Debrief or Still Processing

It's been two weeks since leaving Frontier Ranch. Bittersweet, nostalgia, processing, preparing, and engaging are all themes of my post Frontier existence. Regardless of what's next, it has been an amazing year and one the Lord used to bless, humble, and break me. A few highlights:

One of the main lessons the Lord showed me this year is purpose. He also redirected how I've been searching in the arena of purpose. A lot of times I search for very specific answers in purpose. Where am I supposed to live? Where should I work? What am I supposed to do today? All of these great questions, but I found it's very easy to wear yourself out by pouring over these existential questions. It's also very easy to focus on yourself when trying to answer these questions. Sure we are asking these questions in a light of, 'Lord, where do you want me to work?' or 'Lord, where are you calling me to live?'; however, I think we can save ourselves a lot of stress, time, and energy if we simplify the question. New question: Why am I here?

Answer: To bring glory to the Father. 

It's pretty simple. I could go on and on with the little intricate lessons I've learned within the above, but I think we should be careful about making this more complex than it is. When Jesus came to earth, his mission was to die on the cross so that we can have a right relationship with the Father. So that we can be seen as blameless as faultless in the Father's eyes. That was Jesus's mission. But his Purpose was to glorify the Father. To say Father you are amazing and I love you with all I've got. 

Matthew 5:14 says a lot about what we are. We are the light of the world. We are the salt of the earth. It also gives us a charge of what to do with the light and salt. Share our light with others. Stay salty. But why are we these things? Verse 16 explains: So that they may see your good works and give Glory to the Father. 

Looking for an existential answer to why life on earth? Give Glory to the Father. 

This macro lesson began forming in my early days at Frontier Ranch. Starting with housekeeping (the act of pushing a vacuum around for 8 hours and resisting the tangible urge to throw it off a mountain, which there are plenty of), the Lord was breaking me of an identity I created for myself. He was pushing me toward the reality that my identity is in Him. I'm here for Him and to bring Glory to His name. If you ask me, that's a relief. Not only can I relax in the hundred questions of why, what, where, and who am I supposed to be, I can relax in the midst. Midst of what? Midst of everything. I'm just a tour guide pointing people to all the amazing ways of Him. 

What's really cool is that I'm not alone in this charge to Glorify Him. Psalm 19 says the trees and nature are my colleagues. 

Psalm 19:1-5

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech,and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, 
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

Another great lesson the Lord showed me this year was intentionality. Save that for another day. 

Information overload, depth underload

These days we have such an incredible volume of information right at our fingertips, only a touchscreen away. Earlier tonight some friends at camp found a chipmunk. Within 20 minutes I knew everything there is to know about chipmunks. They need a 6x6 ft cage, eat fruits and nuts, teethe at 4 weeks, and it's illegal to keep them as pets. This just scratches the surface about my new chipmunk knowledge.

Today we know more song lyrics than ever. We can quote movies from start to finish (Will Ferrell especially). Our brains are full of A LOT of information. But is it useful information? Do we use our incredibly powerful brains for their best purpose? Sometimes I think that all this information is very distracting. So distracting that we forget to think about what's important, and what we should spend our time focusing on. Add that to a generation that claims to be lost without direction on 'what to do with their lives'.

I think it's self-fulfilling prophecy.

What if you took a step back to ask yourself what's the most important thing? Then take even more time to unpack the thoughts that follow the question. I think this question will evoke many different answers depending on who you are. Some answers might be very detailed, others more broad. Either way, think about where that most important thing will take you.

I worry about this question a lot. I worry that since we only have one chance on this rock, that I'll get to the end of my life and realize I had it all wrong. Maybe I worked too hard and didn't spend enough time enjoying life. Or I did the opposite and lived reckless and irresponsibly.

Lately I've learned something regarding this quandary. My number one priority in life is to glorify and serve God. Whether that's in singing praises or working at an office, the goal doesn't change.

In Luke ch 10, a lawyer asks Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks him what the book of the law says. The man's response which Jesus confirms, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself."

I think a lot of us will agree that this is a good passage. I think it needs to be more than a good passage. I hope this thought runs through my brain all day long. Regardless of what I'm doing I want to focus on loving the Lord with all my heart. Because He saved me and cleared my debt of which I couldn't come close to paying.

Loving God isn't going to save my soul and by no means am I good at it. But I think if we are truly affected by the Cross, it will greatly impact our lives. I want to be impacted. Your one thing might be different, but you at least owe it to yourself to stop for a moment and define what it is.

You're right where you need to be

Most of camp staff had the whole week before Easter off for vacation. So basically I re-entered the realm of Spring Break as a 28 year old post-grad. That's right, be jealous.

Last November, myself and 3 friends from Frontier Ranch started planning a road trip of epic proportions. Aleks, Cory, Snow, and I planned to take the west by storm. We quickly penciled in stops to Grand Junction, Zion National Park, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Honestly that's all we really planned - the rest would be by ear (whatever that's supposed to mean). This gave us 5 long months of anticipation and growing stokedness - the state of being stoked.

Grand Junction was the launch pad. We stayed with Aleks and Snow's old Young Life boss from Kansas. They were incredibly generous to allow 4 guys to surf their couch for a night. Good thing we caught them on the first night. Riding in the car for 9 days with minimal showers does not set us up for success as desirable house guests.

Stop two took us to Zion National Park. One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. My good friend Matt O'Steen drove over from Vegas to partake in the adventure. We camped for a night, ate steak with our bare hands, and talked about why we were manlier than Bear Grills. It was really windy, so I spent 7 restless hours in the tent convincing myself that each noise wasn't a grizzly coming to introduce me to my maker. Bear Grills does that too, right? Below is a picture of our hike to Angel's Landing. Incredible.

Stop three took us over to O'Steen's condo in Vegas. I'm pretty certain our Vegas experience looked absolutely nothing like any other in the history of Las Vegas. Not one dollar was gambled, we ate in every night, and woke up feeling like champions. It was almost as if we went to a Vegas exhibit and watched all the animals act like idiots. By far the most relaxing three days of the trip. My most stressful decision was whether to read the USA Today or Wall Street journal by the pool. Decision below...

Last and final leg was Los Angeles, specifically Malibu. Malibu has been one of my favorite places to visit over the last few years. My good friends Lockwood and Aubree Holmes are there, and so is perfect surf. Great combination. There's also a church there called Malibu Gathering. It's an incredible example of church the way Christ envisioned, with very healthy community. You will not go to Malibu Gathering and not hear the Gospel. Awesomeness. Over my past several visits I've made good friends with folks from the church, so it was great seeing them too. Picture of my view during Good Friday service...

Finally, I got to spend some time with my cousin James in West Hollywood. We went on an epic hike that overlooked the entire LA coast. It's always great to see him and we always have great conversation and many laughs. I always treasure my time with James.

So the purpose of this post is not to flaunt the most epic road trip/vacation known to man. I've learned two things from this trip.

1. Vacations. are. critical. Especially when you've been working a lot and start to feel burnt out. This vacation was so life giving and I feel so blessed that I got to experience these things.

2. You are exactly where you need to be. It's easy to start thinking the grass is greener when going to see incredible places. The truth is, wherever you are right now is an awesome place where great people live. Chances are, people from Indiana vacation in the city you live (just kidding Cory, Indiana has really green grass). We can't lose sight of that! I'm not saying that you should never move to a different city. What I am saying is that we should take a close survey when thinking about jumping ship, and look at the real reason why we want to move. 

Just a thought... Or a bunch of thoughts rambled together... And on a serious note - visit Indiana if you ever have the chance. Culver is a beaut. Cheers

Check your expectations at the door

If your anything like me, you find yourself affected by other peoples' actions. There are times when others don't 'behave' in the manner you expect. It's as if there are rules of the road that you want society to follow. This makes total sense to have this inner code of morals that we hold people to, but I think we are in for a great letdown if we expect this code to be followed perfectly.

The origin of the 'moral code': I believe we are all made in the image of God and desire perfection. This is engrained in all cultures - from tribal Africa to the metropolis. We often complain about people not acting the 'right' way. We can even look at how children are taught to know 'right from wrong' in early childhood.

Well who created this dance of rights and wrongs? Why is it so consistent across all cultures? If it were survival of the fittest, shouldn't we all be after our best interests?

We should expect everyone to be wholly selfish. But we don't. We desire more from people. As mom and dad say, "I expected more out of you".

Why do I always fall short? Or why do others always fall short, and why are we constantly aware when others don't play by the rules?

I've been reading Tim Keller's Reason for God lately. He has a solid insight on the subject.

Socially, Christians are expected to be morally superior to others. They are expected to live by a higher standard, and it's when they fall short of this standard that non-believers throw up their hands and affirm themselves in their atheism. A lot of times atheist claim hypocrisy as their foundation for disbelief. They have countless stories of how the Church and it's believers are so flawed and don't live by Christianity's core principles.

This argument doesn't work for me. Actually, it only further validates the Gospel message.

The Bible teaches not that we have to live a certain way to achieve salvation. It actually teaches that we as humans are all screwed up, and we cannot possibly live perfectly. Keller highlights that: "Jesus came to forgive and save us through his life and death in our place. God's grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior."

He didn't came to save those who don't need a Savior. That's like a Doctor coming to heal the healthy. Jesus came to heal the sick. That's why our churches look more like hospitals and less like hallways of the holy.

Now I also believe that those who are truly impacted by Jesus and the cross will begin to take on the life of Jesus. We will start to mimic His characteristics and personality traits. The Cross shouldn't be a get out of jail free card, or a license to do whatever our sinful hearts desire.

But we can't expect this metamorphosis overnight, nor can we justly hold this expectation over each others' heads. We need to truly believe that we and everyone else are sick. In need of a Savior.

Derek Webb states: If our sin is small, our Savior will be small. But if we truly believe our sin is great, we will see the greatness of our Savior.

Romans 3:23 - all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.

Believe that, and we will find ourselves spending less time pointing out the flaws in others, and more time rejoicing in the beautiful gift of the cross.

And who knows, maybe this will lead to us dying to our nasty characteristics and taking on more appealing ones. Characteristics of Jesus.

It will also lead us to showing grace to others when we are deeply offended by their iniquities...

Through the Cross I can hope to get better at this, cause Lord knows I need a reminder everyday.

Faith that Works

Tonight at Bible study we talked about Faith and Works. We looked at two passages of scripture - one focusing on Faith being the principle of 'The Way', the other focusing on the importance of works.

A lot of people will say that Faith and Works are polar opposites of each other. Maybe even that the two passages we discussed are contradictory. A year ago I would tell you that we are fully justified by faith - faith in the Gospel and that it's by Jesus' death on the Cross that we are reunited with the Father. I would tell you that Works are a way towards legalism and a life of constant judgmental survey.

What I'm learning more and more is that the two are designed to work in unity. A divine marriage of sorts.

I still hold to the promise that we are fully saved by grace through faith. Our faith is a gift that we cannot earn or merit. But what's so important and what I think we so often miss is that faith without works isn't really faith at all. Faith without works is spiritual insurance.

If we are truly impacted by the beauty of the Cross - the beauty and the offensiveness - we wouldn't be able to help but live a life of 'works'. A life totally dedicated and lived to glorify God. A life that makes Him smile.

I also believe that we are to become Christlike. This has always been sort of cliche for me. I claim the truth of our Christlike ascension, but then get on with my day. What in the heck does it mean? Are we to literally heal the lame and feed the masses? I think what this means is that through our faith and spiritual journey, we will actually begin to take on the personality of Christ. Our selfish ways will die to the humility, grace, love, etc of Jesus.

Our hearts will break for what His breaks for. We will truly desire for His Kingdom to come. Our importance will start to lie less in who we are or what we do, and more on how to pour out the love that we've received.

I believe when we are spiritually reborn we become babies. Clumsy, infantile in thought, and helpless. From there we grow into spiritual teenagers, then young adults. The pinnacle of this is Christ. I don't think we can ever reach this pinnacle, but we can most definitely get closer.

Now don't get me wrong, it's not all about surveying where you are in this journey. That actually has nothing to do with it. Self-reflection isn't a bad thing, but it's not THE thing.

The imprisonment of self-reflection is avoided by focusing on the Cross, and letting your cup runneth over. Being truly impacted by the gift at Calvary.

It's really simple. Just focus on the Cross and let everything else follow.

James 1:27 says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."


The Cross is the cause. James 1:27 is the effect.

So what's your story?

I heard someone reminiscing about a friend who had recently passed away. There were actually several people reminiscing about this friend, who I did not know. They went into great detail about how he had these massive hands, and how they remember getting lost in this guy's bear-hugs. He sounded like a great listener who deeply cared about his friends. It made me wish I had met this guy.

That got me thinking. What would people say if they were reminiscing about me? What would my story be?

My hope is that people would say I lived life to the fullest. Seizing every opportunity to have fun - and to live. Most importantly I would hope people would say, "Man, that guy loved Jesus. You could tell by how he treated the people he was surrounded by".

Words I wouldn't want to be used: self-centered, complainer, or boring.

I don't think we should walk around worrying about what people think about us. This can be consuming and a lot of times I think it can lead to self-fulfilling prophesy. It's a very trapped way to live. There's no freedom there.

Maybe it means we should live by example. This may be watching how a mentor or friend loves on people, or looking at the way Jesus lived.

Paul gives us a pretty good mantra in Colossians. Colossians 3:12 says:

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience"


In verse 13 he says we should also forgive one another, as we have been forgiven. I think the most important part of verse 12 is that we are holy and beloved. Beloved is one of my favorite words. It totally encompasses who we are in Christ. Totally and fully beloved. The dearest to His heart. Jesus climbed down from his heavenly ladder to show us this. Totally manifested on the Cross.

A lot of times when I talk to people going through a hard time what I hear isn't that their situation or circumstances are tough. What I hear is that they don't understand that they are beloved. They are fully loved and accepted just as they are.

Once we begin to truly believe we are beloved, the compassionate heart will follow. It will pour out and overflow in our daily conversations and interactions. It takes the emphasis off ourselves, and gives us a chance to live outwardly.

This is a lot easier said than done. Especially when we are constantly being lied to about this truth. We are told that we need to work harder and be better people. We get entangled in the world and how we measure up.

That's a bunch of crap. Come as you are - beloved. The rest will follow.

Christ's Passion... for you

For the past 4 months I've been reading Tim Keller's King's Cross. At the rate I'm going I read two pages per day. This has nothing to do with the quality of the book or it being able to keep my attention. My less than speedy reading is chalked up to being busy and lack of time management. Ever time I pick the book up I reel off 10-20 pages.

The cool part of taking this long to read the book is that it seems I've read certain parts at just the right time. At the exact moment that I need to hear a certain truth, this book has delivered. It's no replacement of the Bible, but a good supplement. Check it out.

So today I read a 30-40 page block that walks through Mark's version of the crucifixion. Keller does a fantastic job of stepping through the scripture step-by-step, and he adds commentary that brings so much color and context to the story (not that it needs it).

He starts by talking about the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus' time there. This is where Jesus first feels a glimpse of the separation from the Father  - the same separation that He will feel in full force the following day. Jesus prays, "If it's your will, take this cup from me". Keller adds that the metaphor of cup is historically referred to as God's wrath in the Old Testament. Jesus is starting to feel God's wrath of all mankind in the garden. 

Jesus is putting himself through this excruciating pain for us. In order to bring reconciliation between us and the Father. Keller also refers to how painful this must have felt to Jesus. Think of the most important relationship in your life - maybe a spouse, parent, child, or lifelong friend. Now think about walking around the corner to see this person totally mutilated. Immediate separation. Now think about how Jesus must have felt - His relationship with the father goes back to eternity. He chose to bear our cross and endure our sentence of separation. He did this for you...

There are a lot of other awesome details that Keller highlights and expounds on. I'll jump to the crucifixion to save time, and to hopefully encourage you to read the book...

Fast forward to Jesus on the Cross.

Mark writes that complete darkness fell from the 6th to the 9th hour of the day while Jesus was on the Cross. This is amazing for two reasons. One - complete darkness. He's not talking about a brief eclipse or a dark night. We're talking total darkness. One of the only other times complete darkness is mentioned in scripture is when the Israelites are in Egypt and the plague of darkness occurs. Two - It's believed that this 3 hour period (from noon to 3 PM) is the time of Jesus' full separation from the Father. For three hours He's shouldering the sin of mankind. He steps in to take the punishment that we deserve, only our punishment would last eternity. Imagine the grief and sorrow Jesus would feel if He experienced all of ONE man's lifetime burdens over a three hour period. Now multiply that by all of mankind. That's heavy.

The last amazing detail I'll share is in regards to the Roman Centurion who is overseeing Christ's crucifixion. After Jesus screams 'My God, why have you forsaken me' and breaths his final breath, the Centurion states 'Clearly He is the Son of God'. At face value this isn't all to crazy. But what we don't hear in the scripture is that the Centurion is the first person, other than Jesus, to give Jesus a title of deity. The disciples who lived with Jesus would call Him the Christ, or Messiah. Jewish belief didn't necessarily give the Messiah a deity connotation. Pretty cool huh? Furthermore, think about who the Centurion was. He's a man who has seen countless deaths, and been the facilitator of all of them. He knows death and is familiar with how people die. He's probably a very hard-hearted man who at this point isn't affected by death. He's also Roman, and would only dare give a deity title to Caesar. 

All that being said, from the short time he knew Jesus and experienced His death, he felt he was in the presence of God. And had the guts to call it out.

That's amazing to me. But not nearly as amazing that Jesus went through all of this pain and torture with a stiff lip. For me. To bail me out of a crime I could in no way get out of. Talk about feeling the love. 

This gave me so much peace and rest today. I think I've repeated the above 3 times tonight to other interns and staff. This refreshing perspective has come at a perfect time too. With distractions and frustrations looming, I needed to hear how Jesus loves me. 

And He loves you too.

Bible Reading for Dummies (that's me)

If you're anything like me you read the bible either as preparation for a specific bible study or you use the 'drop and flop' method. Drop and flop is a phenomenon where you read what you first flip to (a very technical and advanced concept).

Drop and flop is great because it can spawn sentences such as 'God pointed me to this scripture today'. It's also great because it's an incredibly easy and non-committal method of reading the bible. BUT -  I think it's only suited for certain people, and I've recently come to find out that I'm not in this category.

I suffer from what some call terrible reading comprehension. To make matters even worse my lack of ability to retain words is most magnified when reading scripture. All this said I probably should have attended the speed reading class my mom signed me up for in high school. Turns out I was way more interested in going to the beach and wakeboarding than sitting in a classroom learning about 'reading in blocks'.

A few months ago we talked about how to read scripture in bible study. At first I was a little taken aback by this topic. Why would a group of people who work for a Christian ministry need to learn how to read the bible? It's like mandatory defensive driving classes for NASCAR drivers. Turns out our discussion that night would drastically change the way I read the bible.

The first discipline we discussed was taking notes while studying God's word. I've found that even if I don't go back and look at my notes, the act of writing down my thoughts and certain verses helped the concepts stick.

Secondly, we talked about doing historical research on the particular book we were studying. I think this was the biggest help for me, as it adds so much more context and relevancy when actually reading the scripture.

Some other tips were to ask/answer the questions 'What was the author trying to convey in this passage?' and 'What does this passage mean specifically to me?'. Again, writing down the responses/answers.

I've also started to answer the following questions when reading a book of the Bible (this may also cover the first principle)...

Who wrote the book?
Where was it written?
Who was it written to?
When was it written?
What was going on historically in the geographic proximity of the story?
Why was the book written?

The first book I tried this out on was Galatians. I think Galatians is a great book to use this for, as it has so much background and storyline that we don't really get from solely reading the scriptures (my opinion).

If drop and flop works great for you - that's awesome. However, you should probably go to the beach and do some wakeboarding to make up for the lost time you spent in speed reading class. But if you find yourself trying to remember what the heck you just read - maybe give the above a shot. It might help.

Thank you Jesus for the Cross. I need to meet You there daily.

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.

What does the sheep say?

Today I was going back through my journal and reading entries from before I moved to Colorado. Don't let me fool you - I've never really been a journaler or a writer. My journal goes all the way back to 8/28/2011... Impressive huh?

It was interesting to reread my thoughts leading up to my year out west. I don't really remember having these thoughts or prayers, as I have a hard enough time remembering what I had for lunch yesterday. The 8/30/2011 entry goes like this... 

'Dear Frank (because every journal deserves a name), 

     One thing I pray will happen - As I'm drawn out of my comfort zone, that I will become more reliant on God for strength and comfort. Over the years I've become self-sufficient and comfortable with the life I have in Jax....'

     At the bottom of the page I wrote: 'Prayer - Reliance on Him'

Pretty much nailed that one. 

The overarching theme of the past few months has been God breaking me of my worldly comfort (most times against my will and with a vacuum in hand). I probably sound like a broken record by now, but I'm pretty stubborn. God has been showing me over and over to trust in Him, and that he is the source for true strength and joy. I get glimpses of this comfort, but it seems like I forget just as quickly as I remember. 

I think there's a reason for my grace amnesia.

First of all we are all sinners and fall short of our expectations. But also, the Bible gives us some insight of how smart we humans really are... The word 'sheep' is used in the Bible 196 times. That's a lot of times for such an insignificant word. As a frame of reference, the word 'love' is used 683 times. Seems like a lot of sheep right? The word sheep is mostly used to describe us. Yes, there are many times where it's used to actually describe animals in the Bible, but mostly it's our doppelgänger. Sounds great, right?

- 'But he who enters the door is the shepherd of the sheep.'

- Jesus says 'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me'.

- Jesus says to Peter, 'Feed my sheep'

A few quotes from the Wikipedia entry on sheep...

- 'Sheep are prey animals' 

- 'Sheep are frequently thought of as extremely unintelligent animals.'

- 'Sheep are just below pigs and on par with cattle in IQ'

Sheep. are. dumb. But as always, there's good news about our inability to fend for ourselves. The 196th time that 'love' is used in the Bible is in Psalm 91:14

¹⁴"Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
   I will protect him, because he knows my name.
¹⁵When he calls to me, I will answer him;
   I will be with him in trouble;
   I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶With long life I will satisfy him
   and show him my salvation."

We love Him because he loved us first. We need to come to grips with our sheepish nature... And also rest in who we belong to.

Identity Crisis

If you're anything like me, you find temporary happiness in the latest 'thing'. That could be a new car, new job, new city, etc. You tell your self 'if only I had this job', or 'if I moved away to this cool city' - everything will be complete. The interesting thing here is that after a few weeks the novelty starts to wear off, and you find yourself with a brand new list of 'if onlys'.

One of the big perks of moving to Colorado was the adventure. Aside from spending a year in the mountains and focusing on my relationship with the Lord, I was certain Colorado would be the ticket to overcoming my state of boredom. I mean I'm basically living every pickup truck TV commercial. My hands are getting tough, I wear a rock climbers harness at work, and I carry a pocket knife at all times. I agree, Colorado is the land of milk and honey, BUT - it's not the cure all. At times I find myself right where I left in Jacksonville.

BUT THIS IS THE BEST NEWS EVER!!

My reoccurring boredom and the 'new' losing its novelty points to one thing. The Cross. We are all created with a void, and that void can only be filled by Christ. For whatever reason we constantly try to fill this void with something other than Christ. It never works, and we always find ourselves let down. It's when I seek joy/identity in Christ that I'm sustained. Christ never loses His novelty - I lose focus. The below verse gives me insight as to who I am and what I've been made to do.

1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Jesus vs The Economy

Today at church the pastor went through Mark 5. It's in Mark 5 that Jesus drives thousands of demons out of a man. The demons then beg Jesus for permission to enter into a herd of pigs. Jesus obliges, and the demon possessed pigs run down a hill to drown themselves in a lake.

I've recently read this passage on my own, and was frustrated with the part when the pigs died. Not because it was inhumane for the pigs to die, but because these pigs belonged to someone. The passage states that the pigs were two thousand in number. Can you imagine a modern-day farmer losing two thousand pigs in one fell swoop? Now think about how it must have affected the local economy 2000 years ago. Must have been an epic blow to the owner's livelihood as well as the local economy. That would be the equivalent to half of Delta's plane fleet being demolished by a hurricane. The corporation itself, as well as Atlanta, would be in pretty bad shape. Who would allow something like that to happen?

The scripture shows that the local people felt the same way I did about their porky loss. They begged Jesus to leave the area.

Today I realized that I'm missing the point.

When I originally read the passage on my own, I wasn't really affected by the demon possessed man who was healed. My thought was, 'Hmmm, man is healed from two thousand demons.... TWO THOUSAND PIGS WERE KILLED'!

I'm pretty sure heaven's reaction was vastly different. Probably went more like, 'ALLELUIA, A MAN HAS BEEN SAVED! oh yeah, a few pigs caught the brunt-end... But he's healed!!

God is so in love with us that one man's soul is far and away more important than the local economy. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if God values one man's soul over the global economy.

See parable of lost coin, prodigal son, etc...

How do our priorities line up with that? Do we care more about a random person's well-being or our 401(k)?

I'm not trying to sound irrational, nor am I saying we should abandon economy and commerce. Just food for thought.

Fast forward two chapters... Jesus returns to the exact same area He had previously been begged to leave. He heals a deaf man. Four thousand people then flock to Him. Jesus feeds them all with 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. Talk about a picnic.

You say something about some pigs?

Grizzly Lake

Today the 3 roommates and I hiked up to a mountain lake called Grizzly Lake. It was about a 45 minute drive to the trail head, and then an hour and 15 minute hike. The drive was up a 4x4 jeep road. The FJ took care of business.

The hike was incredible! 3 miles with over 1200 ft in elevation gain. It seemed like we hiked through several different ecosystems. At the beginning it was a cobblestone stream in the alpine evergreens. We were surrounded by Christmas trees. As we approached the tree line our surroundings turned to large snow covered rocks. Right before we arrived to the lake we were in 8-10 inches of powder, similar to ski terrain.

The lake was amazing. It looked as though God carved out the lake with an ice cream scoop. Grizzly lake is surrounded by 2000 ft cliffs on all sides, with the south end being a stadium of evergreen trees. The south bowl almost looks like a mountain church of sorts, with the lake being the pulpit. There's a snowmelt aisle and evergreen pews. See the picture below...

I'm becoming more and more captivated by the scenery out here. It's much easier to find my mountainside for solitude when everywhere you look is a landscape painting. Solitude is key, especially when you're constantly surrounded by community. You'll notice that Jesus finds his 'mountainside' after being in large crowds for an extended period.

Being out here for only a month has already changed my perspective a lot. Life is simple and God is good.

Air Force and Jesus

I should first start this post by saying we are all wretched sinners - every single one of us. It's only by God's grace that we are saved. There is nothing we can do in our 'walk' with the Lord to save ourselves from eternal damnation. It's a free gift, and you don't even have to pay shipping and handling. Romans 3:23-24 says,

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Something a lot of Christians struggle with is the free grace of God, but then this expectation of living a life that resembles that of Jesus Christ. Perfection. How does it all fit? Lately I've heard a lot about a grace provoked obedience. Basically somebody does you a HUGE favor. The response to said favor is to treat them well and honor them. You treating that person well didn't purchase the favor, it's simple cause and effect.

<Enter the part where I relate the above to cleaning up after 350 campers>

Discipline drives excellence.

Last week we had 250 freshman from the Air Force Academy. The group is part of the Air Force's Christian outreach program (I'm almost certain it isn't funded by the gov't). The group was great, and you could tell they lived very disciplined lives.

Each Sunday the campers 'help' us clean camp by stripping beds and folding clean sheets/blankets in a specific way. Camp lingo for this phenomenon is 'folding bed packs'. I'm generous when I say we typically have a 2% success rate of camper folded bed packs. This means the camp staff gets to go behind each camper to correctly fold the sheets. We re-fold bed packs in between vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms (see: Warrior Princesses below).

Air Force freshman were greatly different than other groups. First of all, their bed pack success rate was at least 60%. It was absolutely amazing to see how well these guys folded bed packs. We give each camper a page long description of how a bed pack should be folded, so it's not completely straight forward.

Even more amazing than their greater success rate was when one of the Air Force cadets saw us correct his bed pack. The cadet walked up to the intern who fixed his mistake and asked what needed correction. Our intern then showed the cadet how to correctly fold the bed pack. The cadet then unfolded the now correctly folded bed pack and refolded it with his newly found instruction. He will never need to know this skill ever again in his life, but he still wanted to adhere to the level of excellence that's expected of him. Pretty amazing huh? What would it look like if we brought this level of discipline to our faith?

Proverbs 1:1-7 talks a lot about knowledge and wisdom. I think a healthy dose of discipline will greatly help in becoming more like Christ.

¹ The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
 ² for gaining wisdom and instruction;
   for understanding words of insight;
³ for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
   doing what is right and just and fair;
⁴ for giving prudence to those who are simple,^[a]
   knowledge and discretion to the young—
⁵ let the wise listen and add to their learning,
   and let the discerning get guidance—
⁶ for understanding proverbs and parables,
   the sayings and riddles of the wise.^[b]
 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
   but fools^[c] despise wisdom and instruction.


All of the above is great and we can only receive things like wisdom, insight, prudence, etc by the grace of God. However, I don't think we should expect them by osmosis. This is where the grace-driven obedience comes to play. It's the response to the favor.




But remember, our good deeds are still tainted. Isaiah 64:6 says,


⁶ All of us have become like one who is unclean, 
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Picture from Agnes Vail falls... Yup, it's snowing in October.