an open letter to a youth group.

be honest. You don't go to church to meet/encounter God. You come to meet/encounter your peers. It is about you getting approval as a person and feeling a sense of satisfaction because others desire your approval.
If you really showed up to meet Him you wouldn't ask "who's gonna be there?" "who is going?" I realize that relationships are a major part of who you are...at this age seldom does anyone have any independent identity, desire, decision making abilities. Everything is done as a group, as a community (which isn't totally a bad thing or else church would be a bad thing).

Here's what rubs me the wrong way; I've never been asked "will I encounter GOD at CIY(deeper life, Camp, get-away, F.U.N.)?...Will He show up?...will I see God? Will He slam me up against the wall, get in my face, or will he hold my hand and walk me to celebration?" Never been asked that. Perhaps that's my fault. As a youth leader, I am willing share the blame but I refuse to take all the responsibility. Friends are great. Good friends are really hard to beat. And a lasting friendship is something to be cherished. But there is more to life than this. I believe we learn from God through one another. He reveals Himself, somehow, and in many ways, through our relationships. But that isn't what you seek.

When Jesus says "Here I am,I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and him with me" he is speaking to Christian people. Believers. I offer you an alternative and a promise. Get lost in the presence of the Almighty Most High God. I will be intentional about helping you acquire this focus. But in the end, it must be your choice.

"I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing."

God radically changed the lives of a lot of people. Not all of them were sinners who radically turned their life around ( i.e. Zacchaeus, Cornelius, Paul, the woman at the well, etc...) Some were minding their own business, Isaiah, Elijah, etc...when God called (invited)them to some remarkable adventure. We don't see many people like this anymore. At least not in America we don't. What does radically committed look like? Who do you know that is radically committed to God? WHen was the last time you saw God do something marvelous in/with a person?

My boys are boys. Deep I know. But how else do you describe their ability to make any stick, pencil, curtain rod, anything, a sword or gun or ramp for their mini cars. My boys are boys. They look, smell, run, play, jump, yell, act, like boys. I like it that they are boys. Boys rule.

my boys happen to like hot wheels and micro machines.
I have to admit responsibility for this particular attachement because even when Levi was too young to use them, I would buy hot wheels for him (and any future siblings of course). I bought them hoping he would like them . I did, so why wouldn't he?
hot wheel's now makes sets in series where several cars are painted with a theme. like all have a candy painted on them, or all are pro wrestlers, or all are board games or etc... I liked a particular theme "the race team series". Basically they were cool metallic blue with the hotwheeels logo on them. I also like some of the older, more realistic cars, the mustangs, el caminos, etc. I had 2 stashes. One for the boy(s) and one for daddy. My cars were kept on my dresser, displayed neatly as if I hired a miniature valet stored in my top drawer. (I don't.) These cars have always been off limits to the boys. They aren't supposed to touch them. They are in mint condition and I planned to keep them that way. Boys have a tendency to jump, throw, crash, step on, cars. A tendency my cars weren't supposed to experience.

I realized this weekend my hot wheels are holy. One of the meanings for holy is, "set apart". things that are set apart from the others because they have a special meaning, purpose or significance. What do you have that is holy? What parts of your life, your day, of you are "set apart"?

there's a kid in my youth group, or at least he used to be. I don't think he has bad posture, I think he just walks/stands the way he is. Humble.

an interesting way to guage the affluence of a society might be to figure out the per capita bowel movements per day. Anyone need a job?

the following entries are random thoughts I had while at Deeper Life crusade in Joplin:

I am spoiled. I think one of the reasons I struggle with hungering for God (by struggling with hungering I mean I don't do it well at this time in my life) is that I do not know hunger. I am spoiled.
Currently, I doubt I would recognize hunger if it were sleeping in my own bed. I rarely, if ever, know physical hunger because there are too many snacks around. Too many fast food places. Too little self control.

Funny how the Physical affects the Spiritual isn't it?

I think it is time for me to fast. Perhaps that will give me the focus I need to ...well...to focus.
I had a great weekend at Ozark. Hope you have a great Sunday!

" Some people skip through life; some people are dragged through it

"I'm reading this book right now, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. It is Awesome!!! He happens to be an excellent writer (sweeeet use of metaphor and simile) who deals with very genuine questions about the pragmatics of faith. To blog all the clips I would like to would be a copyright infringement because of bulk...but here is a sampling where he describes his walk with God:

"I am early in my story, but I believe I will stretch out into eternity, and in heaven I will reflect upon these early days, these days when it seemed God was down a dirt road, walking toward me. Years ago He was a swinging speck in the distance; now He is close enough I can hear His singing. Soon I will see the lines on His face."

I wrote this as a comment to Adam's most recent post. thought I would pilfer my own material and bring it over to epiphanicity.

Faith evolves. It moves from existing as something you observe on the outside...to becoming part of you...to becoming who you are. At first you define your faith. You pick and choose, whittling away the untruths to get to the core. Once there, instead of it being you defining your faith, your faith begins to define you.

"The blood is real, it's not just a symbol of our faith."

-Sara Groves from "Awakening"

I don't really have crisis of belief. I really doubt my cognitive sense of God, salvation, mercy, grace, and faith in general could be shaken. I have been through bad jobs, two house fires, sickness, rejection, depression, and any number of other testing moments and never once did I question God's presence in it all. I may have had doubts about my calling, or some of my own decisions but never about the "realness" of God. Never about the "personalness" (fake word I know but you get the idea) either. I qualify that because it is one thing to believe in "an impersonal force out there somewhere" and another to believe in a being with thoughts and feelings that often include me and my welfare. Even in those times when life deals me a poor hand, (or those times when the hand I am dealt is pretty solid but I make a bad play) I know He is there. Watching. Pleading. Working. Weeping. He is very active in my life. I hear Him in the background often. Like soft music in a restaurant. Sometimes I see him clearly, sometimes he steps out of focus. But always. He is here.

I know you are here right now. watching as I type this. How is it that you are so involved in my life when I so often distance myself from you? I want you. I want more of you that is. You are too much for me so I can't have all of You. But I want more. I want to hunger and thirst for righteousness...And here you are...Offering what I desire, no strings attached...As much of You as I care to take in..Free...Awesome...Satisfying...You. The Rock, the Shelter, the Refuge, The Bread of life, The Water of Life. You raised dry bones from the desert. You put flesh on those dead dry bones. Moisture. Blood. Stretching and wrapping. They were beyond rotting, beyond repair. Yet LIFE.

Breath on me o Healer. Put flesh on these bones. Make me new. Revive in me what is true. Resurrect passion. Raise commitment. Restore what is good and strip me of what holds me back. Remove the stench of death and sin and impurity. I know you are here. I know You are in this place because I am here. I know you are. I know you. You are.

does revival happen in the valley or the mountain top?

change my heart o God
make it ever true
change my heart o God
may I be like you...