crazy love

i was captivated and challenged by francis chan this year at the national youth workers’ convention in nashville. he made it o.k. to acknowledge that there are many of us who think that there is something seriously wrong with the american church. i have walked around with that thought in my heart for a few years now. it was refreshing to hear someone ask about that in an open forum, and see so many in agreement.

in response to that sermon and at the suggestion of others, i began reading crazy love by francis chan yesterday. i want to publicly journal as i walk through this book. i do not consider myself an academic, so please do not expect me to expound deep wisdom. nor is my purpose to review this book, i’ll leave that to the professionals.

my goal is to respond to the text as i sense God stirring within me. that is my prayer in this process, that God will stir up the passion for Him that i know is trapped in my soul. there is something that keeps me from shouting out His name, and i want the freedom and the boldness to do just that.

testimony

last night was one of those special moments in ministry for me. even though weeks of planning, hours of set-up, and support from staff members had occurred in preparation, something bigger was happening. it was evident that God was working in and through the lives of those who came to share their victories and struggles.

i remember as a kid being in church, and people getting up and sharing a testimony. people would share about how God was working in their lives, or in certain situations they faced. these testimonies taught me several things about the Christian life and community that i have come to cherish.

in the Christian life there will be great days of rejoicing as you walk in God’s path, but you will also face many struggles. you will be tested in your faith. you will have times when you wonder if God has abandoned you. sometimes your prayers will be answered in the way you hoped, but in other times the will of God just will not make sense to you.

when trust and love abound in the community, we celebrate God’s good works in the lives of others, but we also come and share our burdens. we share how we have grown in our faith, but we also ask our brothers and sisters for help in a time of struggle. in such a setting, we feel safe to open ourselves up to others and let down our guard. we become genuine.

that is what happened last night. through a conversation i had with a senior high student, this idea was born. she and i had a discussion about relationships, dating, sexuality and spirituality. when we were done, she told me that she wished that i could have this same discussion with the entire senior high group. as we continued our discussion we came up with the idea of hosting dinner. during the dinner, couples would come and share how decisions they had made affected their relationships. they would give a testimony.

so last night we hosted a dinner, decorated a room, invited our friends and listened to three couples as they shared their stories. they were honest and open, and there was a sense of complete trust between the couples and audience of students. their stories were all very different but a common theme arose, our sexuality is tightly interwoven with our spirituality. it is virtually impossible to separate the two. that’s the way God designed it. it was beautiful to sit there and witness this evening unfold.

thank you to my fellow co-workers who were not only supportive, but also excited about this unique event. thank to all the parents and adult leaders who came to serve the students, and to the kitchen staff who prepared a great meal. finally, thank you to the couples who came and shared your triumphs and struggles. with the help of God’s Holy Spirit you spoke to the hearts of all in attendance.

“as iron sharpens iron,

so one person sharpens another.”

Proverbs 27:17

contemplative binder clips

even in the small city environment in which i now find myself people are busy. i have to remind myself that this is a reality for those around me. i compare everything to my life in atlanta, so i find the pace in albany pleasant. i have yet to be overwhelmed by the pace of life. yes i am busy at times, but having a 2 mile commute to the kids’ school or church makes all the difference. even with this certain simplicity to life, we still need times to be still.

once a month we gather as a community to be still. we worship through song, reading scripture, we spend time in contemplative silence, we pray ancient prayers and we share in Holy Communion. we usually go to the chapel in our church for this time of worship, but this week we did something different. through a brain storming conversation between two co-workers and myself we ended up creating a tent, a tabernacle of worship.

we used a bunch of sheets, binder clips, some area rugs, a rugged table, some burlap and candles. i loved seeing the reaction on some of the faces as they entered into the tent to worship. some students requested that we leave it up as a permanent structure. creating mystery and wonder in worship is so impacting on a student’s life. there is so much to unpack from last night. i look forward to next month’s meeting, and for the mystery that lies ahead.

catch up

i have been in a tail spin since the national youth workers’ convention. i am finally getting caught up, but it has not been a pleasant experience. this week has been a big pile of elephant dung. it just hasn’t been a good week thus far. some of it i brought on myself, and other things are just discouraging bits of news that have made it to me.

there is nothing more discouraging in ministry than hearing that people are talking about issues they see in ministry and never come to the person who is responsible. what makes it even more discouraging is that i have practically begged for people to come talk to me and no one has. i have made myself available in numerous ways. i have offered to go to homes, lunch after church, meet at church, whatever is most convenient for our members. i have had one person tell me they wanted to get together and would get back to me. that’s the last i heard.

enough with the pity party.

on the positive front i have been recording a weekly podcast with my very good friends josh cook and sara liebross. this has been the one definite high light of my work week. it is published on josh’s blog youth hacks. check it out if that’s your sort of thing.

another exciting piece of news is a d-now weekend that i have been working on with several other youth workers. we now have 12 churches coming together in our area to worship and serve our community. i am looking forward to the big weekend at the end of february.

finally, i have teamed up with a guy who grew up in our church and is now a college graduate. in short, he took his double major from UGA and is working with kids at the local boys and girls club. he also decided to move into their neighborhood. very inspiring. a group of students and parents went over and helped him clean out the abandoned house he and a friend will live in and use for ministry purposes.

if you pray for me, please pray that God will help me to be patient and that i will wait on His timing.

black is the new black

i remember they day the berlin wall came down. i remember my dad with tears in his eyes as he watched the images on the news networks. he said that my grandfather used to say this day would come, and he wished he was alive to witness the events.

i have similar emotions about where i find myself today. i am seeing a common thread in history taking place. i came from a non-diverse staff and denomination, as it pertains to leadership. today i find myself on a staff with a clergy made up of a white man, a black man and a white woman.

through my education, i developed a desire to work on a diverse staff. not just for the sake of working on a diverse staff, but as an opportunity to develop a more wholistic view of ministry. that has been the tip of the iceberg.

i have witnessed three firsts this year:

1. as i mentioned above, our church has a black clergy member. jim davis’ journey into ministry is a fantastic story of a servant responding to the call of ministry. he happens to be the first black clergy member in the 167 year history of the first united methodist church of albany, georgia.
2. the south georgia conference has it’s first black bishop (that’s like an administrative bishop to you church of God people). here is a great article on bishop james king.
3. i was told it would never happen this year but it did. the united states of america has elected the first black president, barack obama. regardless of where you align yourself politically, this is a major historical moment.

it’s neat to be surrounded by history. i just want to learn as much as i can, so that i can be a better husband, father, youth minister and citizen.

christian?

am i a christian? are you a christian?

i have seen this video posted a couple of times today. i can’t remember were i saw it first, but my friend joel clackum posted it on his facebook page.  in this interview, tony campolo raises some tough questions. this is definitely worth your time. it is very challenging and will get you thinking.

president elect

i am amazed at how the election has brought out the worst in so many people. family, friends, fellow christians and the community at large have let their emotions get the best of them. either they are distressed and angry, or exuberant and boastful. regardless of where you stand scripture is the same.

Romans 13:1-2, 5 says:

1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

I Peter 2:13-17 says:

13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of the foolish. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love your fellow believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

I Chronicles 29:11-12 says:

11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. 12 Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.

i will pray for my new president.
i will support him in whatever christian way i can.
i will obey the law of the land.

i will live for Christ.
i will love my neighbor.
i will serve the world.

 

UPDATE:
here is a much more eloquent post by a blogger I like to read, chris at serialyouthpastor.com. we used some of the same scripture but he raises some very good questions.

first impressions

this is an update to the post about last wednesday night. last night, i addressed my struggle with the reaction of the group. i shared that as a new member of the community, and someone from a diverse back ground the reaction could be misconstrued. what if last week we had a black student visiting that no one knew? i make an announcement about serving dinner to a football team from a black inner-city high school and the initial reaction is laughter. how does that person then perceive us as a community? that is the question i posed.

we are in the midst of a series on Jesus’ encounters with individuals. last night was about the samaritan woman at the well. i gave a brief history on the samaritans, and how they came to be despised by the jews. i then read the parable of the good samaritan. i tied this all together by showing the students the risks being taken by Jesus in His encounter with the samaritan woman, and the point Jesus was making in the parable of the good samaritan. Jesus didn’t risk to defile himself by sharing a cup, not only with a samaritan, but a samaritan woman for the shock value. Jesus didn’t pick the samaritan to be the hero in the parable by accident. His words and actions were sharp daggers to those who were listening, and to those who would later hear.

i hope that last night the group saw my heart. if we are to become Christ like we must put aside all judgment. we must look at each person with the eyes of Jesus, eyes of compassion. i love our church vision statement. it says:

we are a congregation who wants to connect people with Christ.
we are transfixed by His story and His heart for our city.
we will be seed throwers and fire starters,
hope peddlers and grace givers,
risk takers and dreamers.

we link arms with anyone who tells the story of Jesus.
we want to empower the poor, strengthen the weak,
embrace the outcast and seek the lost.
we will love God and one another, teach others to follow him,
serve together, play together and live life together.

our church and our community and our world will be changed because of Christ.

the words that are in bold are the ones i focused on last night. this is who we are to become as a community. so how do we do this? by living for Christ, loving our neighbors, and serving the world.

amen.

wednesday night laughter?

there was an awkward moment tonight during our youth worship gathering. not while the youth worship band was leading worship. not during my teaching (although there have been some of those). tonight’s awkward moment occurred during announcements. i’m not bothered by the fact that an awkward moment occurred. i’m bothered with what caused it.

i was making announcements as usual, and i brought up a new announcement tonight. we would be serving dinner to a local football team later in november. to my amazement a large percentage of the students started to laugh. here are some reasons it was awkward.

1. the youth group i serve is 99% white.

2. the football team and school they represent is 99% african-american.

3. the laughter was one of shock, not of humor.

i would like to think it was for some other reason, but unfortunately i don’t think that is the case. this is an area that i am very sensitive about, and i knew that one day i would have to face the issue. i am a youth pastor in an extremely segregated city, one with deep roots of racism and bigotry.

this is a challenge in which i need the wisdom of others and the prayers of many.

retreat debrief

thank you to all who wrote notes and prayed for me this past weekend as i attended walk to emmaus. lisa goes on her walk this coming weekend so please send notes and support her in prayer.

what a transforming weekend. i had attended a similar retreat in the past at the age of 17 so i knew many of the surprises. there was one that i didn’t expect, but i cannot elaborate because i want lisa to have the same pleasant surprise. all in all, a wonderful experience and encounter with Christ.

i continue to process through my brother’s accident and my mom’s battle with cancer. when you live a life void of tragedy, it feels like bombs are going off all around you when tragedy does strike. there are so many layers to dig through as you come back out of the rubble. for me it has been spiritual rubble. as you grow in Christ you develop a sense of who He is, but if that sense is not grounded in scripture then you are in for a rude awakening. which was my case.

i had become a very selfish person through the tragedy but, i didn’t even see it. it was during our first talk of the weekend that i realized just how selfish i had become. it began with my relationship with God, but it spread from there into other relationships. i was putting just enough into my relationships to get what i wanted back out. this doesn’t work, especially in our relationship with God.

how easily we forget the extravagant love of our Father. i thought that if i followed God’s calling on my life and was faithful to it, all things would go well. that didn’t happen. so i reformulated my relationship with God, and what i was trying to do was earn His love. i had forgotten the essenceof God’s love. in the busyness of life and vocational ministry i had forgotten God’s prevenient grace. God wooing us to fall in love with Him. no matter what baggage or misconceptions we bring, God loves us.

i have known this all my life, but this weekend solidified my understanding of God’s love. i had experienced glimpses of His love, but this weekend i experienced the fullness of His love.

Christ’s Peace.