Your View of God

            This weekend we are hosting our annual Fall Kickoff for our youth ministry and I am so excited!  I am anxious to get to know our students better, challenge them in their faith, and watch God work in a powerful way.  With that being said, I was thinking about “the talk” that I will be giving on Sunday to both students and parents about our upcoming year.  Rather than simply talking about what we are going to, offer, and provide I want it to be a challenging yet exciting starting conversation about our youth ministry.

            As I was thinking about this, I started wondering about this question, “Who and/or what have shaped your understanding of God?”  This thought recently triggered in my mind as I watching the movie Blue Like Jazz and was reminded of the various plot lines from when I read the book a few years ago.  While I don’t necessarily agree with the great lengths that Donald Miller went to in order to find “Truth” in his life, his quest is honorable and should be noted.  He was willing to search high and low, through several layers of garbage to find and determine who God is to Him.  As I thought about my own life, I realized there have been several people/situations that have shaped my own understanding of God.

First, there have been various “life situations” that have shaped my understanding of God.  Whether it was my dad being diagnosed with cancer, losing our daughter Callie Grace, having our son in the NICU the first month of his life, or losing my grandparents after a long battle with an ailment, all of these “situations” shaped my understanding of God.  They taught me about the depth of God’s love.  They taught me about patience and prayer.  They taught me about comfort in the midst of heartache.  They taught me how much God loves and cares for me as His child.

Second, there are people who think differently than me that have taught me a great deal about God.  While conversations with these individuals oftentimes lead to heated discussions, they still teach me about God’s character.  While I may not understand or support their choices, they have taught me how to look at a problem/situation from another angle.  They demonstrate the diversity of God’s creation with their differing views.  They have taught me how each of us in own unique way can further the Kingdom of God, if we choose to work together.

Third, are my wife and children who daily shape my understanding of God.  They have taught me how to love unconditionally, persevere despite the challenges in my life, and give sacrificially.  These daily “challenges” illustrate to me the love that God has for me by sending His Son to die on a cross for me.  They teach me that despite the heartaches and challenges, there is always someone else who needs more.  They teach me how give of myself even when I don’t think I have anything left to give.  They teach me how to love others as God loves me.

            As you prepare for another year of school either as a parent or student I challenge you to think about who and/or what has shaped your understanding of God?

Do We Underestimate God?

               I have often times wrestled with this thought, “Do we underestimate God?”  Throughout the Scriptures we read stories of how God guided, rescued, and protected His people in a variety of situations.  We see God’s hand at work in their lives to touch, restore, and heal their brokenness. 

However, when I look at our world today I see a place in desperate need of restoration.  I see a place that needs to experience the heart-gripping love of Jesus in a fresh way.  I have often times wondered what would happen if God did a modern day miracle and alleviated the hunger, poverty, brokenness, and shallowness of our world.  I mean He did it in the Bible so why not today?

I have talked to several students who have asked this very question as they search for their identity both as an individual and in Christ.  They question why if God loves us so much, that he wouldn’t heal our land (the whole world).  This is a challenging topic but some events of this past week have stirred up some encouragement for me.

First, one of our pastors preached a sermon on Sunday about our culture’s desire for self-gratification.  In the midst of that sermon she quoted a seminary professor who said, “Miracles don’t lead people to faith.  Miracles cause people to say … Do it again but slower!”  As I thought about the depth of this statement I began to realize that anything that I truly appreciate in life is something that I have worked for (many times through countless hours of sweat, tears, and pain).  Maybe the reason that God doesn’t instantly cure all of the problems of the world, is that He desires for us, His children, to understand the suffering and seek to invest in the problem to find a solution.  Maybe that is the miracle, for God’s children to work together to remedy the issues of the world. 

Second, I was blessed to serve alongside some amazing students and adults yesterday as we did some yard work for an elderly member of our church. As we were taking a break, she came out of her house to tell us that she was leaving for a doctor’s appointment and thanked us for our time.  She told us that she hasn’t been able to do the yard work because of her chemotherapy treatments that have been going on for some time.  She shared a little about her battle with cancer but smiled ever so gently and said “I’m going to beat this though.  I told the doctor’s when they diagnosed me that I was going to beat this because of my faith in God!”  I thought about her smile and words for the remainder of the day as she was hoping for a modern-day miracle.  She truly has extraordinary faith that can heal her!   

The third instance happened right after this elderly lady made her comment, which was a student who looked at her with tears in his eyes.  He simply replied to her, “Yes, you will beat it!”  As I thought about her faith and witness, she not only touched my heart but also the heart of this young man who supported her.  It wasn’t an empty comment to make her feel better but rather a genuine statement that miracles can still happen today.

Fourth, was a prayer request I received last night from a pastor who has played an important role in my life.  He is currently battling a sound bout with cancer, which he is praying for a miracle of healing.  He also found out recently that his first grandchild, scheduled to be delivered in December, has been diagnosed with spina bifada.  Despite his current situations, he is praying for two miracles. 

As I thought about these issues, I wondered, “Am I guilty of underestimating God and what He can do?  Do I truly believe that the miracles we read about in Scripture can still occur today?”  I challenge you to examine your own life to answer this question, “Do you underestimate God?  Or do you believe that the miracles of Scripture can still take place today?”  My hope and prayer is that you don't underestimate God but rather celebrate the ways He is at work in your life and the lives of those around you through modern-day miracles!

Two Influences are Greater Than One

          Last week, I was privileged to spend the week working with some of our amazing middle school students during a mission’s week project.  I was amazed at their work ethic, desire to serve others, and the fact that we scraped, primed, and painted one entire house and half of another one.  They were truly a blessing to work with but I started thinking about a topic that has been spinning in my head for some time now.

             In the various churches that I have served in a goal of mine has always been to train and equip the volunteers that I serve with well.  This is something that I have heard repeatedly from volunteers when I arrive at the church and seek to develop with time.  As a youth director, I have been blessed to work alongside several amazing volunteers who have deeply enriched the lives of our students, not to mention my own.  The end goal for me to have a great team of volunteers who are equipped to serve and lead whenever necessary, but hold that thought for a second.

            As a youth director a large part of my responsibility lies with equipping not only volunteers but also parents.  Early in my ministry career I never saw a value in partnering with parents and often times saw them as people who were skeptical of my leadership and people who wanted to shoot down every idea that I had.  However, with time (and the addition of my own children) I have come to realize the need for the church to partner with parents to equip them to the best of our ability.  Part of this came when I started utilizing the Orange curriculum for the ReThink Group.  This curriculum discusses the partnership that can take place between the church and family making a greater impact in the life of a child/student.  At this point in my ministry, I not only see the value in investing my own children and their spiritual lives, but the need to partner with the church in this endeavor as well.

             Now to tie these pieces together, what if the church (as a whole) starting seeking to partner with parents (and vice versa) to make a greater impact in the lives of the next generation?  What if the church sought to teach/equip/train parents on how to be better parents and help them through their struggles?  What if parents sought to help the church learn more about their children/students in order to be more effective in ministry together?  What would it take to start this partnership?  A slower pace of life does not seem to be an option but what about a more intentional life between the church and parents?

            As a parent I am looking for ways to partner with our local church not simply because I work at a church but because I know that with the impact of my wife and I, alongside the church our children will hopefully be more equipped to handle the challenges of life with a faith-based mindset.  My question to ponder is simply this:  Church, are you willing to create a space where parents are trained/equipped to be better parents?  Parents, are you willing to join/teach the church on this journey about how to have a greater impact in your child’s spiritual life?  Are we willing to prove that two combined influences are indeed greater than two separate influences?  Are we willing to work together to impact the next generation?