Stretch!

Recently, I have been stretched in some awesome ways… in fact, the stretching continues.  Some of it has to do with life lessons, some of it has to do with work, some of it has to do with ministry and some of it has to do with reading.

I have learned a lot from my friends recently.  Whether praying for people, or hanging out, wisdom has been dropped on me like crazy recently.  I have been learning about showing grace, praying for people for no reason whatsoever, other than wanting God to blow their mind, and realizing that through my screw ups God still has my best interests in mind and works them like a like a see-saw to leverage my future.

Work has been good, and a little stressful.  There was a little bit of a slow streak through July and August… then September hit.  Not only did the volume pick up, but because of some oversights in process, there were several costly backups.  This is coupled with being out of office for three days short suiting the other workers who were dependent upon my roll to help check, complete and process orders.  My ability to handle stress and to keep my mind focused on one project at a time has been stretched pretty well.  I am learning to use the technology that I have to my advantage.

Ministry has been AWESOME! And crazy.  We are growing pretty well, only being two weeks running, and I can’t wait to see where the next two weeks takes us.  Not to mention the next few months and years.  God has been very active on our behalf, opening doors (literally opening homes for us to meet in) and gathering volunteers to help us do what He has called us to.  I am being stretched in my follow through with a lot of responsibilities that have been handed to me.  I still have a lot of emails to send as I type this.

I just finished reading “The Shack” and I was stretched in the way that I not only view God, but also in how I view myself in relation to Him.  God has no expectations for me.  He is already aware of everything I will ever do, so I can’t surprise Him, let Him down or thwart Him.  It is good to know that I don’t have performance pressures when it comes to God.  The freshness of His love coming through such a well written novel is pretty exciting.  There are few people who write so clearly and with such wisdom.

The danger of distance

Yesterday night was one of the most powerful student ministry services I have ever been a part of. I am very convinced that there is going to be a lot of life change going on in a lot of people’s lives. There really are not words to describe moments like that when you know everything is going to change. I don’t ever want to miss being a part of momentd like that.

For all that amazingness, I almost missed it. It is not that I was running late like I have before. The problem was not that I was completely distracted by the student next to me. The problem was that I was in “ministry mode.”. It is that state when you stop thinking and living like God is doing the work, but I am. When there is distance between my heart and the ministry going on around me. I start doing ministry for others and don’t allow myself to be ministered to. I tell God I am busy, or worse, I am so busy I don’t tell or listen to God at all until it is over.

I have such a bad habit of analyzing or doing ministry without allowing the Word of God to penetrate my heart. That is such a prideful and callous attitude. I don’t have to pay attention to God because my time is better spent figuring out what a speaker could do better or what I should be doing next. After all, would I be a responsible staff member or volunteer if I were not paying attention to my job or students? God would just be interfering.

Wow. I was told as a kid to stay back for powerful stuff. Distance = Safety. In reality, distance = danger. When I allow myself to put a buffer between me and what God is doing around me I am in danger of getting what I want. I am in danger of being left alone and staying the same. What hypocricy! I tell students to allow God to change their hearts, yet I sit back and enjoy the show. I mistake my doing ministry as being effective instead of realizing that by God’s grace I get the chance to be involved as he changes me.

Really it deals with not wanting to confront the filth and atrocious sin in my heart. It is not convenient or socially flattering to be caught up in the spirit, bawling over conviction. Perry talked about being dangerous on Sunday in one of the coolest worldwide movements of God called “One Prayer”.

To bring it all together, I did finally let go of my pride and fear and God worked on me in spite of me. By his grace and mercy I am being changed little by little.

First post from my phone

This is pretty crazy, I’m not gonna lie. I just switched to AT&T and got a data package. The lady at the store cut me a great deal on the plan, so it works out to be cheaper that getting a regular phone plan! I guess that is something to get pretty pumped about.

Anyhow, I don’t know how this is gonna work out long term, but it seems promising so far.

I got to hang out with Davey yesterday a little bit. He is the new student ministry pastor for the Gville campus and I will be volunteering with him once things get rolling over there. I am pretty excited about the potential of the new campuses, but especially the one in Gville.

Man, my thumbs are huge. I think I may have to buy smaller ones in the future.

Rest of the week

So, here is the rest of the story.

Wednesday – Awesome.  I went to McCants Middle and had lunch with some students.  Afterward student ministry happened and I went to go pick up one of my 3 from Westside to bring him for his first student ministry experience at NewSpring.  I think he liked it pretty well, but I didn’t get a good chance to ask him about it because someone else took him home.  Had some amazing pasta with white sauce for dinner.

Thursday – I attended the critique meeting/game film review and didn’t get a good chance to input.  I don’t really think much gets past my team, so no big deal.  The meeting got cut short because we had an all-staffer right in the middle of things.  Perry spoke to us about change and leadership.  It was really awesome.  He started the meeting by telling us a little about how his world was changing and I was able to see some attitude (from my perception) and maturity shifts.  I was really proud of him.  At lunch I went to Wren Middle.  I was treated like a rockstar by the students.  I hadn’t been there yet this school year, so some of the students were excited to see me.  It is great encouragement if you are feeling down for whatever reason.  After work, I went to Athens to see Syd’s sister and some of her friends.  It was a lot of fun.  We ate at this awesome Mexican place called Aqua Linda.  Shelly’s dog Cricket had a muzzle on and it made life a lot more comfortable.

Friday – Came back from Athens and made it just in time to lead the first meeting of a Bible study for 7th grade guys in the book of John.  Only one guy showed up on time, so it was a quick meeting, but I think this week will be better.  The guy who showed up late didn’t believe that the meeting was over when he showed up.  It was pretty funny.  Afterward I got ready for a wedding of some of my friends.  It was a really amazing time.  The weather and lighting were awesome for an outdoor shin-dig.  Afterward there was some Sullivan’s with a fun crew and then went to a house to see a Jeff Dunham DVD.  That guy is really funny.  Ventriloquism is simultaneously hilarious and creepy.  I don’t think ventriloquism is endorsed by God, but that is OK.

Saturday – Lazy morning with sleeping in and not doing the laundry that is towering above my hamper.  Went to Greenville to a NewSpring volunteer and community buy-in event.  It was pretty awesome to see so many people show up and support what God is doing in the Upstate.  The next move was to go to MiMi’s for some dinner.  The food came in outstanding portions, but there was a little something too much in the Pasta Jambalaya.  Everything else offered was great.  The Chicken Pot Pie was really tasty.  Then got to hang out a little afterward.

Sunday – I haven’t been to service yet, but I know it is going to be good.  It is on the Song of Solomon, so it will be applicable someday, just not yet.  I plan on continuing to practice what it takes to be romantic and responsive now, so that when I get to marriage, it won’t be a struggle.  I want to be good at valuing my wife (Lord willing) before I get married so she never has to question how I feel or where we stand.

Life

I have recently realized that I have not kept up with the life side of this blog as well as I had hoped.  I guess I have kept up with some thoughts and scriptural studies, but not so much tracking what happens in my life.  So, here is a synopsis of recent events:

Sunday – Amazing services all day.  Had some awesome conversations with some volunteers.  It was also nice to have lunch with my brother and Sydney.  I ran over a caster for an office chair and ruined one of my tires.  Then, broke two lug wrench adapters while trying to change the deflating tire.  After searching and calling people who also own VW’s I gave up and got to spend the night with some guys from the church since I lived 20 miles from where my car ended.

Monday – I drove all over Greenville trying to find the adapter, which I assumed was VW, but was instead made by Gorilla.  That was fun, and cost less than I expected since it was not a genuine VW part.  I think the only part of my car that I dislike is the price of fixing it.  I got to play football with my guys again after school.  It was pretty awesome.  I then hung out with Walker to get some art supplies, then went to home group and hung out till late.  I love those guys.

Tuesday – I went to Westside for lunch and then finished getting stuff for Wednesday night.  I went to the Wren v. Westside soccer game and had to miss the Financial Freedom Class that I have been attending.  The game was cool and afforded me the opportunity to see several students and hang out with them.

All in all, a good week.  I will put more up later.

Camping cont’d

So, it was a little later than Friday.

Camping was awesome.  I took three guys to Brasstown Falls, like I had planned.  It was amazing.  I really pushed them to do stuff they had never done.  Like build a fire.  We went hiking at dusk, so we had to rely on flashlights as we traversed roots and rocks to get down to the lower falls.  It became pretty perilous for the guys who went swimming as their world was much slipperier after the dip.  We talked about what they wanted to do or change to be more like Jesus and some other personal matters.  It was pretty revealing.  It was much colder than expected that night and we accidentally left one of the windows in the tent open, so the air just streamed in on us.  I don’t think the bags were rated appropriately for the conditions.  Either way, we made it through the night and woke up to powdered donuts and blueberry muffins.  I had the guys restoke the fire and taught them how to do that effectively.  Then I had them read 2 Peter 1 and write down at least 5 things that stood out to them.  We talked about what God had showed us and how we needed to respond.  That is probably one of my favorite passages in the Bible.  After that, we hiked some more and free-climbed right next to a 40 foot waterfall.  It was pretty spectacular.  The guys who took a dip the night before decided to do it again, so the other fellow and I cleaned up the camp site and prepared to leave.  The ride home was crazy as we plugged in an iPod touch to the stereo and blasted the music, singing as loud as we could.  Journey’s “Don’t stop believeing” never sounded so good.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to invest in some guys who will one day be great leaders of their peers.  I need to make a bigger priority of doing that kind of thing.  And do it regularly.

Camping

I am about to go camping with three or four guys from the small group that I lead.  We are going to Brasstown Falls near Westminster, SC.  It should be pretty awesome.  We are definitely going to have a camp fire and roast some hot dogs.  There are four sets of falls involved, and several trails to explore.  I am going to challenge these guys with a double dose of Jesus both tonight and tomorrow morning.

I haven’t gone camping since October.  My family went camping in Virginia during a family reunion where we made apple butter and cider.  It was pretty awesome.

I suppose that I will post how things go after I get back tomorrow.