dark..."he's a good kisser and all, but when the lights came on, it's like, on wow, um, he's not like the people I usually date..."

We can't see God and so when we are, pardon the term, groping around trying to determine what he's like and keep getting bad advice from other people who've never seen Him and base their opinions solely on hearsay instead of firsthand experience...
We don't like what we think we can "see" and typically avoid any further interaction.

Or we base our opinion on how He makes us feel or what He can do for us...
And when we use this flawed system of evaluation on God, 9 times out of 10, he's not even going to register.

You see, here's something we usually don't figure out until we've made a series of poor relationship decisions or until we're older and bear the scars of time; you fall in love with a person based on who they are, not: How they look, What they can do for you, or How they make you feel.

Because, looks don't last...I should know, I used to be smokin' hot!
Stuff (possessions) loses its luster and appeal,
Feelings are a false indicator; feelings are just feelings...

When it comes to love, it's all about choice.

We choose to love, not; "Oh today I feel like it, so I guess I'm in love...but tomorrow I might not be..."

Every single day we must choose to love, if we don't, on those days we don't feel like it, we probably will walk away, disillusioned, confused, angry and bitter.
And then turn around and jump right back into a relationship based on the same criteria...my what an intelligent bunch we are...

So, how does this all shake out with God? We have to take this infinite, all powerful being off the sliding scale of relationship worthiness and chose to love Him, in the same way that we must choose to love one another, every waking moment of every day.
And like in any other relationship, another primary factor to falling deeply in love is, TIME.

See, we can become infatuated with God, much like we do with people...We like the way He makes us feel, He does stuff for us, but when the feelings fade and the stuff He does isn't as obvious or it becomes, just not enough, we quickly fall out of "love" with Him.

...and this is where the foot gets firmly lodged...We've gotta stop farting around and commit ourselves to knowing God.
Not knowing of Him, or about Him, but in our brains, hearts and soul, spending the time, making the commitment to know Him! The Bible tells us, from cover to cover, that the only worthwhile pursuit in life is to know God.
"...but Pastor Troy, this sounds a lot harder than simply loving Him..."
Is it? When you're truly in love, you commit everything to being with the person, to knowing them...
In fact many of you know exactly what it's like to be in love...because,
you commit all your time to your: sport, music, theater, homework, vanity, so-called relationship, recreation, entertainment...
You love the world around you, but you're avoiding the one who loves you most.

God desperately loves you! And He's shown it, over and over again...all He asks in return is for your love and devotion.
The only question you have to ask yourself is, are you willing to choose invest the time, in spite of what you don't know about Him?

It's a yes or no answer.