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 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!