Day of Changes

Today is a day of changes. In a few minutes I'll have a new cell phone number...I will be living out of a car or a backpack for the next several weeks instead of a house...and I even already need to change up how my backpack is packed because it is about 10lbs over the recommended carry weight for a guy my size. I even feel different today. It is weird but this day seems more solemn, more sacred...looking forward to the changes.

A week out and I'm about ready to hit the trails!  I'm looking forward to the adventures that are ahead!  I'm even currently trying out the mobile blogging.

SURGE in Review 4/18/12

Last night was the reunion of the Hodson/Clark volleyball team.  I'll have to admit that both of those guys had longer shorts on then the ones in this pic that was taken a few years back!

Katie and the CYM Worship Band led us in "Undignified", "Blessed Be Your Name", "Awesome is the Lord Most High", and "Your Name".

Last night we talked about how sometimes God opens doors for us to be able to share the Gospel.  He did this for Paul in the city of Ephesus.  Paul was able to stay and share the Gospel for 2 and a half years in Ephesus.  We talked about when God opens the door for us to share Christ with our friends we need to be:
1. Curious...(ask questions)
2. Consistant...(we need to set and live by our Christian standards)
3. Patient...(sometimes trying to help our friends find Christ will be discouraging)
4. Sacrificial...(we need to live our lives so we can show our friends the heart of Christ)

The Genesee Reflection #12

What do you look like through the eyes of others?  When others see you or think about you do they say or think about you?  I believe we were all created in the image of God but sometimes along the way we, through life's circumstances, sometimes view others as if that image has been tainted.  Is it true that we can look at other human beings and somehow convince ourselves that they have stooped to the level of being subhuman?  We tend to be judgmental towards others based on appearances, attitudes, or even things that they have done in the past.

During his time in the Genesee Monastery, Henri Nouwen read tons of books.  One book that he read was called "St. Francis of Assisi" by Gilbert Chesterton.  Quoting Chesterton about Francis' compassion...on October 6th Nouwen writes:

"To him a man stays always a man and does not disappear in a dense crowd any more than in a desert.  He honored all men; that is, he not only loved but respected them all.  What gave him extraordinary personal power was this:  that from the Pope to the beggar, from the sultan of Syria in his pavilion to the ragged robbers crawling out of the wood, there was never a man who looked into those brown burning eyes without being certain Francis Bernardone was really interested in him, in his own inner individual life from cradle to grave; that he himself was begin valued and taken seriously and not merely added to the spoil of some social policy or the names of some clerical document...He treated the whole mob of men as a mob of kings."

My niece Saige has some really good things to say that go great with how St. Francis treated people.  You can watch her video by clicking here or I hope to embed it here on this blog soon.





Do you treat everyone like royalty?  Or do you treat some people like they are subhuman?

SURGE in Review 4/11/12

The Game:

Finger Ninja you can check out the vid by clicking here.  A pretty crazy and fun game!



The Worship:

Last night Katie and the Band led us in "Marvelous Light", "Better is One Day", "Mighty to Save", and "Give us Clean Hands".  This was Ryan's first night on the big stage at CYM!

The Lesson:

Last night we wrapped up Paul's second missionary journey by talking about his trips to Athens and Corinth.  We focused in on how Paul didn't waste his spare time while he was waiting for his companions to join him.  He took to the streets, became distressed that the city was full of idols, and then began a dialogue with the residents to point them towards the one true God.  Our question of the night was basically, how would you introduce your God to someone if you had the spare time to engage in conversations with the people you meet?  How would you describe your God?  What did God create during the first 6 days recorded in our Scripture?  What was God's relationship with the Jews during the Old Testament?  Who is Jesus?  What did Jesus do while he lived on the Earth?  What was the most important thing Jesus ever did?  Paul's journey in Athens didn't lead to tons of people coming to Jesus.  But it did lead to some.  Acts 17:34 tells us "A few men became followers of Paul and believed.  Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others."  Did Paul's intentional dialogues revolutionize the church?  Maybe not...but they did revolutionize the lives of Damaris and Dionysius.  Sometimes we get too focused on crowds and numbers that we sometimes lose focus of the individuals.  In Corinth, Paul met some valuable Kingdom people in Priscilla and Aquila.  He spent a year and a half in Corinth, by far the longest stay by Paul thus far on his journey. After the year and a half, Paul went for a very brief time to the city of Ephesus before returning home.

The Genesee Reflection #11

Tormented, anxious, guilt-ridden, restless, hurried, and impatient.  These are some of the words that could have described my state of mind over the past couple of years.  I would guess that I have hidden these feelings pretty well (or maybe not).  It appears that I haven't quite hid them from God.  In fact, I've never seen a list of them all together until just now as I was reading from August 19th, 1974 from Henri Noewin's "The Genesee Diary".  He writes:

"Today I had the strong feeling that things are basically quite simple.  If I could love God with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind, I would feel a great inner freedom, great enough to embrace all that exists, great enough also to prevent little events from making me lose heart...When my heart is undivided, my mind only concerned about God, my soul full of his love, everything comes together into one perspective and nothing remains excluded...For the first time I sensed a real single-mindedness; my mind seemed to expand and to be able to receive endlessly more than when I feel divided and confused.  When all attention is on him who is my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sanctifier, I can see all human life-joyful as well as painful-and all of creation united in his love.  Then I even wonder why I was so tormented and anxious, so guilt-ridden and restless, so hurried and impatient.  All these pains seemed false pains, resulting from not seeing, not hearing, and not understanding."

Divided and confused...these are typically the feelings that I have that precede the above list.  There are days when these 8 little words can hold me in bondage.  The truth is that the freedom from these chains is quite simple.  If I could love God will all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind, I would feel a great inner freedom...If I could become single-minded with my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sanctifier...

““He himself bore our(My) sins” in his body on the cross, so that we(I) might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you(I) have been healed.”” 1 Peter 2:24 NIV

I pray that God would help me to see, hear, and understand...

The Genesee Reflection #10

The greatest concern that I now have is what my life and schedule will look like on my return from my sabbatical. I want somehow to take the silence and solitude that I will learn and bring those into a deeper connection with my current and future spiritual life. I don't want to return the same. On Tuesday, August 17th, 1974, Henri Nouwen writes:

 "How can I really develop a deep prayer life when I am back again at my busy work? I have the tendency to finish small and large jobs as soon as possible, and as long as I remain surrounded by unfinished tasks, my prayer is nearly impossible since I use the time for prayer to wonder about the many things I still have to do. It always seems that there is something more urgent and more important than prayer."

If I am going to be honest heading into my Sabbatical...I need to know where I am spiritually in order to know where I want to be spiritually. I need to know the depth of my relationship with the Father currently if I want to take some steps to deepen the relationship. I can honestly say that my prayer life needs an overhaul. I am typically thinking about tasks in my prayers and not focusing on the One who holds the power to accomplish those tasks. I am often focused on my to-do list and not on God's to-do list. I often cannot even quiet my mind enough to listen to what God would have me hear. John Eudes who was the head of the Genesee Monastery gives the wisest advice on prayer that I have ever heard. I'm not going to share it here...just in case there are a few readers out there who want to read the book.

SURGE in Review 4/4/2012

Last night was one of the best SURGE events that I have ever remembered.  We started the night off by playing the game "Caterpillar" and followed that up with a game called "Down, Down, Down"...check out the video below!

The CYM Worship Band lead us in "Happy Day", "Lead Me to the Cross", "You are My King", and "Here I am to Worship".

Last night we continued "The Journey" by traveling with Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the city of Thessalonica.  Here Paul and his companions set out to prove that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.  A great story to look during Holy Week.  Would we be able to prove that Jesus was the Messiah if all we had to argue with was the Old Testament?  That is exactly how Paul had to "reason" with the Jews and Greeks in Thessalonica.  We have to remember that when Paul was traveling he didn't have the New Testament to refer to.  We talked about some Old Testament Scripture that Paul could have used to prove that the Messiah had to suffer and die.  When that was evident by digging into the Scripture he could then point to Jesus and say that Jesus did suffer, die, and rise from the dead.  We talked about how Jason (Paul's host) was persecuted just for housing the man and he and other believers had to post bond so they could get out of prison.  We pondered why Paul was so willing to go from city to city, planting baby church after baby church, just to be persecuted, stoned, beaten, whipped, or imprisoned.  Why was Paul so willing to have his body broken over and over and over again?  Because his King, had once been broken.  Paul was following in the footsteps of his Savior.  We then transitioned into the night of the last supper with Jesus and His disciples.  We shared together in communion and foot-washing.  It was a great night to remember the King and one who was so willing to do anything to make the King known.  What would you be willing to do to follow in the footsteps of Jesus?

The Genesee Reflection #9

What does the typical day look like for a youth pastor?  Well, I am not sure I can answer that fully.  I have tried very hard to have a system in place.  Monday-Thursday I typically start the days exactly the same...Get the office, make or drink coffee (based on if Neil has beat me to it or not), check my email, respond to emails, check in on my students through Facebook, comment on students' stuff, read something, and blog about something.  On Mondays, I try to evaluate Sunday's events, twice/month there is a staff meeting, I begin looking towards Wed. nights, I answer emails that were sent on Friday-Sunday, I input attendance numbers and offering numbers to make sure we aren't having a crises.  On Tuesdays, I begin to mold the Worship slides/videos into shape, study for my lesson and begin putting it into a powerpoint presentation, this is also when I typically print out worship music for the CYM worship band.  On Wednesdays, I wrap up everything from lessons to music to videos, I typically create the small group study and questions on Wednesdays after I've had a day to think about the lesson, I typically try to watch/listen to something inspiring, then I go pick up students starting around 4:45, get back to the church around 5:45, hang out with students until we start SURGE around 6:30, take students home after SURGE and get home around 9.  On Thursdays, I reflect on the Wed., input attendance numbers making sure that we aren't having a crises, before digging into the Sunday AM Voltage lesson.  This is also when I try to get a sneak peak at what the next Wed. night will entail.

From Friday, August 30th, 1974 Nouwen writes:

    "This was one of those days that pass with many distractions and few real events.  I washed raisins for more than four hours without even finishing the whole job, received a lot of mail that needed immediate attention, talked for a few hours with one of the guests who asked for some help in his life.  Finally, I read that depressing weekly, U.S. News and World Report, which is obviously written for businessmen and not monks.
  In fact, this was a "typical" day when I think about my life before I came here.  Busy, active, talkative, but very superficial and without much concentration on anything.  It seems good to avoid more of such 'typical days'."

I have been struggling of late because my work days are seldom typical.  The listing above along with  students' games, plays, concerts, contests, and matches are the ideal days for me.  However as Easter approaches along with my Sabbatical and General Assembly, my days are being led into other distractions. My weeks have not looked like the above week for about a month and we will wrap this month up with much of the non-typicallness pace that I've been on.  But when it is all said and done...I do ponder how most of my days pass without any "real events" but seem to have plenty of distractions.

The Genesee Reflection #8

One of the memories that keeps playing over and over in my mind is the last time that I was disobedient to my dad.  It was a beautiful day and for circumstances that I cannot remember I was grounded.  I had to have been 12 or 13 and my world was outside of my house.  There was an entire neighborhood around me that I was usually free to explore.  Friends around me that I was usually free to go play ball with or ride bikes around the block with.  This day, there was no freedom.  I remember getting into an argument with my dad...again, I have no recollection of what the issue was...and then he said the magic words..."Jon, you are grounded.  You don't even want to know what will happen if you step one foot off our property."

That was all it took.  I walked out the front door...waited until my dad was watching...and then I did it...I placed one foot into the street.

The moments that followed are a bit of a blur...my dad moving faster than I ever remember him moving...grabbing me...dragging me back into the house...a few swats on the rump followed...and then I don't recall what happened after that...


Henri Nouwen writes on Monday, August 26th, 1974:

"Talked with John Eudes about obedience.  I said, 'I don't think I ever could become a monk because of my problem with obedience.  If you or anyone else told me to go collect stones every day while I was deeply convinced that I should write, read, study, or whatever, I would not be able to take it and would become so restless and hostile that I would leave sooner or later.'"

Jesus once said, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.  My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.  Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.  These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me."


What happens when God has called you to a ministry that is hard, difficult, discouraging, draining, confusing, chaotic, and unrelenting?  Do you continue to obey the calling He has placed on your life?  Or do you see what would/could happen if you took one step outside of the calling?  Perhaps God is calling you to step into a new ministry.  Do you dare leave the comfort of your ministry that is beautiful, challenging, productive, invigorating, friendly, calm, and safe?

Nouwen continues:

"If I were able to trust more, to open myself more easily, to be more vulnerable, then obedience would not be so hard.  I would be able to disagree without fear of rejection (BTW one of my biggest issues), to protest without resentment (BTW another issue I have), to express different viewpoints without self-righteousness (no problem here! LOL), and to say after all arguments:  'If I am still asked to do something I do not like to do, perhaps I must be open to the idea of God's preparing me for something greater and more important than I can imagine.'"

The Genesee Reflection #7

As a pastor sometimes people think that I have the extraordinary ability of self-control.  I will say that for the most part I believe I have.  I refrain from all the things that "look" like sin.  However, there are days/weeks/months/years where I really struggle with controlling myself in other areas that don't exactly "look" like sin.  One of the areas that I have tried conquering for years is my fascination with food.   I do love to eat.  But I only love to eat the stuff that isn't good for me.  Cheeseburgers, pizza, fried chicken, tacos, and barbecue are among my favorites.  It would be one thing if I had the "self-control" to just eat in moderate portions but I don't.

On Monday, August 19th, 1974, Henri Nouwem writes:

The news in the New York Times, the letters from India posted on the bulletin board and the increasing requests for money, food, and clothes give me more and more feeling that I belong to the happy few allowed into the Ark of Noah.  The comparison does not work too well with all these celibates, but I keep thinking about sitting on the top of the mountain while the world around me is washed away.  While we have a very abundant wheat crop, the papers speak about floods in India washing away whole crops and about droughts in North Africa and parts of the U.S.A. creating endless misery there and inflation here.  While we have healthy, strong-looking men here, the pictures show emaciated people floating nowhere on self-made rafts.  While we have peace and an atmosphere of trust here, in Cyprus, Greece, Chile, Brazil, the Middle East, South Korea, etc. hostilities break out everyday.  Still I often feel homesick for the world with its pains and problems.

How is it that I can consume so much when nearly 26,000 children under the age of 5 die every day mostly because of lack of clean water and food?  Why is it that it only takes $36 per month to save the life of one of those children (this includes food, shelter, water, medicine, and school) but it costs several hundred dollars per month to satisfy my personal hunger?  My father-in-law once told me something very wise that his dad had told him...He said that "A man should eat to live...not live to eat."  Why is this so hard?  After a lunch of either pizza or cheeseburgers with my wife today:)...I believe for remainder of the month of April I will try to eat half of what I would normally and send the extra money saved to Compassion International.

My King once said, "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it."

and

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance , the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink..."