Purposeful Perspective

I've heard several times that 'Generation Nexters' (born in the 1980's) will change jobs every few years. Due to age of nexters, we don't really know how their mid to late career will look - only time will tell.

I've overwhelmingly heard from young people that they have no idea what they want to do as a career. This is an issue when deciding what to study in college as well as what to do post-graduation. I think the indecisive nature of today's youth directly relates with their (our) fickle career path.

How can we address this dichotomy nature of our up and coming leaders?

First off, the below is only my humble opinion. I've been out of college for 6 years and am on my 4th job. However, I do feel like I've gained a little insight on how to address this.

It all comes down to purpose. I believe our existential purpose it to glorify God. But what about our day to day career purpose? I think it can be narrowed down by focusing on two things. Talent and passion.

When deciding whether to be a doctor, banker, chef, or bum working a youth camp; it might help to look at your talents and passions.

Talents - What are you good at? What comes easy to you? Are you best at working with your hands or building relationships with people? You might have an incredibly sharp mind and can remember the color shirt you wore on the first day of 8th grade. I believe God gives us talents to equip us for our destiny, and these talents set us up better for certain vocations.

Passions - What do you love? Does sitting still for 8 hours drive you totally nuts? Might want to steer clear of banking. If you love problem solving and creating efficiencies, you might thrive working for a logistics company or a small start-up. Again, we are passionate about our passions for a reason. I don't think it's happenstance.

This doesn't mean you should be a couch potato if you really enjoy Xbox and are extremely talented at sitting on your bum. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 says, "For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat."

I'm a firm believer if you trust in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). It's at the convergence of your passions and your talents that you will find the desire of your heart.

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 

I could be totally wrong. But who can argue with doing something you love and you're pretty dang good at? Recklessly chasing a lifestyle or status is for the birds.

Distraction

Life is full of distractions. Even when you work for a youth ministry. I find myself pouring over thoughts of what I'll do after I finish this program, where I will be in 10 years, what people think of me, what my future family will look like - The list goes on.

Then there's moments like tonight when everything is still. It's like God is whispering 'slow down and look what I have for you'. A lot of perspective is gained and I realize all of the above thoughts pale in comparison to what's really important. I've been redeemed. I'm His beloved.

David Crowder has a song titled 'Come and Listen'. I listened to that song tonight three times in repeat. The song is very simple and has only a few verses. Over and over he sings, "Come and Listen - Come and Listen to what he has done". It's a great song to listen to and reflect. Thoughts and noises become white static. It's simple.

The last verse repeats over and over. "Praise our God, for He is good."

Moses said of Benjamin before Moses died:


Deuteronomy 33:12 “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders.”


We are his beloved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n2B6T6uFIQ

Prodigal Son

Our intern coordinator asked each of us to lead a bible study. The subject was to be a character in the bible, and we were asked to create an outline for everyone to follow. Below is my outline

Father of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)

- In verse 12, the younger son asks his father for his share of the estate. Basically telling the father he wished him dead. How does the father respond? How do you react/identify to this response?

 - Verse 14 tells us of the younger son working in a pigsty after he squandered his share of the family fortune. Verse 16 says the younger son is ‘longing to be fed with what the pigs ate’. Pigs were seen as unclean and filthy animals by Jewish custom. The people hearing Jesus tell this story would most likely hate the character of the younger son.

- The younger son decides to return home and beg his father for forgiveness. He has his explanation ready – probably rehearsed over and over on his journey home. Verse 20 says that while he was still a long way off the father sees the younger son and runs to embrace him. In Jewish custom it was viewed undignified for an older man to lift up his robes and run – especially to an estranged son who has squandered half of the family fortune. At this point the crowd Jesus is speaking to is grossly offended by the younger brother and father’s actions. The concept of the father’s reckless grace is often times seen as offensive even by our culture. How do you react when someone is shown this type of grace, when you may be playing the character of the older son? What about in a worldly setting? How does the father’s reaction relate to the Gospel?

 - The father decides to throw a blowout party as celebration of the younger son’s return. This party is offensive to the older son, as he feels slighted by the father’s behavior. The older son feels entitled to preferred treatment based off his loyalty to the father. What are your thoughts on the older son’s frustrations and the father’s response? Think about times when you have been younger son, and times when you have been the older son. Do you identify more with the younger or the older?

Upstream Battle

A good friend of mine asked me to write a post about the phenomenon we call 'upstream battle'. Defined: An upstream battle is when you feel like you're just another fish trying to swim along like the other fish.


First off, the upstream battle is a flat out lie. I think it's something planted in our hearts to make us feel bland or boring. This planting is premeditated and has a desired effect. We hear these whispers of 'what are you even doing here?' or 'you're no different than the next schmo who's trying to make it happen'. The one I hear a lot is 'no one cares about what you think or what you have to say, so get busy shutting up'.


A lot of times we respond to the above lies by taking matters into our own hands. We decide since we are getting blindsided by these thoughts and low self-esteem that it's time to prove the voices wrong and 'be somebody'. We put incredible pressure on ourselves to be a good Dad, a good son, or a good 'enter your identity here'. These thoughts put us in a pressure cooker where failure is not an option.


I think this is a scheme to distract us from where we really need to go. To our maker. He has some very different things to say about us and who we really are.


1 Peter 2:9 says:


⁹But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 


This verse has been floating around in my head for a while now, and it keeps popping up in bible studies, sermons, or casual conversation. What Peter is trying to show us here is how Jesus sees us. We are precious. A few verses later Peter refers to us as 'Beloved'. I can't think of a more endearing salutation than - Beloved.


Matthew 5:14 says we are the 'light of the world'. Think about that. Of all the things in the world, we are the brightest. We are the 'IT'. But it's not because of anything we've done, it's because we have a father who Loves. With a capital 'L'.


Next time the upstream battle phenomenon occurs just remember, you are the beloved. Jesus is so crazy in love with you that all he wants is for you to sit with him. He wants to marvel at the light you are.

Frontier

Each table in our dining room has 24 sweeteners; 8 sugars, 8 sweet n' low, and 8 splendas. Sugar faces the salt so that everything is uniform. Glasses are set right above the knives - center cut, not to the left or right. Tables in the dining hall are set with excellence.

I haven't experienced this, but heard that sometimes when the accumulated snow starts to get dirty we vacuum it. Not to remove it, but to make sure the lawns are completely white. Trash bags are placed in the cans and then tied tight. The knot is hidden so that the trash can looks more presentable.

Blankets are folded on beds so that you only see a clean fold. Ribbon side up with the fold facing the door - always.

We do these things to create a place where people meet Jesus. Sure it's great to have camp presentable for guests, but that's not why we do what we do with excellence. It all points back to the cross.

Maybe life would be a ton easier with less distractions. What would it look like if I treated my heart like we treat Frontier Ranch, and prepared a place so that I could meet Jesus? Time and time again in scripture we see Jesus seeking his 'mountainside' for prayer. More times than not this mountainside precedes or follows a miraculous event. I could learn a lot from this.


 Ecclesiastes 4:6 says: Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.

Unlikely Messenger

Throughout history, God has used the most unlikely messengers for the spreading of his message. Whether you look at Paul, Peter, or even John the Baptist - each one have quirks/blemishes to their story that make you wonder about their selection. I think this is just another example of God's incredible grace, and affirms the Gospel all the more.

How bout John Newton? Ever heard of him? He was a sailor who lived during the mid 1700's. He had a reputation of being a nasty, profane, and untrustworthy individual. A Wikipedia article about him says the following:

     While aboard the ship Greyhound, Newton gained notoriety for being one of the most profane men the captain     had ever met. In a culture where sailors commonly used oaths and swore, Newton was admonished several times for not only using the worst words the captain had ever heard, but creating new ones to exceed the limits of verbal debauchery.

He created cusswords? Takes the expression curses like a sailor to a whole new meaning.

This guy ended up leaving the British navy to go work on an African slave boat. Here he bounced around between boats and at one point was shipped off to a plantation to work as a slave. Shows you how much he was hated by his peers.

Somehow while working on the plantation he found his way back to another slave boat, and became one of the ranking officers on the boat. One night the sailors fell under a massive storm and the boat was nearly capsized. Newton tried everything he could to save the ship and was quoted with the following:

"If this will not do, then Lord have mercy upon us!"

Seems like the standard, desperate cliche 'God help us', right? Well it turns out they made it through the storm, and Newton was left to ponder these words during his eleven hour shift at the helm. His near death epiphany turned out to be a life changing moment for Newton. The effects of this night led him to conversion to Christianity, and to leave the slave trade business all together. God's grace is amazing.

Big deal right? Well our friend John Newton also had a knack for writing. Years after this terrifying night at sea he wrote a song.

His song became a staple to African American folk music. The same guy who exploited and captured innocent Africans wrote a song that promised their deliverance. Pretty ironic huh? It should also be mentioned that John went on to be an advocate for the abolition of slavery.

What does this guy have to do with the spreading of God's message?

Currently his song is performed over 10 million times a year. It has been recorded using the melodies of just about every music genre ever created. I would argue that it's the most popular tune ever played. And all this coming from a man who was considered vile, disgusting, and wretched by the most vile, disgusting and wretched group of people? Worst of the worst. Doesn't make sense... But does God's grace ever make sense?

Romans 3:23 says we are all sinful and are separated from God. It's only by God's grace and the blood of Christ that we are reunited with the Father. Below are the lyrics to John Newton's famous jingle.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we’d first begun.

Gospel Homecoming

Over the past few months we've had all sorts of different groups come to camp. From upper middle class women's groups to 300 men on four wheelers, we've seen it all. This weekend was Young Life snow camp. Holy freaking awesome.

Young Life seeks the unreachable - which is broad. Unreachable could be the high school quarterback who literally gets everything he wants. It could also be the future rocket scientist who can count his friends on half of one hand. Two kids who most likely have nothing in common but one thing - they probably haven't heard much about Jesus.

So Friday night 506 Young Life kids come to camp. We've spent the previous 8 hours shoveling snow and removing ice from sidewalks (nothing ends a fun weekend like impromptu iceskating down a flight of stairs). All this 'camp prep' is undone by 500 high schoolers in less than 10 minutes.

You've got 10 kids from one school at the top of a two story deck, hurling snowballs as if they are defending Fort Knox. Below them are 12 kids from a different school packing their snow missiles with rocks. These kids are out for blood.

50 feet to the right is a bonfire, with 4 couples sitting around looking like they might suffocate if separated from one another. Behind them walks three kids dressed in black, with chain wallets that hang to their patent leather Dr Martens.

There's one thing that's blaringly obvious about these kids. They all seem like they're fighting like hell to find something. Every single one seems out of place and uncomfortable. You may call this child development. If you do, you probably haven't witnessed the transformation that takes place from Friday to Sunday.

A Young Life weeeknd camp is packed with fun activities, and 4-5 group sessions we call 'club'. The first two sessions typically talk about who Jesus was, most often using a story out of the 4 Gospels. The third session is the Sin talk. This is when kids are told of their sin-condition, which separates us from God. Kids are then left with 6-8 hours of free time and activities to marinate on this terrible news they've been given. It's also interesting that most fights break out during these 6-8 hours. Saturday night is the cross talk. This is when the greatest love story is ever told. God incarnate coming down to earth to die for our sins. The ultimate sacrifice to reunite humankind with its creator.

Last night I had the priviledge of working the screamer swing 2 hours after kids heard the cross talk. The screamer is a 50 ft swing that flies over the Arkansas River valley. Its name is derived from the vocal phenomenon caused by the swing's intensity.

It was incredible to see the difference in these kids. Many seemed like totally changed people. Rather than searchers out of place, they seemed like they had found something. I guess more complete. Seeing such an incredible metamorphosis over a three day period is proof in the pudding. We are built with a gaping hole, only to be filled by a savior who loves us greatly.

In John 10:10 Jesus says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly"

A lot of these kids were given life this weekend. Sweet dang that awesome.