Lately when I’ve been reading the Bible, some things have been jumping out at me about the way I am so quick to talk sometimes. This will be a short little series about taming the tongue walking through James 3:1-12 one step at a time, and then looking at parts of Ephesians 4 and 5. The first passage is James 3:1-2 which says, “Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment; for we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a mature man who is also able to control his whole body.”
This letter was written by the Apostle James to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion to encourage them and instruct them. I find it interesting that James starts instructing everyone about controlling their tongue by telling them that only few should become teachers and that they will receive a stricter judgment than everyone else, even though we all stumble in many ways. This is so crucial because when someone has the ability to teach, whatever they say, people will end up believing. The temptation for teachers is to teach things that they have made up or something contrary to Scripture and create their own following, as well as to slander others or speak badly of them.
James then writes about stumbling by using our tongue. He writes that if someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a mature man who can control his whole body. I feel that inherently, if someone stumbles by using their tongue, then the whole body is un-able to be controlled, and thus, causes the whole body to stumble (we will see this idea again in the next blog).
I find it funny that God has given us a tongue to use in teaching, yet it is something that can be so evil and affect the ability to control our whole body. Therefore we must control our tongue in order to control our whole body. In James’ day, just about anyone could decide to become a teacher, thus, James warns them that only a few should teach because of the measuring stick that they will be judged by. Since teaching is such a crucial role in the church, those who teach must tame their tongue so that their whole body will be controlled in order to pass judgment.
With that, I know that I will some day (probably sooner than I think) be in a position where I am teaching often and will be teaching God’s truth to youth. With this position will come much responsibility in using Scripture and modeling a sanctified life to students that I will be shaping. I know that right now I often stumble in what I say and things that I joke about. This begins my quest in Taming the Terrible Tongue, of which I hope you can maybe glean something from for your own life.
Lord, I pray that as I move closer to what You have for me that I would take more seriously the responsibility You have placed upon me. I pray that by Your Spirit I would be able to control my tongue so that I do not stumble and fall short. I pray that as this happens, I would continue to grow closer to You and what You have for me. I love You so much and thank You for Your sacrifice for me. I pray this in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, Amen.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
My Constant Encouragers this Summer
"I just wanted to thank you one last time for all that you've done this summer for me. It's been awesome and you've done great... and I know that you'll be great wherever you are."
So as many of you know, I've been interning at my church at home this summer. It's been really awesome. I had some ups where I loved coming in every morning to my internship, and I had some downs where I did not want to be there, thought I wouldn't show it, and I wasn't sure if anyone could pick up on that fact. A couple of things throughout were constant encouragements to me.
The first thing, was a growing relationship with Christ. Before my internship, I would not say that I was in a daily devotion to the One that I wanted to serve with the rest of my life. On the first day of my internship, Dewbe challenged and encouraged me to start off with that; to make sure my day started off reading scripture and praying. I took it to heart, and it has never been more satisfying. God spoke to me many times through these times where I was meditating on His word and conversing with Him. God kept revealing Himself to me in many ways, and I had the chance to communicate some of these things to students a few times. These times encouraged me, gave me peace, refreshed me just when I needed it.
The second constant was the praise and encouragement I received from my friend and mentor, Dewbe. I don't think he realizes the impact the words he has spoken to me this summer has impacted me, and changed me. Constant words of encouragement and praises to others about me filled his speech, even to people I barely know. Dewbe probably doesn't know it, but each time he said something, it lifted me, it encouraged me, it blessed me. He constantly told me that he believes that I am going to be a great youth pastor, and that I am pretty much ready. I remember each one as if it had just came off of his lips so nonchallantly. These words were so impactful because I tend to get discouraged easily and believe lies that creep into my head that tell me I'm not meant to be a youth pastor. I experienced how much God loves me and how he made me exactly for this through Dewbe this summer. The confirmation in my mind has been overwhelming from him. Don't get me wrong, I know I will fail at some things, and succeed at others, but it is all part of the learning and growing process.
In conclusion, I've had two constant encouragers in my time here in Brentwood this summer, one who was doing his best to become more like the other. These constant encouragers were Christ, and Dewbe. I love both of them dearly. Because of them, I now know the importance of encouragement in the life of the believer.
Lord, I thank you for constantly lifting me up this summer and blessing me. I thank you so much for Dewbe and his constant encouragement. I pray that you continue to bless him and the ministry he partakes in here in Brentwood. I pray that you would continue to give him a heart to encourage others and see them succeed. I pray that you would continue to pour out your Spirit on Dewbe and his family so that they may continue to love You by loving others. Protect them and bless them. I pray these things in the name of your Son: Jesus Christ. Amen.
So as many of you know, I've been interning at my church at home this summer. It's been really awesome. I had some ups where I loved coming in every morning to my internship, and I had some downs where I did not want to be there, thought I wouldn't show it, and I wasn't sure if anyone could pick up on that fact. A couple of things throughout were constant encouragements to me.
The first thing, was a growing relationship with Christ. Before my internship, I would not say that I was in a daily devotion to the One that I wanted to serve with the rest of my life. On the first day of my internship, Dewbe challenged and encouraged me to start off with that; to make sure my day started off reading scripture and praying. I took it to heart, and it has never been more satisfying. God spoke to me many times through these times where I was meditating on His word and conversing with Him. God kept revealing Himself to me in many ways, and I had the chance to communicate some of these things to students a few times. These times encouraged me, gave me peace, refreshed me just when I needed it.
The second constant was the praise and encouragement I received from my friend and mentor, Dewbe. I don't think he realizes the impact the words he has spoken to me this summer has impacted me, and changed me. Constant words of encouragement and praises to others about me filled his speech, even to people I barely know. Dewbe probably doesn't know it, but each time he said something, it lifted me, it encouraged me, it blessed me. He constantly told me that he believes that I am going to be a great youth pastor, and that I am pretty much ready. I remember each one as if it had just came off of his lips so nonchallantly. These words were so impactful because I tend to get discouraged easily and believe lies that creep into my head that tell me I'm not meant to be a youth pastor. I experienced how much God loves me and how he made me exactly for this through Dewbe this summer. The confirmation in my mind has been overwhelming from him. Don't get me wrong, I know I will fail at some things, and succeed at others, but it is all part of the learning and growing process.
In conclusion, I've had two constant encouragers in my time here in Brentwood this summer, one who was doing his best to become more like the other. These constant encouragers were Christ, and Dewbe. I love both of them dearly. Because of them, I now know the importance of encouragement in the life of the believer.
Lord, I thank you for constantly lifting me up this summer and blessing me. I thank you so much for Dewbe and his constant encouragement. I pray that you continue to bless him and the ministry he partakes in here in Brentwood. I pray that you would continue to give him a heart to encourage others and see them succeed. I pray that you would continue to pour out your Spirit on Dewbe and his family so that they may continue to love You by loving others. Protect them and bless them. I pray these things in the name of your Son: Jesus Christ. Amen.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Livin' Out Our Faith Aint Easy
So guys, in the spirit of me writing big long sermons on here... this is my latest sermon that I preached this past sunday and wednesdays at youth groups. This is basically what I typed up, but I didn't follow it to the T... but had all the same basic concepts and everything. Lemme know what you think.
Livin’ By Faith A’int Easy: 1 Peter 4:12-19
These past few weeks, Dewbe has been talking to you guys about faith. The first week Dewbe spoke about putting our faith into action—paying it forward to somebody. Last week, he spoke a little bit about what real faith is. This week, I want to talk to you about how our faith can be hard to live. Lets bow our heads and pray. Pray. So when I was a little kid my older brothers and I used to play games. We frequently acted out Bible stories to impress our parents because they thought we were kinda stupid. My older brothers were pretty mischievous, and so whenever we played together, I had to live in faith that they would not hurt me. So do you guys remember the story when James and John are on a boat with Jesus and Jesus tells them to cast the fish nets on the other side and they will have a great catch? They end up doing it and they catch so much fish that they can barely pull in the nets? Well, my brothers and I acted that story out, except… I was not James or John, but a big fish. They way we would act this out is: my brothers would climb up onto the top bunk of their bed and throw a big blanket over the side pretending it was a fish net and that Jesus had just told them to throw it out. I, being the stellar actor that I am, would pretend to be a fish, and I would “swim” into the blanket, but really I would just climb into it. My brothers would then continue the scene by pulling me up on the bed. I always had a lot of fun doing this, though it was a little bit scary. My older brothers, who are twins I must add, got a little bored of this, and so they schemed against me, like all twins would do, to drop me when they almost had me to the top. They tried a few times, but I would be sitting in the blanket and I would kinda just catch myself. They really wanted to hurt me so they convinced me to lay down and close my eyes. I made them promise that they wouldn’t drop me, and when they did I believed them… I never should’ve. So anyways, I get in the blanket, lay down and close my eyes and they start to lift me up. I get almost to the top, and they “accidentally” let go of the blanket, and I drop about 7 feet flat on my back and I hit my head really hard. I think I lost a few brain cells that day, so if I ever seem kinda slow, that’s probably why. The point is, from that day on, I lived in fear that my brothers would hurt me when we played games because I had lived in faith that they wouldn’t. For some of us, living by our faith in God can seem scary. When we actually live out our faith, it should move us to action, to do something, to “pay it forward” to someone, like Dewbe talked to us about. We start living our lives like Jesus and we start loving people by serving them because Matthew 20:28 says, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” and this can be scary to us because we don’t know what other people will do to us when they see us doing this kind of stuff. We are too afraid to sit with the loser at lunch because people will make fun of us and our “cool” reputation will be lost. We are too afraid to pray for someone because we don’t want to be called a “Jesus Freak.” You see what I’m getting at? When our faith calls us to do something, it isn’t always easy to do.
A guy named Peter wrote 2 books in the New Testament. The first book he wrote—1 Peter, go figure—was written to a group of Christians who were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. In chapter 4 starting at verse 12, he writes:
12Dear friends, when the fiery ordeal arises among you to test you, don't be surprised by it, as if something unusual were happening to you. 13Instead, as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah rejoice, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory. 14If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15None of you, however, should suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a meddler. 16But if [anyone suffers] as a Christian, he should not be ashamed, but should glorify God with that name. 17For the time has come for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God? 18And if the righteous is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? 19So those who suffer according to God's will should, in doing good, entrust themselves to a faithful Creator.
These Christians that Peter is writing to were discouraged and ashamed to live their faith because of the persecutions, floggings, and insults that were coming their way because they believed in Jesus Christ. Now, I know we don’t face death like some of these people did, but I have lived through Jr. High and High School and I know how mean and hurtful people can be with their words and actions. This can be very discouraging to us if we are trying to live out our faith, and we ask God why it is happening.
There are a few things that I want to point out to you tonight. The first is that living out our faith isn’t easy because we are afraid to suffer. Just like the Christians that Peter wrote to, we are afraid to live out our faith because of the things that might happen to us. The Christians that Peter wrote to faced death, torture, insults, and other forms of persecution. We don’t face anything nearly as intense as what they did, guys. We, however, are too afraid of what our friends and others will do to us. Our pride and reputation as being cool or popular is too important to us, to humble ourselves and live our life for God and love people, study our Bibles, and even pray because they aren’t the popular or cool thing to do. We are too afraid to suffer.
The funny thing is, when we live out our faith, we will suffer! I’m not saying this to scare you guys or anything, but Peter points that out in this passage. And this is the second thing that I want to point out: that suffering should be expected. Verses 12 and 13 say, “Dear friends, when the fiery ordeal arises among you to test you, don't be surprised by it, as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah rejoice, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory.” Peter is pointing out that when we experience “fiery ordeals” we should not act as if they were never supposed to happen—we should expect them. You may be thinking… Okay James, I’m getting most of what you are saying, but what are the fiery ordeals that this passage is talking about? Well, you need only look to the next verse where it says that as we “share in the sufferings of the Messiah” we are to rejoice. If you didn’t know, Christ suffered a lot. Before he was nailed to the cross, he was stripped and beaten; mocked and spit upon; insulted and ridiculed. These are the things that we are joining into with Christ when we come to believe in Him. Isn’t that kinda scary? We should expect that we might go through these things to have our faith tested? And we are supposed to rejoice when they happen?!?! That seems kinda crazy if you asked me! This leads me to the last thing I want to point out!
When we suffer for our faith in Christ, we are blessed! This seems crazy too!!! How can we be blessed when people are hurling insults at us, humiliating us, and degrading us to the bottom of the food chain at school? The next verse says, “If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” Be encouraged guys!!! I wish someone would have told me this sooner, or I would have taken my faith seriously sooner and had come upon this verse earlier in my faith! For so long, guys, I wondered if the Spirit of God was in me because I didn’t do anything and I didn’t love other people; I was afraid to live out my faith because I didn’t want to get made fun of or be labeled as a stuck up, judgmental Christian. Guys, don’t be afraid to live your faith out at school in front of your peers! Be bold and know that even if you are insulted, ridiculed, mocked, or looked down upon because of your faith in Jesus Christ, that the Spirit of God is inside of you and people recognize it in you. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power and love…” You guys have the power inside of you to do great things for God through your faith because the Spirit of God is inside of you if you believe in Him and aren’t afraid to live your faith and love people.
I want to tell you guys a story of a girl who was not afraid to live her faith and believe in God, even at the threat of death. Some of you may have heard about this girl before. About 10 years ago, in 1999, two teenage male students walked into Columbine High School’s library with semi-automatic weapons and opened fire on students, killing 12 and injuring many others, before they shot and killed themselves. Before they had killed themselves, they found one girl, Cassie Bernall underneath a table. One of the gunmen pointed a gun at her head and asked her a question. He asked Cassie, “Do you believe in God?” Her answer was, “Yes.” Before she could say anything else, the gunman immediately shot her and killed her. You see, it took Cassie a lot of faith to answer yes to that question in the face of death. Out of fear for her life, she could have answered “No,” and possibly lived. Instead, with the power she had through the Spirit of God, she answered “Yes,” because she understood that she was blessed in that moment, and that she was going to go to heaven to be with God himself if she was killed.
You guys, I’m not trying to scare you guys with all of this. I want you guys to realize what God has given you in the Holy Spirit. I want you guys to realize that you do not have to be afraid of being insulted or mocked or ridiculed because you choose to love people and serve them. Livin’ out our faith aint easy guys. I’ll be honest with you right there. It aint easy. That doesn’t mean we have to live in fear. You see, we are God’s children. We belong to Him. He wants us to live out our faith in power. We are blessed when get insulted, mocked, or ridiculed because we are living our faith in power. Don’t be afraid guys.
So what does this mean for you guys???
Maybe you love God, yet faith seems easy for you to live. You read your Bible every morning and pray, yet at school you do nothing to show the love that God has for people. Or maybe you just hang out with your other Christian friends, and so living your faith in these ways seems easy. I want you to encourage you guys to step out in your faith and love someone that doesn’t know God. But realize this, you may get discouraged by your peers around you who don’t know God and don’t understand what you’re doing. Don’t be afraid of that happening. Know that it might happen. But be encouraged when it does happen that you are blessed and God’s Spirit lives inside of you. Maybe you’ve stepped out and “paid it forward” to someone and you didn’t suffer anything for it. That’s cool, but don’t stop there. Keep stepping out, and don’t be surprised when the mockery and insults come. Know that you are blessed because the Spirit of God is inside of you. Maybe you have tried to live out your faith, and you did get mocked or insulted because of it. Don’t let that stop you from continuing to live your faith out. Know that it was supposed to happen. Know that you are blessed. Know that the Spirit of God lives inside of you and gives you the power to continue to love God by loving other people. You guys, the last verse in this passage says, “So those who suffer according to God's will should entrust themselves to a faithful Creator and continue to do good.” Entrust yourselves to God and know that He has everything in control, and continue to love people in the face of hardship. Let’s pray!
Livin’ By Faith A’int Easy: 1 Peter 4:12-19
These past few weeks, Dewbe has been talking to you guys about faith. The first week Dewbe spoke about putting our faith into action—paying it forward to somebody. Last week, he spoke a little bit about what real faith is. This week, I want to talk to you about how our faith can be hard to live. Lets bow our heads and pray. Pray. So when I was a little kid my older brothers and I used to play games. We frequently acted out Bible stories to impress our parents because they thought we were kinda stupid. My older brothers were pretty mischievous, and so whenever we played together, I had to live in faith that they would not hurt me. So do you guys remember the story when James and John are on a boat with Jesus and Jesus tells them to cast the fish nets on the other side and they will have a great catch? They end up doing it and they catch so much fish that they can barely pull in the nets? Well, my brothers and I acted that story out, except… I was not James or John, but a big fish. They way we would act this out is: my brothers would climb up onto the top bunk of their bed and throw a big blanket over the side pretending it was a fish net and that Jesus had just told them to throw it out. I, being the stellar actor that I am, would pretend to be a fish, and I would “swim” into the blanket, but really I would just climb into it. My brothers would then continue the scene by pulling me up on the bed. I always had a lot of fun doing this, though it was a little bit scary. My older brothers, who are twins I must add, got a little bored of this, and so they schemed against me, like all twins would do, to drop me when they almost had me to the top. They tried a few times, but I would be sitting in the blanket and I would kinda just catch myself. They really wanted to hurt me so they convinced me to lay down and close my eyes. I made them promise that they wouldn’t drop me, and when they did I believed them… I never should’ve. So anyways, I get in the blanket, lay down and close my eyes and they start to lift me up. I get almost to the top, and they “accidentally” let go of the blanket, and I drop about 7 feet flat on my back and I hit my head really hard. I think I lost a few brain cells that day, so if I ever seem kinda slow, that’s probably why. The point is, from that day on, I lived in fear that my brothers would hurt me when we played games because I had lived in faith that they wouldn’t. For some of us, living by our faith in God can seem scary. When we actually live out our faith, it should move us to action, to do something, to “pay it forward” to someone, like Dewbe talked to us about. We start living our lives like Jesus and we start loving people by serving them because Matthew 20:28 says, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” and this can be scary to us because we don’t know what other people will do to us when they see us doing this kind of stuff. We are too afraid to sit with the loser at lunch because people will make fun of us and our “cool” reputation will be lost. We are too afraid to pray for someone because we don’t want to be called a “Jesus Freak.” You see what I’m getting at? When our faith calls us to do something, it isn’t always easy to do.
A guy named Peter wrote 2 books in the New Testament. The first book he wrote—1 Peter, go figure—was written to a group of Christians who were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. In chapter 4 starting at verse 12, he writes:
12Dear friends, when the fiery ordeal arises among you to test you, don't be surprised by it, as if something unusual were happening to you. 13Instead, as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah rejoice, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory. 14If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15None of you, however, should suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a meddler. 16But if [anyone suffers] as a Christian, he should not be ashamed, but should glorify God with that name. 17For the time has come for judgment to begin with God's household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God? 18And if the righteous is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? 19So those who suffer according to God's will should, in doing good, entrust themselves to a faithful Creator.
These Christians that Peter is writing to were discouraged and ashamed to live their faith because of the persecutions, floggings, and insults that were coming their way because they believed in Jesus Christ. Now, I know we don’t face death like some of these people did, but I have lived through Jr. High and High School and I know how mean and hurtful people can be with their words and actions. This can be very discouraging to us if we are trying to live out our faith, and we ask God why it is happening.
There are a few things that I want to point out to you tonight. The first is that living out our faith isn’t easy because we are afraid to suffer. Just like the Christians that Peter wrote to, we are afraid to live out our faith because of the things that might happen to us. The Christians that Peter wrote to faced death, torture, insults, and other forms of persecution. We don’t face anything nearly as intense as what they did, guys. We, however, are too afraid of what our friends and others will do to us. Our pride and reputation as being cool or popular is too important to us, to humble ourselves and live our life for God and love people, study our Bibles, and even pray because they aren’t the popular or cool thing to do. We are too afraid to suffer.
The funny thing is, when we live out our faith, we will suffer! I’m not saying this to scare you guys or anything, but Peter points that out in this passage. And this is the second thing that I want to point out: that suffering should be expected. Verses 12 and 13 say, “Dear friends, when the fiery ordeal arises among you to test you, don't be surprised by it, as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah rejoice, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory.” Peter is pointing out that when we experience “fiery ordeals” we should not act as if they were never supposed to happen—we should expect them. You may be thinking… Okay James, I’m getting most of what you are saying, but what are the fiery ordeals that this passage is talking about? Well, you need only look to the next verse where it says that as we “share in the sufferings of the Messiah” we are to rejoice. If you didn’t know, Christ suffered a lot. Before he was nailed to the cross, he was stripped and beaten; mocked and spit upon; insulted and ridiculed. These are the things that we are joining into with Christ when we come to believe in Him. Isn’t that kinda scary? We should expect that we might go through these things to have our faith tested? And we are supposed to rejoice when they happen?!?! That seems kinda crazy if you asked me! This leads me to the last thing I want to point out!
When we suffer for our faith in Christ, we are blessed! This seems crazy too!!! How can we be blessed when people are hurling insults at us, humiliating us, and degrading us to the bottom of the food chain at school? The next verse says, “If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” Be encouraged guys!!! I wish someone would have told me this sooner, or I would have taken my faith seriously sooner and had come upon this verse earlier in my faith! For so long, guys, I wondered if the Spirit of God was in me because I didn’t do anything and I didn’t love other people; I was afraid to live out my faith because I didn’t want to get made fun of or be labeled as a stuck up, judgmental Christian. Guys, don’t be afraid to live your faith out at school in front of your peers! Be bold and know that even if you are insulted, ridiculed, mocked, or looked down upon because of your faith in Jesus Christ, that the Spirit of God is inside of you and people recognize it in you. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power and love…” You guys have the power inside of you to do great things for God through your faith because the Spirit of God is inside of you if you believe in Him and aren’t afraid to live your faith and love people.
I want to tell you guys a story of a girl who was not afraid to live her faith and believe in God, even at the threat of death. Some of you may have heard about this girl before. About 10 years ago, in 1999, two teenage male students walked into Columbine High School’s library with semi-automatic weapons and opened fire on students, killing 12 and injuring many others, before they shot and killed themselves. Before they had killed themselves, they found one girl, Cassie Bernall underneath a table. One of the gunmen pointed a gun at her head and asked her a question. He asked Cassie, “Do you believe in God?” Her answer was, “Yes.” Before she could say anything else, the gunman immediately shot her and killed her. You see, it took Cassie a lot of faith to answer yes to that question in the face of death. Out of fear for her life, she could have answered “No,” and possibly lived. Instead, with the power she had through the Spirit of God, she answered “Yes,” because she understood that she was blessed in that moment, and that she was going to go to heaven to be with God himself if she was killed.
You guys, I’m not trying to scare you guys with all of this. I want you guys to realize what God has given you in the Holy Spirit. I want you guys to realize that you do not have to be afraid of being insulted or mocked or ridiculed because you choose to love people and serve them. Livin’ out our faith aint easy guys. I’ll be honest with you right there. It aint easy. That doesn’t mean we have to live in fear. You see, we are God’s children. We belong to Him. He wants us to live out our faith in power. We are blessed when get insulted, mocked, or ridiculed because we are living our faith in power. Don’t be afraid guys.
So what does this mean for you guys???
Maybe you love God, yet faith seems easy for you to live. You read your Bible every morning and pray, yet at school you do nothing to show the love that God has for people. Or maybe you just hang out with your other Christian friends, and so living your faith in these ways seems easy. I want you to encourage you guys to step out in your faith and love someone that doesn’t know God. But realize this, you may get discouraged by your peers around you who don’t know God and don’t understand what you’re doing. Don’t be afraid of that happening. Know that it might happen. But be encouraged when it does happen that you are blessed and God’s Spirit lives inside of you. Maybe you’ve stepped out and “paid it forward” to someone and you didn’t suffer anything for it. That’s cool, but don’t stop there. Keep stepping out, and don’t be surprised when the mockery and insults come. Know that you are blessed because the Spirit of God is inside of you. Maybe you have tried to live out your faith, and you did get mocked or insulted because of it. Don’t let that stop you from continuing to live your faith out. Know that it was supposed to happen. Know that you are blessed. Know that the Spirit of God lives inside of you and gives you the power to continue to love God by loving other people. You guys, the last verse in this passage says, “So those who suffer according to God's will should entrust themselves to a faithful Creator and continue to do good.” Entrust yourselves to God and know that He has everything in control, and continue to love people in the face of hardship. Let’s pray!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Seeing Things Clearly
So something that I've been thinking about recently is worship. For my internship, I had to evaluate the youth ministry and figure out which areas needed to be rennovated and changed. Something I thought could be improved upon was worship during youth nights. It has been kinda shoved to the side and had not been given a chance to develop in the past three to four years. Watching from the sidelines a few times, I've noticed that almost nobody worships. Haing lead about four years ago, almost nobody worshipped. Nothing has seemed to change. The worship time has become a few people worshiping in song, and 30 people watching. It has become a watching type of thing, instead of a doing type of thing. So my job and goal over the next few weeks before I leave is to try and develop an environment and culture of worship.
This goal has led me to desire to do some sort of sermon series on worship at youth group. So one of the passages that sticks in my head all the time is Romans 12:1-2 because it talks about worship. Among all the passages in the Old Testament that talk about worship as sacrificing animals and stuff, this passages sticks out to me more than the rest. So I did some thinking about it.
"Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God."
-Romans 12:1-2 [HCSB]
I've heard this passage many times before, but never took the time to consider its meaning for me. It says that our spiritual act of worship is offering our bodies as living, breathing, sacrifices to God, which is holy and pleasing to Him. It also says to not be conformed to the age (or the world) and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can know the will of God. But what does it all mean, and what does it mean for you and I?
What does it mean?
It means that worship is sacrificing ourselves. We all, by nature, desire things of the flesh. We desire our addictions, sex, money, power, and many other things... the things of this age... the things of the world. When we desire these things, we do not desire the things of the Spirit or things that are of God. Thus, it is important that we offer up our fleshly desires to make room for God to transform us by replacing our fleshly desires with desires that are of the Spirit, and this is the renewing of our mind. This renewal needs to be constant. This renewal transforms our minds and hearts to that of Gods. This act is holy and pleasing to God.
What does it mean for you and I?
There are soo many things in this world that can consume us if we do not constantly sacrifice those things of the flesh to God. In our flesh, we desire the things of the world and not the things of God. The cool thing is, by the power of God, we can offer those desires to God and our minds will be renewed or refocused and transformed so that we can continue to see God's will for us. God's will is made clearer when we do this. We are made holy and pleasing to God when we do this because we are constantly becoming more like our Creator. This is an act of worship, which is to be continually done so that we can continue to see God's will for us.
When we sacrifice ourselves, our spiritual blinders start to come off so that we can see God's will. It continues to get evermore clear as we continue to sacrifice these desires, and let God renew our minds and transform us to be more like Him. It is like a man with very poor vision who needs prescription glasses or contacts to see well. When he gets a prescription, he puts his glasses on and can see clearly. But, eventually, if the prescription is not renewed, it is to weak and he has to get a new prescription so that he can see more clearly. This must be continually done for the rest of life. In the same way, when we fall into our fleshly desires it causes God's will for us to be blurred because we are not focused on God. If we do not continually sacrifice our fleshly desires and renew or refocus our mind and life on God, His will for us will continually be blurred, and not refined. When we do continually renew our mind by sacrificng our flesh, God's will for us continues to be more clear day by day.
I will be the first to say that I am not continually renewing my mind and sacrificing my flesh to make room for God. I now desire that. I want to get rid of all the junk I've wanted to for a while so that I can continue to focus on God and His will for me. I don't want to run away from these things anymore. I want to see clearly the will of God.
I think that in context of trying to create an environment and culture of worship, this plays out in a specific way. When we are in our flesh, we will not desire to worship God, because the world does not tell us to worship God, but other things. To create that environment and culture of worship, we must be transformed by renewing our minds and sacrificing our flesh so that we desire things of God. When we desire things of God because we have sacrificed our fleshly desires as worship, that is when that environment and culture of worship will be developed.
Worship requires an element of sacrifice. Worship through song in my mind is simply singing praises back to God about how great He is. It may not seem like a sacrifice, but it still requires us to sacrifice our fleshly desire to be our own God. We sacrifice this want and we are letting Him become our God. Worship is not something we watch other people do and is not solely done through music and singing. It can be done in our day to day lives, not just on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights.
Worship must be done continuously.
Worship requires sacrifice.
Worship causes us to see God's will more clearly.
Worship causes us to desire Him.
So, will we constantly sacrifice our fleshly desires and humbly be transformed so that we can know God's will and be used by Him for His Kingdom? Or will we sit back and watch as others seek the things of God and become tools for His Kingdom?
Lord God,
I pray that as I embark on my journey to create an environment and culture of worship, that you would be with me. I pray that you would do a mighty work in the lives of the students and call them to sacrifice themselves in worship. I pray that their lives would change from desiring their flesh, to desiring you and your will for their lives. I pray that worship would not continue to be a spectator's sport in the youth, but something that they would desire to DO and not just watch. I pray that you would reveal yourself to the students in powerful ways as we seek to worship you and become more like you. I love you so much God and thank you for all that you have blessed me with. I pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen
This goal has led me to desire to do some sort of sermon series on worship at youth group. So one of the passages that sticks in my head all the time is Romans 12:1-2 because it talks about worship. Among all the passages in the Old Testament that talk about worship as sacrificing animals and stuff, this passages sticks out to me more than the rest. So I did some thinking about it.
"Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God."
-Romans 12:1-2 [HCSB]
I've heard this passage many times before, but never took the time to consider its meaning for me. It says that our spiritual act of worship is offering our bodies as living, breathing, sacrifices to God, which is holy and pleasing to Him. It also says to not be conformed to the age (or the world) and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can know the will of God. But what does it all mean, and what does it mean for you and I?
What does it mean?
It means that worship is sacrificing ourselves. We all, by nature, desire things of the flesh. We desire our addictions, sex, money, power, and many other things... the things of this age... the things of the world. When we desire these things, we do not desire the things of the Spirit or things that are of God. Thus, it is important that we offer up our fleshly desires to make room for God to transform us by replacing our fleshly desires with desires that are of the Spirit, and this is the renewing of our mind. This renewal needs to be constant. This renewal transforms our minds and hearts to that of Gods. This act is holy and pleasing to God.
What does it mean for you and I?
There are soo many things in this world that can consume us if we do not constantly sacrifice those things of the flesh to God. In our flesh, we desire the things of the world and not the things of God. The cool thing is, by the power of God, we can offer those desires to God and our minds will be renewed or refocused and transformed so that we can continue to see God's will for us. God's will is made clearer when we do this. We are made holy and pleasing to God when we do this because we are constantly becoming more like our Creator. This is an act of worship, which is to be continually done so that we can continue to see God's will for us.
When we sacrifice ourselves, our spiritual blinders start to come off so that we can see God's will. It continues to get evermore clear as we continue to sacrifice these desires, and let God renew our minds and transform us to be more like Him. It is like a man with very poor vision who needs prescription glasses or contacts to see well. When he gets a prescription, he puts his glasses on and can see clearly. But, eventually, if the prescription is not renewed, it is to weak and he has to get a new prescription so that he can see more clearly. This must be continually done for the rest of life. In the same way, when we fall into our fleshly desires it causes God's will for us to be blurred because we are not focused on God. If we do not continually sacrifice our fleshly desires and renew or refocus our mind and life on God, His will for us will continually be blurred, and not refined. When we do continually renew our mind by sacrificng our flesh, God's will for us continues to be more clear day by day.
I will be the first to say that I am not continually renewing my mind and sacrificing my flesh to make room for God. I now desire that. I want to get rid of all the junk I've wanted to for a while so that I can continue to focus on God and His will for me. I don't want to run away from these things anymore. I want to see clearly the will of God.
I think that in context of trying to create an environment and culture of worship, this plays out in a specific way. When we are in our flesh, we will not desire to worship God, because the world does not tell us to worship God, but other things. To create that environment and culture of worship, we must be transformed by renewing our minds and sacrificing our flesh so that we desire things of God. When we desire things of God because we have sacrificed our fleshly desires as worship, that is when that environment and culture of worship will be developed.
Worship requires an element of sacrifice. Worship through song in my mind is simply singing praises back to God about how great He is. It may not seem like a sacrifice, but it still requires us to sacrifice our fleshly desire to be our own God. We sacrifice this want and we are letting Him become our God. Worship is not something we watch other people do and is not solely done through music and singing. It can be done in our day to day lives, not just on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights.
Worship must be done continuously.
Worship requires sacrifice.
Worship causes us to see God's will more clearly.
Worship causes us to desire Him.
So, will we constantly sacrifice our fleshly desires and humbly be transformed so that we can know God's will and be used by Him for His Kingdom? Or will we sit back and watch as others seek the things of God and become tools for His Kingdom?
Lord God,
I pray that as I embark on my journey to create an environment and culture of worship, that you would be with me. I pray that you would do a mighty work in the lives of the students and call them to sacrifice themselves in worship. I pray that their lives would change from desiring their flesh, to desiring you and your will for their lives. I pray that worship would not continue to be a spectator's sport in the youth, but something that they would desire to DO and not just watch. I pray that you would reveal yourself to the students in powerful ways as we seek to worship you and become more like you. I love you so much God and thank you for all that you have blessed me with. I pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen
Thursday, July 2, 2009
A Drive Through the Desert and a Nonchalant Encouragement from a Mentor
So this past Monday, a buddy of mine named Cody and I, flew out to Las Vegas, NV to pick up a free car! It was a huge blessing and answer to prayer that I got a free car. My youth pastor friend's wife's grandpa died a few weeks ago and he had like 4 cars. His family was going to give it away in Las Vegas, so when Dewbe found out, he called his father-in-law to inform him that I needed a car and would probably want it. So they gave me the go, all I had to do was get to Vegas to pick it up and I could have it.
So I flew with my buddy to Vegas. His sister picked us up at the airport and took us to lunch, and then we went to pick the car up. After picking it up, Cody and I took off on our long adventure. What should have been an 8.5 hour trip turned into a 13.5 hour trip.
Let me explain.
About 30 miles into out trip we stopped for some gas because we had to go through some mountains and we didn't want to get stuck. When we were about to leave, I thought to myself, I'm thirsty, I should get some water while looking at the thermometer in the car reading 111. I then thought to myself, nahhh I'll be fine. I'll just get something on the other side.
Little did I know that 10 miles later my car would overheat.
Cody and I then sat in the sun in the middle of the desert with no water or food for about 3.5 to 4 hours. It was soo hot! SOOO HOTTT! It was a good time that we had though. Suffering together... talking about life. I love Cody. He has been so welcoming to me here in my hometown, after not really knowing me before I came home for my internship.
Finally, his sister brought us some water to put in the coolant system, and we went on our way. 8 hours later or so, at about 5am, we arrived at our destination.
Now, I want to talk about something that happened today. I was riding in the car with Brandon and Dewbe, and Dewbe said something to me that is shaking my view of myself right now. I struggle sometimes with believing lies that I am not fit for youth ministry. Today, Dewbe said something so nonchalantly, but it is shaking that lie and putting it to death.
"You are doing a really good job James."
"A good job at what?"
"At your internship stuff. You know, I was even talking to Mary the other day and I was saying that you are probably better than 90% of the youth ministry guys I know..."
"Thanks Dewbe."
And a minute later the subject changed. I don't remember what to, but the words that Dewbe spoke to me keep ringing in my head. It was really hard for me to believe, but I think he genuinely believed his statement about me.
It was so encouraging and I do not think he realizes how much the such nonchalant little piece of encouragement meant to me. It is so encouraging to me when other people can see me living out the calling that God has placed in my life, when I can't see it or believe it sometimes. It shakes me when people I look up to say simple things like that.
The thing is, I do not know if I can live my calling out to its full potential, until I fully believe in it. Until I see myself as a youth pastor leading kids towards God, I can't do it the way God needs me to or wants me to. I think God is in the process of growing me to be big enough for the dream he has given me.
So that's what has gone on in my life this past week. I love all of you who read blogs.
Dear Lord,
Thank You soo much for speaking me today through someone's nonchalant statement. Thank You for encouraging me on my journey towards my life of service to you. Keep bringing me closer to you. Give me enough faith to get out of the boat. Sanctify me. Call me to you. Wake me up. Shake me. Let me hear your voice. I love You so much.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
So I flew with my buddy to Vegas. His sister picked us up at the airport and took us to lunch, and then we went to pick the car up. After picking it up, Cody and I took off on our long adventure. What should have been an 8.5 hour trip turned into a 13.5 hour trip.
Let me explain.
About 30 miles into out trip we stopped for some gas because we had to go through some mountains and we didn't want to get stuck. When we were about to leave, I thought to myself, I'm thirsty, I should get some water while looking at the thermometer in the car reading 111. I then thought to myself, nahhh I'll be fine. I'll just get something on the other side.
Little did I know that 10 miles later my car would overheat.
Cody and I then sat in the sun in the middle of the desert with no water or food for about 3.5 to 4 hours. It was soo hot! SOOO HOTTT! It was a good time that we had though. Suffering together... talking about life. I love Cody. He has been so welcoming to me here in my hometown, after not really knowing me before I came home for my internship.
Finally, his sister brought us some water to put in the coolant system, and we went on our way. 8 hours later or so, at about 5am, we arrived at our destination.
Now, I want to talk about something that happened today. I was riding in the car with Brandon and Dewbe, and Dewbe said something to me that is shaking my view of myself right now. I struggle sometimes with believing lies that I am not fit for youth ministry. Today, Dewbe said something so nonchalantly, but it is shaking that lie and putting it to death.
"You are doing a really good job James."
"A good job at what?"
"At your internship stuff. You know, I was even talking to Mary the other day and I was saying that you are probably better than 90% of the youth ministry guys I know..."
"Thanks Dewbe."
And a minute later the subject changed. I don't remember what to, but the words that Dewbe spoke to me keep ringing in my head. It was really hard for me to believe, but I think he genuinely believed his statement about me.
It was so encouraging and I do not think he realizes how much the such nonchalant little piece of encouragement meant to me. It is so encouraging to me when other people can see me living out the calling that God has placed in my life, when I can't see it or believe it sometimes. It shakes me when people I look up to say simple things like that.
The thing is, I do not know if I can live my calling out to its full potential, until I fully believe in it. Until I see myself as a youth pastor leading kids towards God, I can't do it the way God needs me to or wants me to. I think God is in the process of growing me to be big enough for the dream he has given me.
So that's what has gone on in my life this past week. I love all of you who read blogs.
Dear Lord,
Thank You soo much for speaking me today through someone's nonchalant statement. Thank You for encouraging me on my journey towards my life of service to you. Keep bringing me closer to you. Give me enough faith to get out of the boat. Sanctify me. Call me to you. Wake me up. Shake me. Let me hear your voice. I love You so much.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
My Oblivious Influence
I have always believed that I have had a great influence on kid's lives, but I have been oblivious as to how great that influence is until this week. It has been a humbling and eye opening realization.
This week is my church's yearly Summer Vacation Bible School called Buddy Bears! I grew up since I was about 4 or 5 going to Buddy Bears, and then I've been helping out at Buddy Bears ever since I was too old to go. It has been this week at Buddy Bears that has been one of the most influential times in my life.
My first epiphany of the magnitude of influence I have over kids came on Tuesday when I talked to a kid in my group's mother when I confessed my adoration for her son. The previous day I had flexed my muscle for him and told him that if he started lifting heavy things his muscles would slowly grow to the size of mine, and maybe even bigger. The mother told me that day that she heard some clanking in another room the night before and went in there and the little boy was lifting the fire place tools. When she asked him what he was doing he said, "James said..." (wow) "that if I lift heavy things my muscles will get bigger!" I know, I know... really cute huh??? But I now realize that kids listen to every word that I say and they believe it. The ten words that I said to him in that one moment dictated his life for that night, and he has told me about lifting more things the past two days.
More epiphanies have come as the week has progressed. From the little boy named Deven coming up to my every day before lunch and asking if I would sit with him, to the hand-full of students who beg me to sit next to them every time we go somewhere and then get jealous of eachother if I sit somewhere else, to Austin copying my British accent and telling me I am the coolest guy he has ever met, many things have awoken me from my obliviousness.
I am humbled to know that I have such an influence on kids, and that God has chosen me to have that influence, so that I can influence them towards Him. I am reminded of Mark 9:41 where it says, "If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck." This verse reminds me that much responsibility has been givn to me, and thus, much is expected of me. I must be aware at all times who I am influencing and what I am influencing them towards. My goal is not to lead students away from Christ, but towards Him. It is soo cool that I get to invest in these kids and point them towards God.
My encouragement to the blogging world is that we do have influence over kids, whether we realize it or not.
Be aware of the influence you have over other people so that you can take seriously the call to glorify God with every breath of every day, so that no one will be mistaken about who you are influencing them towards.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank You for giving me the opportunity to be here this summer and this week at Buddy Bears. Thank You for making me aware of the influence I have over kids. Lord, my goal is to influence kids towards You and the love that You have for them. Help me to glorify you with every breath that I take so that I might influence kids towards You in the best way possible. I want to take seriously the call You have placed on my life and the heart You have given me. I love You sooo much. I thank You and praise You!
In the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son: Amen.
This week is my church's yearly Summer Vacation Bible School called Buddy Bears! I grew up since I was about 4 or 5 going to Buddy Bears, and then I've been helping out at Buddy Bears ever since I was too old to go. It has been this week at Buddy Bears that has been one of the most influential times in my life.
My first epiphany of the magnitude of influence I have over kids came on Tuesday when I talked to a kid in my group's mother when I confessed my adoration for her son. The previous day I had flexed my muscle for him and told him that if he started lifting heavy things his muscles would slowly grow to the size of mine, and maybe even bigger. The mother told me that day that she heard some clanking in another room the night before and went in there and the little boy was lifting the fire place tools. When she asked him what he was doing he said, "James said..." (wow) "that if I lift heavy things my muscles will get bigger!" I know, I know... really cute huh??? But I now realize that kids listen to every word that I say and they believe it. The ten words that I said to him in that one moment dictated his life for that night, and he has told me about lifting more things the past two days.
More epiphanies have come as the week has progressed. From the little boy named Deven coming up to my every day before lunch and asking if I would sit with him, to the hand-full of students who beg me to sit next to them every time we go somewhere and then get jealous of eachother if I sit somewhere else, to Austin copying my British accent and telling me I am the coolest guy he has ever met, many things have awoken me from my obliviousness.
I am humbled to know that I have such an influence on kids, and that God has chosen me to have that influence, so that I can influence them towards Him. I am reminded of Mark 9:41 where it says, "If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck." This verse reminds me that much responsibility has been givn to me, and thus, much is expected of me. I must be aware at all times who I am influencing and what I am influencing them towards. My goal is not to lead students away from Christ, but towards Him. It is soo cool that I get to invest in these kids and point them towards God.
My encouragement to the blogging world is that we do have influence over kids, whether we realize it or not.
Be aware of the influence you have over other people so that you can take seriously the call to glorify God with every breath of every day, so that no one will be mistaken about who you are influencing them towards.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank You for giving me the opportunity to be here this summer and this week at Buddy Bears. Thank You for making me aware of the influence I have over kids. Lord, my goal is to influence kids towards You and the love that You have for them. Help me to glorify you with every breath that I take so that I might influence kids towards You in the best way possible. I want to take seriously the call You have placed on my life and the heart You have given me. I love You sooo much. I thank You and praise You!
In the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son: Amen.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Wow I haven't blogged in like a month!!!!
I guess I've just been really distracted with a lot of really important things. It is my duty to update you on the world of James, the life that sits in the wildhorse canyon... :)
So lets start with the first few days of summer. I got home and rested for the weekend, then started our move to a different house. A much smaller house. I had some friends come help my family out... Ryan, Bryan and Matt all helped us out, but at different times. They were such a blessing. This is what I did for my first 2-3 days of my summer vacation and week rest before starting my internship. I only did it the first 2-3 days because I got sick. I came down with some sort of infection, and the doctor told me I had to be in lock-down and I couldn't be around people, because I was more susceptible to getting the flu since my immune system was being affected by the infection. So many days were Jeff and Dan here that I really wanted to hang out, but I couldn't... I was very dissapointed and kinda lonely.
Eventually I got over my sickness and the next Tuesday morning I met my youth pastor, Dewbe, for some starbucks before our staff meeting. We met so he could get an update and figure out where I was spiritually, and to tell you the truth, I wasn't where I wanted to be. For the longest time I had been down on myself for not doing my own personal devotions every day. I recognized the need to constantly be filled with God's Spirit, yet I did nothing to do that. I didn't pray every day. I didn't read my Bible. I felt like I wasn't taking my calling seriously. I knew I needed to be in a different place. Dewbe told me something that really stood out. First he told me that the shame and disgust that I felt was not coming from God... and I knew that... but he then told me that it was good that I desired to be in that place because the kids that I minister to will only be as spiritual as I am... or something to the effect. I desire nothing more than to love God and develop my personal relationship with Him, and that love for God will overflow into love for other people, and the love for other people I have will affect other people to the point where they develop a love for God. It seems like an infectious idea to me.
So he challenged me to start doing daily devotions, to pray, to read my Bible, and to listen for God's voice. I tell you, life is much different now. I love it.
I then started my internship. It has been a blast so far. Soon after I started we took our seniors on a trip to lake shasta. It was meant to be a fun trip, but we had a spiritual focus on it. We did this because statistics show that like 80% of Christian highschool graduates after leaving for college abandon their faith. The number is shockingly high and breaks my heart. So our focus was on trying to give them tools to make their faith their own so that when they do leave for college in a few months, they will hopefully be built up and won't abandon their faith. We all had a blast during the weekend though through tubing, wakeboarding, kneeboarding, swimming and worshipping. It was an awesome weekend that I won't forget.
I also have had the chance to preach a few times so far. For the first month we followed a curriculum until we got into the student's summer. Now it's up to us and the Holy Spirit for our sermons, which I like a lot more.
We have had two awesome youth nights so far for the student's summers. The first one was a water games night. It ended up just being a big waterballoon fight. It was really fun! Then this past wednesday we had a food fight night. Dewbe, my youthpastor, was gone this week because he's up in Redding taking some masters classes through Tozer Seminary at Simpson, so I pretty much played Youthpastor that night. I got youthgroup going, led worship, preached, and ran some games. My buddy Jon ran a egg in a pipe game where there is two people on the ends of a clear plastic pipe with a couple eggs in it... they blow and someone ends up eventually with egg in their face. We then did bobbing for apples in cereal and milk... that was really funny and I'm surprised the kids had as much fun as they did. I then ran Blend-or-Dare which was really nasty and kinda anti-climactic, but was still fun. We then had our big food-fight game called presidents. Basically, two teams, each with a president. You have to protect your president, as well as get the other president dirty, whichever president is the cleanest at the end of the game wins. The boys totally whomped on the girls. It was a little unfair, I have to admit. For that game, Jon and I had prepared about 20 pounds of flower by adding water to make a bunch of goop. That stuff was really fun to throw at people. Then began the long process of cleaning it all up. haha... it didn't take as long as I thought it would.
And a quick change of topic. Lately I have been thinking about how complacency ruins us. When we think we don't need anything else, we stop living... we basically die. A. W. Tozer once wrote that complacency was the deadly enemy to all spiritual growth, and I completely agree because not only does it stop growth, it takes us backwards. This is what I spoke on this last week at youth group. I used an example of how my complacency with a female friend I had ruined my chances of dating her and then ruined our relationship because we don't even speak anymore. I then talked about Revelation 3:14-19... the verse that talks about the church in Laodicea being like lukewarm water and Jesus wanting to vomit them out of His mouth.
Little did I know, but in that verse Jesus actually is comparing the church to Laodicea's water supply. Because the church was complacent in trying to be self-sufficient their poor water supply was not useful unless heated for bathing or cooled for drinking. Thus he was saying that their complacency had made them un-useful. Their un-useful-ness had caused them to fall into sin and they didn't look any different from the surrounding world. They focused on things of the world and they thought they were rich by the world's standards... so Jesus urged them to buy His gold refined in the fire so that they could become rich. They looked like the rest of the world by sinning and not repenting, so Jesus urges them to buy white clothes from Him so that their shameful nakedness wouldn't be exposed... because everyone in Laodicea wore black clothes... thus, you could tell the difference from God's people and those of the world. They were spiritually blind to the fact that they needed God, so Jesus urged them to buy ointment from Him to spread on their eyes so that they could see. And Jesus made this offensive comment and rebuke to the Church in Laodicea out of love. He loved them so much that he did not want them to be complacent like the rest of the world, so he called them to obedience and repentance. I think it is so cool how every detail was put in the Bible for a purpose.
I then concluded with how frequently in scripture we are urged to press on towards the prize, to add to our faith, to run the race! I then gave the example that when I started running a mile to get in shape and I became complacent with how fast I ran it, I stopped running. A couple weeks later I decided to run another mile and I couldn't... because I didn't press on. I became complacent and stopped running, and then went backwards in my ability.
I share all of my sermon with you, not to just tell you what I spoke about. I share it with you to encourage you. Whether you might be complacent or you always seek more with God... I want this to encourage you. If you find yourself in the middle of complacency, I urge you to seek more from God. Develop your relationship with Him so that he may call you and use you for his purposes. If you continually press on towards the goal to win the prize, as Paul would say, I encourage you to never become complacent, because when you do, you stop running... and when you stop running, you slow down to a jog, and then to a walk, and then to a hobble, and then to a crawl... and eventually you die and fall away. When you think there is nothing else you need, you stop living... and when people aren't living... they are inherently dead.
"Complacency is the deadly enemy of spiritual progress."
-A. W. Tozer
Lord,
I pray for the rest of my life that I would never become complacent in anything. That I would always seek more of You in my life. I pray for the people who read my blog that they would not become complacent in anything and that they would continually desire to grow in their loving relationship with You and that You would use them for your purposes. Lord, I speak against complacency and want to encourage all towards growth in you. Lord bless the rest of our summer and keep my friends across seas in your will this summer. Protect them and bless them as they seek to advance your Kingdom. I pray that they would be obedient to the things that You call them to do as they interact with the people of the countries they are in. Lord I pray that You would continue to speak to all of us and then we would wait upon You and listen for Your voice. Guide us as we grow in You.
In the name of Jesus Christ I pray,
Amen.
So lets start with the first few days of summer. I got home and rested for the weekend, then started our move to a different house. A much smaller house. I had some friends come help my family out... Ryan, Bryan and Matt all helped us out, but at different times. They were such a blessing. This is what I did for my first 2-3 days of my summer vacation and week rest before starting my internship. I only did it the first 2-3 days because I got sick. I came down with some sort of infection, and the doctor told me I had to be in lock-down and I couldn't be around people, because I was more susceptible to getting the flu since my immune system was being affected by the infection. So many days were Jeff and Dan here that I really wanted to hang out, but I couldn't... I was very dissapointed and kinda lonely.
Eventually I got over my sickness and the next Tuesday morning I met my youth pastor, Dewbe, for some starbucks before our staff meeting. We met so he could get an update and figure out where I was spiritually, and to tell you the truth, I wasn't where I wanted to be. For the longest time I had been down on myself for not doing my own personal devotions every day. I recognized the need to constantly be filled with God's Spirit, yet I did nothing to do that. I didn't pray every day. I didn't read my Bible. I felt like I wasn't taking my calling seriously. I knew I needed to be in a different place. Dewbe told me something that really stood out. First he told me that the shame and disgust that I felt was not coming from God... and I knew that... but he then told me that it was good that I desired to be in that place because the kids that I minister to will only be as spiritual as I am... or something to the effect. I desire nothing more than to love God and develop my personal relationship with Him, and that love for God will overflow into love for other people, and the love for other people I have will affect other people to the point where they develop a love for God. It seems like an infectious idea to me.
So he challenged me to start doing daily devotions, to pray, to read my Bible, and to listen for God's voice. I tell you, life is much different now. I love it.
I then started my internship. It has been a blast so far. Soon after I started we took our seniors on a trip to lake shasta. It was meant to be a fun trip, but we had a spiritual focus on it. We did this because statistics show that like 80% of Christian highschool graduates after leaving for college abandon their faith. The number is shockingly high and breaks my heart. So our focus was on trying to give them tools to make their faith their own so that when they do leave for college in a few months, they will hopefully be built up and won't abandon their faith. We all had a blast during the weekend though through tubing, wakeboarding, kneeboarding, swimming and worshipping. It was an awesome weekend that I won't forget.
I also have had the chance to preach a few times so far. For the first month we followed a curriculum until we got into the student's summer. Now it's up to us and the Holy Spirit for our sermons, which I like a lot more.
We have had two awesome youth nights so far for the student's summers. The first one was a water games night. It ended up just being a big waterballoon fight. It was really fun! Then this past wednesday we had a food fight night. Dewbe, my youthpastor, was gone this week because he's up in Redding taking some masters classes through Tozer Seminary at Simpson, so I pretty much played Youthpastor that night. I got youthgroup going, led worship, preached, and ran some games. My buddy Jon ran a egg in a pipe game where there is two people on the ends of a clear plastic pipe with a couple eggs in it... they blow and someone ends up eventually with egg in their face. We then did bobbing for apples in cereal and milk... that was really funny and I'm surprised the kids had as much fun as they did. I then ran Blend-or-Dare which was really nasty and kinda anti-climactic, but was still fun. We then had our big food-fight game called presidents. Basically, two teams, each with a president. You have to protect your president, as well as get the other president dirty, whichever president is the cleanest at the end of the game wins. The boys totally whomped on the girls. It was a little unfair, I have to admit. For that game, Jon and I had prepared about 20 pounds of flower by adding water to make a bunch of goop. That stuff was really fun to throw at people. Then began the long process of cleaning it all up. haha... it didn't take as long as I thought it would.
And a quick change of topic. Lately I have been thinking about how complacency ruins us. When we think we don't need anything else, we stop living... we basically die. A. W. Tozer once wrote that complacency was the deadly enemy to all spiritual growth, and I completely agree because not only does it stop growth, it takes us backwards. This is what I spoke on this last week at youth group. I used an example of how my complacency with a female friend I had ruined my chances of dating her and then ruined our relationship because we don't even speak anymore. I then talked about Revelation 3:14-19... the verse that talks about the church in Laodicea being like lukewarm water and Jesus wanting to vomit them out of His mouth.
Little did I know, but in that verse Jesus actually is comparing the church to Laodicea's water supply. Because the church was complacent in trying to be self-sufficient their poor water supply was not useful unless heated for bathing or cooled for drinking. Thus he was saying that their complacency had made them un-useful. Their un-useful-ness had caused them to fall into sin and they didn't look any different from the surrounding world. They focused on things of the world and they thought they were rich by the world's standards... so Jesus urged them to buy His gold refined in the fire so that they could become rich. They looked like the rest of the world by sinning and not repenting, so Jesus urges them to buy white clothes from Him so that their shameful nakedness wouldn't be exposed... because everyone in Laodicea wore black clothes... thus, you could tell the difference from God's people and those of the world. They were spiritually blind to the fact that they needed God, so Jesus urged them to buy ointment from Him to spread on their eyes so that they could see. And Jesus made this offensive comment and rebuke to the Church in Laodicea out of love. He loved them so much that he did not want them to be complacent like the rest of the world, so he called them to obedience and repentance. I think it is so cool how every detail was put in the Bible for a purpose.
I then concluded with how frequently in scripture we are urged to press on towards the prize, to add to our faith, to run the race! I then gave the example that when I started running a mile to get in shape and I became complacent with how fast I ran it, I stopped running. A couple weeks later I decided to run another mile and I couldn't... because I didn't press on. I became complacent and stopped running, and then went backwards in my ability.
I share all of my sermon with you, not to just tell you what I spoke about. I share it with you to encourage you. Whether you might be complacent or you always seek more with God... I want this to encourage you. If you find yourself in the middle of complacency, I urge you to seek more from God. Develop your relationship with Him so that he may call you and use you for his purposes. If you continually press on towards the goal to win the prize, as Paul would say, I encourage you to never become complacent, because when you do, you stop running... and when you stop running, you slow down to a jog, and then to a walk, and then to a hobble, and then to a crawl... and eventually you die and fall away. When you think there is nothing else you need, you stop living... and when people aren't living... they are inherently dead.
"Complacency is the deadly enemy of spiritual progress."
-A. W. Tozer
Lord,
I pray for the rest of my life that I would never become complacent in anything. That I would always seek more of You in my life. I pray for the people who read my blog that they would not become complacent in anything and that they would continually desire to grow in their loving relationship with You and that You would use them for your purposes. Lord, I speak against complacency and want to encourage all towards growth in you. Lord bless the rest of our summer and keep my friends across seas in your will this summer. Protect them and bless them as they seek to advance your Kingdom. I pray that they would be obedient to the things that You call them to do as they interact with the people of the countries they are in. Lord I pray that You would continue to speak to all of us and then we would wait upon You and listen for Your voice. Guide us as we grow in You.
In the name of Jesus Christ I pray,
Amen.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Broken Hearted
Broken Hearted
Lyrics and Music written by James Spencer April 26, 2009
Verse:
You break my heart into a thousand tiny pieces
over a thousand dying people
over the poor and oppressed, the starving and the thirsty,
the naked and the poor, the widow and the orphan…
Chorus:
And how can I let them live like that,
and not do anything, to help them myself? (x2)
Bridge:
I want a heart like yours, of love and compassion,
to do the things you did, to serve You and Your Kingdom. (x2)
So give me your heart, give me your heart, give me your heart, yeah.
Lyrics and Music written by James Spencer April 26, 2009
Verse:
You break my heart into a thousand tiny pieces
over a thousand dying people
over the poor and oppressed, the starving and the thirsty,
the naked and the poor, the widow and the orphan…
Chorus:
And how can I let them live like that,
and not do anything, to help them myself? (x2)
Bridge:
I want a heart like yours, of love and compassion,
to do the things you did, to serve You and Your Kingdom. (x2)
So give me your heart, give me your heart, give me your heart, yeah.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
A God Thing
So Good Friday was encouraging. God continues to amaze me with the things he has up his sleeves.
During Spring Break I attended the Jr. High Youth Group. I helped lead worship at it with a few friends and it was all peaches and creme until we finished the second to last song and I suddenly heard someone yell "SHUT UP!!!" It shocked me to hear a sixth or seventh grader shout something like that in the middle of worship, whether they are focusing on God like they are supposed to or not. This discouraged me very greatly because I am supposed to be interning there this summer, and seemingly nothing had changed since I had left and gone to college. I immediately got discouraged and afraid about what my internship was going to be like during the summer.
Later, at the end of the week on Sunday, I was at church. Brandon had just finished sharing about how he felt God was going to use the church for great things. We then started to sing "God of this City," by Chris Tomlin. That song is soo powerful. I immediately felt connected to God's heart and so I stood up and lifted my hands while I sang my heart out and proclaimed "Greater things are yet to come! Greater things are yet to come! Greater things are still to be done in this city!"
God spoke to me in those moments and encouraged me about the summer. He told me not to worry about the summer because he was going to do something great in and through me. It was so encouraging and so comforting. I sit and think about what God could do this summer, and I get really excited.
That was amazing.
Then I go home this weekend for Easter. My parents came up to Redding on Thursday to pick Bryan, Dan, and I up. Before we even left Redding my parents told me that we were moving right at the beginning of May (like right after I get out of school). Instead of living in our 4 bedroom, 2 bath, atleast 1,600 sq. ft. house, we will be living in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 600 sq. ft. shack behind our good friends' house. This is not exciting to me at all, and I also have to live in our camper trailer the whole summer. But I keep getting reminded of what God wants to do this summer. I am also encouraged by the fact that my parents are talking about how they are getting ready and are waiting for what God wants them to do. I really have no idea what they are going to do, but I am so joyful that they are trying to find God's heart for them.
Back to the story, I go to the Good Friday service at my church. I get to talking really quickly with my Youth Pastor Dewbe, whom I will be interning with during the summer, and he tells me that he and Dave (the head pastor) want me to be at the church full time and that he is working on getting people in the church to sponsor me so that hopefully I can get paid $1,000 per month. That is way more than I imagined I would get paid. God is definitely taking care of me and setting things up for the summer, and I feel so blessed.
Lord,
THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR ALL THAT YOU ARE DOING!!! I pray that You continue to work on my heart for this summer and for the hearts of people in Brentwood. I pray for opportunities and divinely constructed events for me and others in the church to share your love with people. Lord thank you for taking care of me and setting things up for the summer. I can't help but get excited when I think about what you could possibly have up your sleeve for this summer. I love you very much!
Amen.
Your Willing Servant, James.
During Spring Break I attended the Jr. High Youth Group. I helped lead worship at it with a few friends and it was all peaches and creme until we finished the second to last song and I suddenly heard someone yell "SHUT UP!!!" It shocked me to hear a sixth or seventh grader shout something like that in the middle of worship, whether they are focusing on God like they are supposed to or not. This discouraged me very greatly because I am supposed to be interning there this summer, and seemingly nothing had changed since I had left and gone to college. I immediately got discouraged and afraid about what my internship was going to be like during the summer.
Later, at the end of the week on Sunday, I was at church. Brandon had just finished sharing about how he felt God was going to use the church for great things. We then started to sing "God of this City," by Chris Tomlin. That song is soo powerful. I immediately felt connected to God's heart and so I stood up and lifted my hands while I sang my heart out and proclaimed "Greater things are yet to come! Greater things are yet to come! Greater things are still to be done in this city!"
God spoke to me in those moments and encouraged me about the summer. He told me not to worry about the summer because he was going to do something great in and through me. It was so encouraging and so comforting. I sit and think about what God could do this summer, and I get really excited.
That was amazing.
Then I go home this weekend for Easter. My parents came up to Redding on Thursday to pick Bryan, Dan, and I up. Before we even left Redding my parents told me that we were moving right at the beginning of May (like right after I get out of school). Instead of living in our 4 bedroom, 2 bath, atleast 1,600 sq. ft. house, we will be living in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 600 sq. ft. shack behind our good friends' house. This is not exciting to me at all, and I also have to live in our camper trailer the whole summer. But I keep getting reminded of what God wants to do this summer. I am also encouraged by the fact that my parents are talking about how they are getting ready and are waiting for what God wants them to do. I really have no idea what they are going to do, but I am so joyful that they are trying to find God's heart for them.
Back to the story, I go to the Good Friday service at my church. I get to talking really quickly with my Youth Pastor Dewbe, whom I will be interning with during the summer, and he tells me that he and Dave (the head pastor) want me to be at the church full time and that he is working on getting people in the church to sponsor me so that hopefully I can get paid $1,000 per month. That is way more than I imagined I would get paid. God is definitely taking care of me and setting things up for the summer, and I feel so blessed.
Lord,
THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR ALL THAT YOU ARE DOING!!! I pray that You continue to work on my heart for this summer and for the hearts of people in Brentwood. I pray for opportunities and divinely constructed events for me and others in the church to share your love with people. Lord thank you for taking care of me and setting things up for the summer. I can't help but get excited when I think about what you could possibly have up your sleeve for this summer. I love you very much!
Amen.
Your Willing Servant, James.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Post-Spring Break
So I know it is long overdue, but here is my Post-Spring Break Blog.
Spring Break finished and it was awesome. Though I spent waaaay more money than I would have liked, it was great to hang out with some people from home that I had not hung out with in a while, and it would not have been the same had I not gone out to eat, gone to the beach, and gone out to eat again. It was soo great to experience friendships outside of Simpson and at Church. It was encouraging. The last night of Spring Break everybody came over to my house. The plan was to eat tacos and then watch Jurassic Park. Only a few people came over to eat tacos... and we never really watched Jurassic Park. Instead, we ended up going out to the pier out behind my house really late at night and hanging out there. There were soo many people too, and it was amazing.
Then Sunday came and it was time to go back to school. Matt and I weren't supposed to leave until late because we were picking up Sarah at the Sac Airport at like 11. Her flight from Pennsylvania ended up getting pushed later and later, and she ended up missing classes monday. So matt and I left around 8 or 9 I think.
We then had a week of school. That week of school was not hard. We had our Spring Formal. It was soo much fun. I attended with a large group of friends. Me, Jeff, Eric, Hannah, Aubrey, Danae, Eleanor, Stephanie, Natalie, Hillary, and Caleb. We all had soo much fun. I'm so glad I went. There was a part where they taught us how to swing dance, and that was pretty cool and not too hard. I ended up dancing a lot with Aubrey during the swing dancing thing, and she did well. I also must express that all of the girls looked very beatiful! Honestly. They were amazing! AAAND... It's soo fun to get dressed up.
Then came this past week. All day Sunday I was in the library writing a 7 page, 7500 word paper on the conflicts in cross-cultural terms in the movie Fools Rush In. The rest of the week was a sinch, and now I'm at home for Easter weekend. It's kinda nice because we have four days (FRI-MON).
In other news, I'm really excited about this summer and next school year. This summer I am set to do an internship with my Youth Pastor, Dewbe Wright. He's really awesome and I have been getting this feeling, from God presumably, that He is going to be doing some great things this summer in the East Bay, which is probably why I am soo excited. I'm not the only who has been getting this feeling. I am also stoked about next year as an RA, and it being my senior year and all, but I am soo pleased at most, if not all, of the people that Residence Life has hired as leaders for next year. I really wish my friend Jeff had been chosen because he is really great; I hope he applies again next year.
Lord,
I thank You for who You are. I am soo excited about this upcoming summer and next year. As I serve You, I pray that You would teach me what it means to serve You, as well as continue to develop me and my character into the man, and future youth pastor, that You want me to be. Lord I pray that You would bless us all with Your love this summer and that You would continue to be magnificent in our lives. I ask that You would continue to reveal Yourself to us.
Amen.
Spring Break finished and it was awesome. Though I spent waaaay more money than I would have liked, it was great to hang out with some people from home that I had not hung out with in a while, and it would not have been the same had I not gone out to eat, gone to the beach, and gone out to eat again. It was soo great to experience friendships outside of Simpson and at Church. It was encouraging. The last night of Spring Break everybody came over to my house. The plan was to eat tacos and then watch Jurassic Park. Only a few people came over to eat tacos... and we never really watched Jurassic Park. Instead, we ended up going out to the pier out behind my house really late at night and hanging out there. There were soo many people too, and it was amazing.
Then Sunday came and it was time to go back to school. Matt and I weren't supposed to leave until late because we were picking up Sarah at the Sac Airport at like 11. Her flight from Pennsylvania ended up getting pushed later and later, and she ended up missing classes monday. So matt and I left around 8 or 9 I think.
We then had a week of school. That week of school was not hard. We had our Spring Formal. It was soo much fun. I attended with a large group of friends. Me, Jeff, Eric, Hannah, Aubrey, Danae, Eleanor, Stephanie, Natalie, Hillary, and Caleb. We all had soo much fun. I'm so glad I went. There was a part where they taught us how to swing dance, and that was pretty cool and not too hard. I ended up dancing a lot with Aubrey during the swing dancing thing, and she did well. I also must express that all of the girls looked very beatiful! Honestly. They were amazing! AAAND... It's soo fun to get dressed up.
Then came this past week. All day Sunday I was in the library writing a 7 page, 7500 word paper on the conflicts in cross-cultural terms in the movie Fools Rush In. The rest of the week was a sinch, and now I'm at home for Easter weekend. It's kinda nice because we have four days (FRI-MON).
In other news, I'm really excited about this summer and next school year. This summer I am set to do an internship with my Youth Pastor, Dewbe Wright. He's really awesome and I have been getting this feeling, from God presumably, that He is going to be doing some great things this summer in the East Bay, which is probably why I am soo excited. I'm not the only who has been getting this feeling. I am also stoked about next year as an RA, and it being my senior year and all, but I am soo pleased at most, if not all, of the people that Residence Life has hired as leaders for next year. I really wish my friend Jeff had been chosen because he is really great; I hope he applies again next year.
Lord,
I thank You for who You are. I am soo excited about this upcoming summer and next year. As I serve You, I pray that You would teach me what it means to serve You, as well as continue to develop me and my character into the man, and future youth pastor, that You want me to be. Lord I pray that You would bless us all with Your love this summer and that You would continue to be magnificent in our lives. I ask that You would continue to reveal Yourself to us.
Amen.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Spring Break
This is my Spring Break blog for Mid Spring Break. A Post Spring Break blog will come after Spring Break is over. Eric and I are at my house. We are in the room with a computer. I am on my labtop. Eric is on our desktop. We are sitting in the same room and we are not talking to each other. Eric is messaging Bryan on Facebook. I am writing this blog. A bird just flew by the window and landed in the tree outside. It is chirping now. There are lots of cars parked on the street. I have some binoculars sitting to my left. We will use them when we go to Mt. Diablo today with Heidi, Luke, and Matt Cronk. Eric met Heidi for the first time in real life yesterday. They both think the other is cool and fun. Yesterday, Eric and I went to a rave and had waaaaaaaaay more fun than Katie and Danae did just sitting in Danae's house with nothing to do except twiddle their thumbs and look at eachother with stupid faces. Yesterday we watched a movie that was really confusing and I don't plan on seeing it again. I am writing this blog as a tribute to my good friend Daniel Montecinos, whom I haven't seen in almost a week and will see on either Wednesday night or Thursday when we go to Santa Cruz. I'm really sad because Ian might not come to Santa Cruz with us anymore because he doesn't have enough money for gas and all. I talked to him about some ideas for how he could raise some funds for gas. These included mowing his father's lawn, raking the rocks on the mountain, sweeping the driveway, begging, and prostituting, all of which I would be willing to do with Ian if he could make it up here. Even if he doesn't make it up, I'm sure we will have a grand time and his spirit will be with us. God is great! God is good! Thankyou Lord for awesome friends and your creation!
Amen God!
Love,
James
Amen God!
Love,
James
Saturday, February 28, 2009
I am Jonah
"God changed the most evil city in the world in a moment because somebody was obedient for a second and said 8 words."
These words that God spoke through Dan Lance have been ringing through my head since last Sunday. I desire to be one of those people.
I HAVE A GREAT CALL!!
I was confronted with this thought as well. Sometimes I feel like I am not being used by God to my full capacity, especially with the call that I believe God has placed on my life with youth. Maybe that is because I run sometimes when the opportunity rises to serve and be used and then I rationalize that because I am still in school that it is better that I focus on school. But God uses Jonahs... and God uses Dan Lances... God uses crazy people with their foolish things to turn the world upside-down.
I feel like I have been listening to the wrong voice. The voice that tells me I'm not good enough to be used by God, the voice that tells me I'm too busy, the voice that tells me to focus on school... the voice of satan. This is what has been keeping me from believing what God has called me to. The best thing is, that I was reminded of, is that satan has no authority. Jesus has it all. And he has commanded me to go and make disciples.
Not only that, but Dan spoke some encouraging words. I have come to the realization that I CAN LIVE MY CALL WHERE I'M AT! I can do this with my mistakes and insufficiencies, with my monotone voice, and with my sometimes shy personality. And not only that, God has brought me to Simpson University for many purposes. And not only that, God HAS been using me a lot the past three years... I just fail to see the fruit of it sometimes. He has also called me into a position of leadership for next year here at school where I will be used, and I will live out that call to be used by Him as a Resident Assistant.
God will change peoples' lives because James Spencer was obedient for his life and spoke words of truth and love to them.
Now I desire to live a life more worthy of the calling. I desire to put away distractions. For lent I decided not to totally give facebook up, because i know that I will fail to give it up fully and once lent is over I know I will just go back to using it all the time. Rather I am using lent to limit my use to once per day and to only 30 minutes total. That way I will get into a routine of a limited useage of facebook.
And after Friday's chapel, I am now realizing the importance to be filled daily by God. This is something that I have longed to do for a while, but have never been able to do. Lets just say I need help... lots of it.
Lord,
Help my desire to be purified and filled by your Spirit daily to come to fruition. Lord I realize that part of the reason that I don't see the fruit of my service come to fruition sometimes is to keep me humble. Lord help me to listen to your voice only, and to be devoted solely to You. Lord thank You for speaking words into my life through Dan. Lord use me more and more for Your glory. Thank You for calling me into the RA position for next year. I pray for opportunities to encourage people and change them into the people you want them to be. Help me not to run away from the calls you have placed in my life, and help me to live them out where I am.
I love you so much,
Jonah... AKA James
These words that God spoke through Dan Lance have been ringing through my head since last Sunday. I desire to be one of those people.
I HAVE A GREAT CALL!!
I was confronted with this thought as well. Sometimes I feel like I am not being used by God to my full capacity, especially with the call that I believe God has placed on my life with youth. Maybe that is because I run sometimes when the opportunity rises to serve and be used and then I rationalize that because I am still in school that it is better that I focus on school. But God uses Jonahs... and God uses Dan Lances... God uses crazy people with their foolish things to turn the world upside-down.
I feel like I have been listening to the wrong voice. The voice that tells me I'm not good enough to be used by God, the voice that tells me I'm too busy, the voice that tells me to focus on school... the voice of satan. This is what has been keeping me from believing what God has called me to. The best thing is, that I was reminded of, is that satan has no authority. Jesus has it all. And he has commanded me to go and make disciples.
Not only that, but Dan spoke some encouraging words. I have come to the realization that I CAN LIVE MY CALL WHERE I'M AT! I can do this with my mistakes and insufficiencies, with my monotone voice, and with my sometimes shy personality. And not only that, God has brought me to Simpson University for many purposes. And not only that, God HAS been using me a lot the past three years... I just fail to see the fruit of it sometimes. He has also called me into a position of leadership for next year here at school where I will be used, and I will live out that call to be used by Him as a Resident Assistant.
God will change peoples' lives because James Spencer was obedient for his life and spoke words of truth and love to them.
Now I desire to live a life more worthy of the calling. I desire to put away distractions. For lent I decided not to totally give facebook up, because i know that I will fail to give it up fully and once lent is over I know I will just go back to using it all the time. Rather I am using lent to limit my use to once per day and to only 30 minutes total. That way I will get into a routine of a limited useage of facebook.
And after Friday's chapel, I am now realizing the importance to be filled daily by God. This is something that I have longed to do for a while, but have never been able to do. Lets just say I need help... lots of it.
Lord,
Help my desire to be purified and filled by your Spirit daily to come to fruition. Lord I realize that part of the reason that I don't see the fruit of my service come to fruition sometimes is to keep me humble. Lord help me to listen to your voice only, and to be devoted solely to You. Lord thank You for speaking words into my life through Dan. Lord use me more and more for Your glory. Thank You for calling me into the RA position for next year. I pray for opportunities to encourage people and change them into the people you want them to be. Help me not to run away from the calls you have placed in my life, and help me to live them out where I am.
I love you so much,
Jonah... AKA James
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
My foot is waaay better!
Thank you all who have been praying for my foot. I went to the doctors last friday morning, and they told me that it was nothing with the bone, but they used some fancy term basically to say that I had a pinched nerve in my foot. Doctor told me to get off the crutches and put this cream medication on it. So far, I've used the cream twice and my foot is not experiencing any pain at all anymore. Praise God!!!
I just want to thank everyone for being there for me. For caring for me and asking how I was doing with the foot. For encouraging me when I hated being on crutches and hated that my foot hurt. Thanks!
I just want to thank everyone for being there for me. For caring for me and asking how I was doing with the foot. For encouraging me when I hated being on crutches and hated that my foot hurt. Thanks!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Brown Paper Bag Lunch Extravaganza!!
Today I went on an extravaganza with some AWESOME people! The Idea of the Day was to make a bag lunch out of a brown paper bag like the ones your mom used to make you in elementary school and Jr. High because it was too hard to bring a real lunch box and all the cool kids had the paper bags with their name written on it. We then took our bag lunches to Kid's Kingdom (the place of Dustin's death to his former self AKA his injury) and had a picnic.
It was nice to take a break from everything and just relax and bask in the sun and the simplicity of life. It was great to get away from the cafateria and have some fun and smiles with everyone. Hannah S made some awesome bean dip to go with chips. After we all ate, we decided that playing ultimate frisbee was not a good idea since it was soo windy. So we elected to play Catch-Phrase. Though we weren't keeping track of points, it was fun to get everyone's brains active by playing a game.
I have decided that I love being with people. Which reminds me of the last chapter of Blue Like Jazz that I read. It was called Alone: Fifty-Three Years in Space. It was talking about how people go crazy when they aren't around people. He shared about his own experience of being around soo many people all the time and then the dramatic change in getting his own apartment and living by himself. He became fantasized with the writer Emily Dickenson... to the point where he went to the old house that she used to live in and claimed he saw her step outside the door and run back inside.
The chapter reminded me of a book I read called Reaching Out by Henri J. M. Nouwen. In one chapter he talked about the situation of being surrounded by people, yet being so alone. I recently experienced this, but quickly snapped out of it thanks to a wonderful person.
Believe it or not, we were star gazing with around twenty or so people and all of a sudden I felt completely alone. I rolled over and pretended like I was asleep and started praying... not that God would send someone to be with me at that time, but that I would be comforted by Him, that I would have strength, and that I would find my fulfillment in Him in this time of feeling alone. It was funny because moments later someone came and jumped on the ground next to me and wanted me to take pictures with them. I saw Jesus in that person that day and was thankful for God comforting me through the person and making me feel like I wasn't totally alone and that others, as well as God, loved me.
I feel soo blessed to be in the place that I am in at this moment. It is a fact that I have three roommates and am around people all day. In fact, I am around people soo much that it's even hard to find some time for myself. I almost never have to be alone. College is such a great experience and I love all the people in my life and thank God for them all the time.
There's something that I can't explain about being in a community with others, especially ones that love God too, that brings me even closer to my creator.
Lord,
Thanks for bringing me to Simpson University and surrounding me with the people I am around daily. Lord I love that in the midst of being alone, You are there with me to comfort me, to love me, to give me value, and give me worth. I thank You that I can grow closer to You when I am surrounded by people who love You and want to follow You. Thanks for the simple things in life... like brown-paper-bag-lunch-extravaganzas. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray...
Your son,
James
It was nice to take a break from everything and just relax and bask in the sun and the simplicity of life. It was great to get away from the cafateria and have some fun and smiles with everyone. Hannah S made some awesome bean dip to go with chips. After we all ate, we decided that playing ultimate frisbee was not a good idea since it was soo windy. So we elected to play Catch-Phrase. Though we weren't keeping track of points, it was fun to get everyone's brains active by playing a game.
I have decided that I love being with people. Which reminds me of the last chapter of Blue Like Jazz that I read. It was called Alone: Fifty-Three Years in Space. It was talking about how people go crazy when they aren't around people. He shared about his own experience of being around soo many people all the time and then the dramatic change in getting his own apartment and living by himself. He became fantasized with the writer Emily Dickenson... to the point where he went to the old house that she used to live in and claimed he saw her step outside the door and run back inside.
The chapter reminded me of a book I read called Reaching Out by Henri J. M. Nouwen. In one chapter he talked about the situation of being surrounded by people, yet being so alone. I recently experienced this, but quickly snapped out of it thanks to a wonderful person.
Believe it or not, we were star gazing with around twenty or so people and all of a sudden I felt completely alone. I rolled over and pretended like I was asleep and started praying... not that God would send someone to be with me at that time, but that I would be comforted by Him, that I would have strength, and that I would find my fulfillment in Him in this time of feeling alone. It was funny because moments later someone came and jumped on the ground next to me and wanted me to take pictures with them. I saw Jesus in that person that day and was thankful for God comforting me through the person and making me feel like I wasn't totally alone and that others, as well as God, loved me.
I feel soo blessed to be in the place that I am in at this moment. It is a fact that I have three roommates and am around people all day. In fact, I am around people soo much that it's even hard to find some time for myself. I almost never have to be alone. College is such a great experience and I love all the people in my life and thank God for them all the time.
There's something that I can't explain about being in a community with others, especially ones that love God too, that brings me even closer to my creator.
Lord,
Thanks for bringing me to Simpson University and surrounding me with the people I am around daily. Lord I love that in the midst of being alone, You are there with me to comfort me, to love me, to give me value, and give me worth. I thank You that I can grow closer to You when I am surrounded by people who love You and want to follow You. Thanks for the simple things in life... like brown-paper-bag-lunch-extravaganzas. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray...
Your son,
James
Monday, February 2, 2009
Problem...
So this past Friday I was playing ultimate frisbee. it was grand. however, my foot started hurting at the end of playing. At dinner I inquired some people as to what it might be. Kyle said a stress fracture.
Yucky!
So I did some research online and found that stress fractures are little chips/cracks in the bones of either your metatarsals or in one of the bones in your leg. I also found out that they take 6-8 weeks to fully heal. I also found that it is not easily diagnosed in the first two weeks because it doesn't show up on X-ray. So I probably won't know exactly what's wrong with my foot for a couple of weeks.
Today. I went to the nurse, found out I no longer have health insurance, and got some crutches to walk with. Funny story, the first 2 times I used them it felt like hell because I was using them totally wrong. Now I know how to use them and it doesn't take so much energy.
Today I also went to a worship night. That was awesome. We sang joyous songs led by the ever-increasingly-talented Jenna Barney. Then we read Psalm 37:1-7, 23-24 (well 23-24 was mentioned later). We focused on the subject of trusting God. While for most people I would assume it is tought to trust God at times, I feel like it might be hard because we are afraid to relinquish our control. I think trusting in God requires us to "let Jesus take the wheel" and trust that He has our best interest in what he brings us through. I know that is what makes it hard for me to trust God at times. I think He is working on me in this area. While I could stop and complain about my situation with my foot, I have chosen to praise God despite my circumstances, and it is awesome! Last night at the Stirring was an awesome time of praising God and thanking Him for His goodness despite my situation (my foot hurt like none other).
I feel like this is the most positive I have been in a time of hurt, physical need, and pain in quite some time. People approach me to ask how I'm doing, and while I can't help but mention that I might have a stress fracture in my left foot, I don't let them leave my presence without mentioning that God is soo good. And isn't it true?!
GOD IS SOO GOOD!!!
I would be happy praising God for the rest of my life!!! (This was something that crossed my mind during worship at the Stirring last night... soo good!)
Lord,
Thank you for being good, for being faithful, for being just. Lord I thank you that I can put my trust in you knowing that you have what is best for me. Thank you for working on my attitude in my circumstances. Lord I praise your name despite the situation I'm in, because I know you have me there for a reason. Thank you soo much for your goodness! In the name of Jesus Christ I pray:
Your ever-praising servant,
James.
P.S.: Now that I have two metallic friends that will be following me around and helping me get from place to place, I feel like I should give them a name... any thoughts?
Yucky!
So I did some research online and found that stress fractures are little chips/cracks in the bones of either your metatarsals or in one of the bones in your leg. I also found out that they take 6-8 weeks to fully heal. I also found that it is not easily diagnosed in the first two weeks because it doesn't show up on X-ray. So I probably won't know exactly what's wrong with my foot for a couple of weeks.
Today. I went to the nurse, found out I no longer have health insurance, and got some crutches to walk with. Funny story, the first 2 times I used them it felt like hell because I was using them totally wrong. Now I know how to use them and it doesn't take so much energy.
Today I also went to a worship night. That was awesome. We sang joyous songs led by the ever-increasingly-talented Jenna Barney. Then we read Psalm 37:1-7, 23-24 (well 23-24 was mentioned later). We focused on the subject of trusting God. While for most people I would assume it is tought to trust God at times, I feel like it might be hard because we are afraid to relinquish our control. I think trusting in God requires us to "let Jesus take the wheel" and trust that He has our best interest in what he brings us through. I know that is what makes it hard for me to trust God at times. I think He is working on me in this area. While I could stop and complain about my situation with my foot, I have chosen to praise God despite my circumstances, and it is awesome! Last night at the Stirring was an awesome time of praising God and thanking Him for His goodness despite my situation (my foot hurt like none other).
I feel like this is the most positive I have been in a time of hurt, physical need, and pain in quite some time. People approach me to ask how I'm doing, and while I can't help but mention that I might have a stress fracture in my left foot, I don't let them leave my presence without mentioning that God is soo good. And isn't it true?!
GOD IS SOO GOOD!!!
I would be happy praising God for the rest of my life!!! (This was something that crossed my mind during worship at the Stirring last night... soo good!)
Lord,
Thank you for being good, for being faithful, for being just. Lord I thank you that I can put my trust in you knowing that you have what is best for me. Thank you for working on my attitude in my circumstances. Lord I praise your name despite the situation I'm in, because I know you have me there for a reason. Thank you soo much for your goodness! In the name of Jesus Christ I pray:
Your ever-praising servant,
James.
P.S.: Now that I have two metallic friends that will be following me around and helping me get from place to place, I feel like I should give them a name... any thoughts?
Honor: A Great Virtue
Tonight I was at Church, almost wishing I had watched the Superbowl, and God blew me away.
I wish I could realize how good God is to me more often. He has bought me through thick and thin, through loss and through gain, through darkness and into light, and has been by my side even when nothing was happening.
The past few weeks I have been hearing lots about Honor as a lost virtue. It seemed like a good subject to talk about, and I agreed with everything the preachers said... and then tonight happened. I was lost in wonder and awe at how good God is to me, and how he wants to heal people through honor.
Nate was talking tonight about David and Saul and how Saul was hunting after David to kill him because he was afraid of him and jealous of him. There were several opportunities for David to kill Saul and have his problem ended, yet in honor he humbled himself and asked "Who am I to lay a hand on that which my God has anointed?" even when there were prophecies that said that God was going to give David's enemy over to him so that he could do as he pleased to him. In the end, Saul died and their relationship was never healed, but honor is something that is so pleasing to God.
Just lastnight I blew up on my room mate and did something that was not so honorable as I stormed out of the room so that I could cool off.
Listening to this message convicted me soo much... I could not honor my roommate in something that was so meaningless when David was able to honor someone who was trying to kill him. Someone was out for David's head and he STILL honored him!!!!! I was definately not seeking God in this situation and was not honoring myself or my roommate.
The good thing is, I am still His Beloved in whom he is well pleased.
I was so upset with myself that I didn't want to come back to my room lastnight, yet I did because I didn't want to sleep in another dorm on some uncomfortable couch. I wrote some things down that were quite filled with emotion and made me look like an angel; but now I realize that what I was writing was not very loving.
I love how God speaks to us. At the end of the sermon, Nate asked those who knew they were called to leadership to come forward so that they could pray for us. I feel like this was also God working on my pride, because I am usually not the one to go forward for prayer, yet tonight I did. Two awesome men of God prayed for me and it was very encouraging.
One man that I respect soo much prayed for me. He layed his hands on my head and shoulder and prayed into my ear with his deep booming voice. He assured me that I was a man of God, His Beloved, that God was well pleased with me, and that God was working on my character, a character that is worth working for. Oh how I thank God for Ed Klose.
God overwhelmed me soo much with His love and His goodness tonight.
Lord,
I thank you for nights like these where you stir me up. I thank you that you are soo good to me. You overwhelm me with your love and goodness. Lord help me to live for an audience of one. Lord from here on out I want to orient my life around You first and foremost, because nothing matters without You.
Your Beloved servant,
James
I wish I could realize how good God is to me more often. He has bought me through thick and thin, through loss and through gain, through darkness and into light, and has been by my side even when nothing was happening.
The past few weeks I have been hearing lots about Honor as a lost virtue. It seemed like a good subject to talk about, and I agreed with everything the preachers said... and then tonight happened. I was lost in wonder and awe at how good God is to me, and how he wants to heal people through honor.
Nate was talking tonight about David and Saul and how Saul was hunting after David to kill him because he was afraid of him and jealous of him. There were several opportunities for David to kill Saul and have his problem ended, yet in honor he humbled himself and asked "Who am I to lay a hand on that which my God has anointed?" even when there were prophecies that said that God was going to give David's enemy over to him so that he could do as he pleased to him. In the end, Saul died and their relationship was never healed, but honor is something that is so pleasing to God.
Just lastnight I blew up on my room mate and did something that was not so honorable as I stormed out of the room so that I could cool off.
Listening to this message convicted me soo much... I could not honor my roommate in something that was so meaningless when David was able to honor someone who was trying to kill him. Someone was out for David's head and he STILL honored him!!!!! I was definately not seeking God in this situation and was not honoring myself or my roommate.
The good thing is, I am still His Beloved in whom he is well pleased.
I was so upset with myself that I didn't want to come back to my room lastnight, yet I did because I didn't want to sleep in another dorm on some uncomfortable couch. I wrote some things down that were quite filled with emotion and made me look like an angel; but now I realize that what I was writing was not very loving.
I love how God speaks to us. At the end of the sermon, Nate asked those who knew they were called to leadership to come forward so that they could pray for us. I feel like this was also God working on my pride, because I am usually not the one to go forward for prayer, yet tonight I did. Two awesome men of God prayed for me and it was very encouraging.
One man that I respect soo much prayed for me. He layed his hands on my head and shoulder and prayed into my ear with his deep booming voice. He assured me that I was a man of God, His Beloved, that God was well pleased with me, and that God was working on my character, a character that is worth working for. Oh how I thank God for Ed Klose.
God overwhelmed me soo much with His love and His goodness tonight.
Lord,
I thank you for nights like these where you stir me up. I thank you that you are soo good to me. You overwhelm me with your love and goodness. Lord help me to live for an audience of one. Lord from here on out I want to orient my life around You first and foremost, because nothing matters without You.
Your Beloved servant,
James
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Longing for "THE ONE"
I have to admit, I long to be with someone. Someone who loves God; who loves me in view of my insufficiencies; who will serve with me in youth ministry and wherever God calls us; who will love my family, no matter how crazy they might be.
As one of my former posts said, I'm reading the book called Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. This last chapter was called "Romance: Meeting Girls is Easy." And while that is true, meeting girls is easy, I have a hard time trying to connect with people of the opposite sex.
Something I am very passionate about and really want to happen in my future is to be a husband and a father. I can't wait to play catch with my son in the front yard, give my little girl her first dress, drop my child off at their first day of school, or go to my son's graduation. Those are things I can't wait for. In my family life and ministry class my professor started tearing up when talking about growing with his spouse and being able to see Jesus in her. I can't wait for that either. Yet, I don't even have a girlfriend. Is there something wrong with me? No.
I am in that period of life where a lot of what I think about is relationships. Who do I like? Why do I like her? What does she think of me? How can I spend some quality time with her? What are my motivations for being in a relationship? How do I make God the foundation of a relationship with a girl? How do I keep God at the center of that relationship? Am I honoring God through my relationships to females? Am I in the right place with God to start dating? Do I seek to be fulfilled by a woman more than I do God? Which one do I seek first? Soo many more questions run through my head.
So often I think about such things and they consume my worries, the worrying brings me pain.
Yesterday I was reading some verses in Romans 5. Verses 1-5 say, "Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Also through Him, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, be we alse rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope does not disappoint, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
It is so great that God gives us grace and peace through Jesus Christ and that we get to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. But then it gets confusing. Rejoice in our affliction? You see, God wants us to rejoice in Him when we face our afflictions because it makes us grow in Him. When we endure through our suffering, we grow in our character, and that character produces the hope that God has poured out in love on us through the Holy Spirit... which does not disappoint! How great is that?!
Lord,
In these times of wondering who you will bring me to, to be in love with for the rest of my life, I rejoice in you and your faithfulness. I rejoice in the hope that you have given me in Christ. Lord, I long to be with her, and I long to be with you, but help me to seek first your Kingdom and righteousness above all things. Lord thank you for your grace and your peace in this time of worry and wonder. Thank you sooooo much God!
In the name of Jesus Christ I pray,
Amen.
As one of my former posts said, I'm reading the book called Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. This last chapter was called "Romance: Meeting Girls is Easy." And while that is true, meeting girls is easy, I have a hard time trying to connect with people of the opposite sex.
Something I am very passionate about and really want to happen in my future is to be a husband and a father. I can't wait to play catch with my son in the front yard, give my little girl her first dress, drop my child off at their first day of school, or go to my son's graduation. Those are things I can't wait for. In my family life and ministry class my professor started tearing up when talking about growing with his spouse and being able to see Jesus in her. I can't wait for that either. Yet, I don't even have a girlfriend. Is there something wrong with me? No.
I am in that period of life where a lot of what I think about is relationships. Who do I like? Why do I like her? What does she think of me? How can I spend some quality time with her? What are my motivations for being in a relationship? How do I make God the foundation of a relationship with a girl? How do I keep God at the center of that relationship? Am I honoring God through my relationships to females? Am I in the right place with God to start dating? Do I seek to be fulfilled by a woman more than I do God? Which one do I seek first? Soo many more questions run through my head.
So often I think about such things and they consume my worries, the worrying brings me pain.
Yesterday I was reading some verses in Romans 5. Verses 1-5 say, "Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Also through Him, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, be we alse rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope does not disappoint, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
It is so great that God gives us grace and peace through Jesus Christ and that we get to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. But then it gets confusing. Rejoice in our affliction? You see, God wants us to rejoice in Him when we face our afflictions because it makes us grow in Him. When we endure through our suffering, we grow in our character, and that character produces the hope that God has poured out in love on us through the Holy Spirit... which does not disappoint! How great is that?!
Lord,
In these times of wondering who you will bring me to, to be in love with for the rest of my life, I rejoice in you and your faithfulness. I rejoice in the hope that you have given me in Christ. Lord, I long to be with her, and I long to be with you, but help me to seek first your Kingdom and righteousness above all things. Lord thank you for your grace and your peace in this time of worry and wonder. Thank you sooooo much God!
In the name of Jesus Christ I pray,
Amen.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The day of a new age!
So literally, I'm writing about this past weekend, and how I turned 21.
Friday I celibrated my birthday with about 25 super awesome people! Some could also not come, so that was dissapointing, but we had the best time. We first departed and went up to Mt. Shasta City, CA to go ice skating at the Siskiyou Ice Rink. We had a great time flying around in a giant circle, playing tag, having katie tam knock us over, skating together, figuring out how to skate backwards, racing, and just plain joyful glee!
One of the funniest parts was when we asked this lady to take a group picture of us. She turned around and noticed a big group, so she exclaimed, "WOW THIS IS A BIG GROUP!!! WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR?!?!" Someone informed them that, "It is James' Birthday!" She then joyfully said, "OH! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!" everyone errupted. Then she was telling us to scoot in tight so that "Dave can remember this for the rest of his life!" And before she took the picture she said, "Okay, everybody say, 'Happy Birthday DAVE!'" to which everyone errupted in laughter again and nobody could correct her. It was soo funny!
We then went to the local pizza parlor and had some delicious pizza. I got an awesome shirt from Katie Tam that says "I *heart* skinks" on the front and "RIP Azor" on the back (Azor was my pet skink, and Katie told me she was gonna make me the shirt when i told her i was going to make her a name plate, and when i did, she decided that was what she was going to make me for my birthday). Jenna prayed over me, which was awesome, and I never thanked her. Danae wrote me a very uplifting and encouraging letter, which I was also very thankful for. I also received cards from Dana, Matt and Aubrey. The gifts were great, but the presence of all of these people are what made the night what it was.
Some interesting events transpired over the next two days, and then monday came (my actual birthday).
My parents and younger brother had planned to come up to hang out with me and my friends. We ended up going to Casa Ramos for lunch and my parents ended up picking up the whole bill for everyone there, which was very generous of them, and much appreciated by all who were there. We had a great time and it seemed like my little brother had a great time hanging out with my friends and joking around with them. After lunch my younger brother and I went to play softball with some of the guys down at the middle school down the road, while my parents watched and cheered us on. We had a great time!
All in all, this past weekend and celebrating my birthday with all of those people was totally awesome. It is good to know that I am spending my time with Godly people who are a positive influence in my life while I grow and mature in my faith. I appreciate every one of them and I am so glad that each of them have been placed in my life.
Friday I celibrated my birthday with about 25 super awesome people! Some could also not come, so that was dissapointing, but we had the best time. We first departed and went up to Mt. Shasta City, CA to go ice skating at the Siskiyou Ice Rink. We had a great time flying around in a giant circle, playing tag, having katie tam knock us over, skating together, figuring out how to skate backwards, racing, and just plain joyful glee!
One of the funniest parts was when we asked this lady to take a group picture of us. She turned around and noticed a big group, so she exclaimed, "WOW THIS IS A BIG GROUP!!! WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR?!?!" Someone informed them that, "It is James' Birthday!" She then joyfully said, "OH! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!" everyone errupted. Then she was telling us to scoot in tight so that "Dave can remember this for the rest of his life!" And before she took the picture she said, "Okay, everybody say, 'Happy Birthday DAVE!'" to which everyone errupted in laughter again and nobody could correct her. It was soo funny!
We then went to the local pizza parlor and had some delicious pizza. I got an awesome shirt from Katie Tam that says "I *heart* skinks" on the front and "RIP Azor" on the back (Azor was my pet skink, and Katie told me she was gonna make me the shirt when i told her i was going to make her a name plate, and when i did, she decided that was what she was going to make me for my birthday). Jenna prayed over me, which was awesome, and I never thanked her. Danae wrote me a very uplifting and encouraging letter, which I was also very thankful for. I also received cards from Dana, Matt and Aubrey. The gifts were great, but the presence of all of these people are what made the night what it was.
Some interesting events transpired over the next two days, and then monday came (my actual birthday).
My parents and younger brother had planned to come up to hang out with me and my friends. We ended up going to Casa Ramos for lunch and my parents ended up picking up the whole bill for everyone there, which was very generous of them, and much appreciated by all who were there. We had a great time and it seemed like my little brother had a great time hanging out with my friends and joking around with them. After lunch my younger brother and I went to play softball with some of the guys down at the middle school down the road, while my parents watched and cheered us on. We had a great time!
All in all, this past weekend and celebrating my birthday with all of those people was totally awesome. It is good to know that I am spending my time with Godly people who are a positive influence in my life while I grow and mature in my faith. I appreciate every one of them and I am so glad that each of them have been placed in my life.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Tough to Swallow
So I read this chapter in a little book called Blue Like Jazz. It talked about how a group of students put aside their pride so that they could reach people during the year's biggest party at their college... through a confession booth.
An unconventional confession booth.
This confession booth was not for the drunk and high students to come and confess the sins they had committed that night. No... it was for this group of 5 or so students to confess that they, as well as many other Christians around the world, had misrepresented Jesus in a horrible way, and for them to apologize for that. It was honesty. Truthfulness. Humbleness. Putting pride aside and serving those in need.
The students attending the party were inspired by their honesty and truthfulness; their humility and humbleness. Not by their pride, their boastfulness, or their hypocritical condemning of the very people they were trying to reach.
In a life where people that are soo proud, that is tough to swallow. It is tough to swallow that people will be most receptive to what I have to say when I put them before myself and with honesty and truthfulness, serve them. Without reservation. Without hesitation.
It is tough to swallow the fact that our savior came in the form of a baby. A baby. And as he grew, he was honest, truthful, but most of all, he was humble. He put the sinners before himself. He loved them unconditionally.
Why is it so hard for us to step out in humbleness and humility so that we can serve others? Why do we care so much about how people will view us? Why on earth would people be more receptive to someone who puts them before himself rather than someone who holds themselves above you?
Does our pride get in the way of us letting Jesus step in? Why? He's better than we ar anyways.
Lord,
Help me to become humble. Humble to the point where I can put all of my pride, and step out in faith, risk myself, the person that people know, so that I can minister to the weak, the poor, the sinners, the masses. Lord take away my pride so that you can be glorified, so that you can shine through me.
In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.
Your "becoming more humble" servant, James.
An unconventional confession booth.
This confession booth was not for the drunk and high students to come and confess the sins they had committed that night. No... it was for this group of 5 or so students to confess that they, as well as many other Christians around the world, had misrepresented Jesus in a horrible way, and for them to apologize for that. It was honesty. Truthfulness. Humbleness. Putting pride aside and serving those in need.
The students attending the party were inspired by their honesty and truthfulness; their humility and humbleness. Not by their pride, their boastfulness, or their hypocritical condemning of the very people they were trying to reach.
In a life where people that are soo proud, that is tough to swallow. It is tough to swallow that people will be most receptive to what I have to say when I put them before myself and with honesty and truthfulness, serve them. Without reservation. Without hesitation.
It is tough to swallow the fact that our savior came in the form of a baby. A baby. And as he grew, he was honest, truthful, but most of all, he was humble. He put the sinners before himself. He loved them unconditionally.
Why is it so hard for us to step out in humbleness and humility so that we can serve others? Why do we care so much about how people will view us? Why on earth would people be more receptive to someone who puts them before himself rather than someone who holds themselves above you?
Does our pride get in the way of us letting Jesus step in? Why? He's better than we ar anyways.
Lord,
Help me to become humble. Humble to the point where I can put all of my pride, and step out in faith, risk myself, the person that people know, so that I can minister to the weak, the poor, the sinners, the masses. Lord take away my pride so that you can be glorified, so that you can shine through me.
In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.
Your "becoming more humble" servant, James.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Back in Action
Today is the first day of classes for the 09 Spring Semester at Simpson University, and I have to say, I am so excited for this semester. Yesterday I embarked on a journey that would bring me from the Bay Area back up to Redding. First I hitched a ride with Bryan and his mother up to Sacramento, where we unloaded our bags at Katie's apartment and somehow miraculously packed all of our stuff into her small Pontiac Sunfire.
And then the second part of the journey began: Sacramento to Redding.
As soon as the trip began, it ended with the culminating point when we pulled into Simpson blaring "Yeah" by Usher... a classic. You know it is true when people say, "Time flies when you are having fun!
It was so good to see amazing people before we were even out of the car. When we pulled in to the parkinglot, Taylor and Melissa were right infront of us, and welcomed us with hugs! I love hugs!
After the arrival I unpacked for a while, went to dinner, and came back and unpacked till about 8. I made my way over to the Student Lounge to go to a Transfer Student/Student Leader worship hour to kick the year off with our focus on God and Christ. Funny thing was, it was ment for the incoming transfer students, and only three showed up out of like thirty. Most of the people there were returning students, and some of them weren't even student leaders, which was awesome!
I kept telling myself that I was only going to meet some new people, and maybe my future girlfriend/wife, but I think deep down, it was to be in community with people, while being in communion with God. I guess I have that longing to be with people and with God, and it is so awesome to do both at the same time. During this time, we had a chance to pray for others, and I was immediately reminded of how I was hit in the face by God with the passage in Romans that I blogged about a couple of blogs ago. So I asked for prayer for that and that I could become more diligent and intentional in my faith this upcoming semester.
And thus, with only three transfer students there, I did not meet my future girlfriend/wife, but I did get to hang out with and talk to some rad people I hadn't seen in a while: Travis Osbourne, Matt Deacon, Libbie and Jamie Macintosh, John Ewing, Jenna Barney, and some more who I can't remember their names right now. Had some good laughs when Jamie messed up a pick-up-line that has to do with pirates and parrots. And then I pulled it on Libbie... and she had a tummy laugh... which gave her a workout.
Then some other stuff happened where I ended up going to In-and-Out with Nolan and Daniel, and then I went to sleep.
When I woke up, I started going about my morning routine and taking a shower, but before I could even get dressed and go to turn my computer on, I was reminded of what my heart was aching for lastnight... to be more diligent and intentional about my faith (i.e. my thoughts, study of the Bible, prayer life, etc.). So before I did anything else, I got out my Bible and read and prayed. It was awesome, and my hope is that I can begin to do that more and more.
Lord,
Thank you for such a wonderful arrival and day back on campus. Thankyou that I got the time to just slow down before school started and start off with my focus on you and your word. I thank you that you continue to be faithful and righteous in my unfaithfulness and unrighteousness, but it is no excuse for me to continue in my ways. I pray that you would bless this semester for me, and for Simpson and that we would continue to hunger and thirst for you in our daily lives, and not just in hard times. Lord I love you and thank you for reminding me of what I hope for in you, and each day I get to hope for that even more.
In the name of Jesus Christ I pray these things,
Your servant James
And then the second part of the journey began: Sacramento to Redding.
As soon as the trip began, it ended with the culminating point when we pulled into Simpson blaring "Yeah" by Usher... a classic. You know it is true when people say, "Time flies when you are having fun!
It was so good to see amazing people before we were even out of the car. When we pulled in to the parkinglot, Taylor and Melissa were right infront of us, and welcomed us with hugs! I love hugs!
After the arrival I unpacked for a while, went to dinner, and came back and unpacked till about 8. I made my way over to the Student Lounge to go to a Transfer Student/Student Leader worship hour to kick the year off with our focus on God and Christ. Funny thing was, it was ment for the incoming transfer students, and only three showed up out of like thirty. Most of the people there were returning students, and some of them weren't even student leaders, which was awesome!
I kept telling myself that I was only going to meet some new people, and maybe my future girlfriend/wife, but I think deep down, it was to be in community with people, while being in communion with God. I guess I have that longing to be with people and with God, and it is so awesome to do both at the same time. During this time, we had a chance to pray for others, and I was immediately reminded of how I was hit in the face by God with the passage in Romans that I blogged about a couple of blogs ago. So I asked for prayer for that and that I could become more diligent and intentional in my faith this upcoming semester.
And thus, with only three transfer students there, I did not meet my future girlfriend/wife, but I did get to hang out with and talk to some rad people I hadn't seen in a while: Travis Osbourne, Matt Deacon, Libbie and Jamie Macintosh, John Ewing, Jenna Barney, and some more who I can't remember their names right now. Had some good laughs when Jamie messed up a pick-up-line that has to do with pirates and parrots. And then I pulled it on Libbie... and she had a tummy laugh... which gave her a workout.
Then some other stuff happened where I ended up going to In-and-Out with Nolan and Daniel, and then I went to sleep.
When I woke up, I started going about my morning routine and taking a shower, but before I could even get dressed and go to turn my computer on, I was reminded of what my heart was aching for lastnight... to be more diligent and intentional about my faith (i.e. my thoughts, study of the Bible, prayer life, etc.). So before I did anything else, I got out my Bible and read and prayed. It was awesome, and my hope is that I can begin to do that more and more.
Lord,
Thank you for such a wonderful arrival and day back on campus. Thankyou that I got the time to just slow down before school started and start off with my focus on you and your word. I thank you that you continue to be faithful and righteous in my unfaithfulness and unrighteousness, but it is no excuse for me to continue in my ways. I pray that you would bless this semester for me, and for Simpson and that we would continue to hunger and thirst for you in our daily lives, and not just in hard times. Lord I love you and thank you for reminding me of what I hope for in you, and each day I get to hope for that even more.
In the name of Jesus Christ I pray these things,
Your servant James
Sunday, January 4, 2009
My iPod isn't totally dead!
Some good news.
My iPod still works... but the backlight is broken. I washed it in the washing machine with some clothes. Silly me.
Yesterday night was tough for me. I went to worship team practice with a happy heart, I was going to use Matt's amp and effects pedals because I sent my amp up to Redding with Jenna and Ian, along with the power supply for my PodXTLive (on accident). I left feeling stressed and frustrated and like I didn't want to lead worship in the morning.
I'm kinda one of those people who likes to do his own thing on electric guitar, unless of course there is a general theme or certain riff that makes the song that particular song, and if there is, I do my best to learn it and replicate it and add to the sound of the worship being offered. I guess I like being free to do whatever. But during practice, I didn't feel like I was going to be able to worship with that freedom do what I wanted. The leader kept asking me, "Can you do this?" and "Can you do that?" I assured him a few times that I could and replicated what he wanted, but to me it just didn't fit... maybe I should have said something, but I didn't.
And then came today. And the amp quit working during a couple songs in the first service, in the songs that I was frustrated with. So I got to forget all of my frustrations and just continue to worship with my voice. During the second service I used Brandon's amp, which worked through the whole service, and all those frustrations that I didn't have to deal with in the first service, were lifted and I was able to worship with my guitar during those songs.
God has a way of coming through in all situations, in all our frustrations, and in all our worries.
And sometimes when we least expect it.
My iPod still works... but the backlight is broken. I washed it in the washing machine with some clothes. Silly me.
Yesterday night was tough for me. I went to worship team practice with a happy heart, I was going to use Matt's amp and effects pedals because I sent my amp up to Redding with Jenna and Ian, along with the power supply for my PodXTLive (on accident). I left feeling stressed and frustrated and like I didn't want to lead worship in the morning.
I'm kinda one of those people who likes to do his own thing on electric guitar, unless of course there is a general theme or certain riff that makes the song that particular song, and if there is, I do my best to learn it and replicate it and add to the sound of the worship being offered. I guess I like being free to do whatever. But during practice, I didn't feel like I was going to be able to worship with that freedom do what I wanted. The leader kept asking me, "Can you do this?" and "Can you do that?" I assured him a few times that I could and replicated what he wanted, but to me it just didn't fit... maybe I should have said something, but I didn't.
And then came today. And the amp quit working during a couple songs in the first service, in the songs that I was frustrated with. So I got to forget all of my frustrations and just continue to worship with my voice. During the second service I used Brandon's amp, which worked through the whole service, and all those frustrations that I didn't have to deal with in the first service, were lifted and I was able to worship with my guitar during those songs.
God has a way of coming through in all situations, in all our frustrations, and in all our worries.
And sometimes when we least expect it.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
..wildhorse canyon..
Some of you may be wondering why my blog name is ..wildhorse canyon.. and so I guess I have to tell you since I brought it up. So I obviously just recently made my blog... and I have to tell you, I made it out of peer pressure, but I think I will actually write in it a lot. Anyways, everyone in the room was either making a blog, writing a blog, or already had a blog on here... these people are awesome people: Jenna Barney, Ian Brooks, John Ewing, Matthew Lopez, and Bryan Henderson. So, when trying to figure out what to call it, I couldn't think of anything that was deep, because I can't be deep all the time whenever I want to.
So as I was sitting on Jenna's couch and looking around the room, I saw good ol' Jenna Barney sitting in front of me with a t-shirt on, as well as other clothes, but the t-shirt stuck out to me... and the back of it said "Wildhorse Canyon"
"thank you Jenna Barney you are awesome! the name of my blog is going to be 'Wildhorse Canyon' like it says on the back of your shirt!"
In other news, yesterday was awesome. Hanging out with awesome people in a town I've only ever passed through. Leading worship and getting interrupted 40 minutes in so people could eat pizza, only to finish the last 20 minutes after a break so people could eat... at a 24 hour worship night. Out of all the time slots to get pizza and start eating, they did it in the middle of our set... haha. Creating blogs, writing blogs... Janelle and Joanna going the Blockbuster to rent the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and not getting there in time because Jo parks really slow, watching Prince Caspian, and reading Narnia quotes, all with lovely people. God showed me what a blessing it is to be alive and to have these people in my lives.
also, NFL wildcard games start today. YEAH FOR FOOTBALL!
So as I was sitting on Jenna's couch and looking around the room, I saw good ol' Jenna Barney sitting in front of me with a t-shirt on, as well as other clothes, but the t-shirt stuck out to me... and the back of it said "Wildhorse Canyon"
"thank you Jenna Barney you are awesome! the name of my blog is going to be 'Wildhorse Canyon' like it says on the back of your shirt!"
In other news, yesterday was awesome. Hanging out with awesome people in a town I've only ever passed through. Leading worship and getting interrupted 40 minutes in so people could eat pizza, only to finish the last 20 minutes after a break so people could eat... at a 24 hour worship night. Out of all the time slots to get pizza and start eating, they did it in the middle of our set... haha. Creating blogs, writing blogs... Janelle and Joanna going the Blockbuster to rent the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and not getting there in time because Jo parks really slow, watching Prince Caspian, and reading Narnia quotes, all with lovely people. God showed me what a blessing it is to be alive and to have these people in my lives.
also, NFL wildcard games start today. YEAH FOR FOOTBALL!
Romans 1:18-21 [NASB]
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened."
I think it is so cool that it says that what is known about God is evident within us as humans, because God has made these things known. Even from the beginning of creation, He has made himself known. In fact, he has made himself soo well known that he did it through what has been made, so that there would be no excuse to not knowing God and following His ways. Yet even though they knew God... brace yourselves... they did not honor him as God or give thanks.
(silence)
(more silence)
It's so amazing that though we know God, through His creation and revelation in Jesus Christ, yet we do not always acknowledge that HE is GOD. It's so funny that we claim to know God, yet our actions say otherwise because we don't acknowledge His presence and His work in our lives. I'm reminded of the story of Martha and Mary. They were housing Jesus for a night while Jesus was traveling. Martha being so caught up in herself, was desperate for Jesus, yet she was so consumed with preparing for him and making everything perfect. Mary on the other hand, dropped what she was doing, and sat at the feet of Jesus in awe of Him. In awe...
It's like we are begging God to be in our lives, and we know he is there, but we want more. And we beg, and beg, and beg for God... but while we are begging, we are doing other things that say something else. We know God is there, but when He's right here in front of us, we don't acknowledge Him and thank Him for being GOD and for the work He does in our lives. Folks, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not perfect in this department. I do it to! But what would it be like if we could recognize the fact that God is in our lives, and it stops us in our tracks...
and we take time to sit in awe of God...
and thank Him for what He does...
and for who He is...
So that in our foolishness, we would be come wise and grow in our faith.
Lord,
I thank you for making this apparent to me. Lord I know that I go about my days in such routines that I forget that you are my God... my Master... my Friend. Lord I thank you for being those things to me... for bringing change in my life... for sending your son as a sacrifice for all that I have done against you. Lord forgive me for not recognizing you and giving you thanks. Lord I pray that I would be stopped in my tracks this upcomming year by your power, your beauty, your mystery, your love... and that I would sit in awe of the fact that I'm lucky to be alive and privelidged to work with you. Thank you Lord!
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Your servant... James.
I think it is so cool that it says that what is known about God is evident within us as humans, because God has made these things known. Even from the beginning of creation, He has made himself known. In fact, he has made himself soo well known that he did it through what has been made, so that there would be no excuse to not knowing God and following His ways. Yet even though they knew God... brace yourselves... they did not honor him as God or give thanks.
(silence)
(more silence)
It's so amazing that though we know God, through His creation and revelation in Jesus Christ, yet we do not always acknowledge that HE is GOD. It's so funny that we claim to know God, yet our actions say otherwise because we don't acknowledge His presence and His work in our lives. I'm reminded of the story of Martha and Mary. They were housing Jesus for a night while Jesus was traveling. Martha being so caught up in herself, was desperate for Jesus, yet she was so consumed with preparing for him and making everything perfect. Mary on the other hand, dropped what she was doing, and sat at the feet of Jesus in awe of Him. In awe...
It's like we are begging God to be in our lives, and we know he is there, but we want more. And we beg, and beg, and beg for God... but while we are begging, we are doing other things that say something else. We know God is there, but when He's right here in front of us, we don't acknowledge Him and thank Him for being GOD and for the work He does in our lives. Folks, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not perfect in this department. I do it to! But what would it be like if we could recognize the fact that God is in our lives, and it stops us in our tracks...
and we take time to sit in awe of God...
and thank Him for what He does...
and for who He is...
So that in our foolishness, we would be come wise and grow in our faith.
Lord,
I thank you for making this apparent to me. Lord I know that I go about my days in such routines that I forget that you are my God... my Master... my Friend. Lord I thank you for being those things to me... for bringing change in my life... for sending your son as a sacrifice for all that I have done against you. Lord forgive me for not recognizing you and giving you thanks. Lord I pray that I would be stopped in my tracks this upcomming year by your power, your beauty, your mystery, your love... and that I would sit in awe of the fact that I'm lucky to be alive and privelidged to work with you. Thank you Lord!
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Your servant... James.
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