The Genesee Reflection #2

On page 84 Henri Nouwen talks about his realization of "how limited, imperfect, and weak my understanding of love has been."

Then he goes on to quote 1st Corinthians 13:4-5 "But love is 'always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offense, and is not resentful.'"

This has hit me like a ton of bricks...I too am realizing the weakness of how I implement and carry out love.  Sometimes when I read through Scripture I take inventory of my life.  When I hit some instructional verses I usually say in my head something like..."I've got that, I've got that, I need to work on that, I'm good on that, I've got that"...but in just these short verses about love...I can't truly say that I have control or a grasp on any of them.

I am often impatient, typically kind to everyone but there are occasions where I'm not so kind to my lovely wife, I can honestly say that somedays I am extremely jealous of people (like now I'm jealous of those folks who have this love thing figured out!), sometimes I boast...which often can lead to a conceited spirit, once again...I can be very rude and selfish towards my wife,  I've been taking offense lately at just about everything whether it is constructive criticism or complaints, Ok...I don't think I am currently resentful of anything...except what I just listed about my failure in the love department...

These again are some things that I hope to meditate on and pray through during my time away...

The Genesee Diary

In May and June of this year, I will be taking my first Sabbatical.  In preparation for my time away my friend Neil hooked me up with a really cool book.  It is called The Genesee Diary by Henri J.M. Nouwen. It is written about a time in 1974 when the author who was a Catholic Priest and Professor, decided to "enlist" at a Trappist monastery for seven months.  During this time, Henri Nouwen journalized his thoughts daily and then later compiled them into this book.  So far, I feel like some of the issues that he struggled with are some of the exact issues that I am dealing with.  For instance, one paragraph from the introduction states:

When I took a closer look at this I realized that I was caught in a web of strange paradoxes.  While complaining about too many demands, I felt uneasy when none were made.  While speaking about the burden of letter writing, an empty mailbox made me sad.  While fretting about tiring lecture tours, I felt disappointed when there were no invitations.  While speaking nostalgically about an empty desk, I feared the day on which that would come true.  In short:  while desiring to be alone, I was frightened of being left alone.  The more I became aware of these paradoxes, the more I started to see how much I had indeed fallen in love with my own compulsions and illusions, and how much I needed to step back and wonder, "Is there a quiet stream underneath the fluctuating affirmations and rejections of my little world?  Is there a still point where my life is anchored and from which I can reach out with hope and courage and confidence?"


PreSabbatical Lesson 1: On my Sabbatical, I'll be looking for that quiet stream where I can spend uninterrupted time with my Creator and it is possible that during this time, the Creator, will bring a renewal of hope, courage, and confidence.  

SURGE In Review: 3/14/2012

Check out this Vid for a glimpse at our aWeSoMe game from last night!

The Worship Set for last night contained "Song of Hope", "Sing, Sing, Sing", "Never Once", and "Lead me to the Cross".

Last night we continued "The Journey" by finishing our discussion about the Challenges of Ministry.  You can check out the first 3 challenges by reading last week's blog by clicking here.

4. Intensional Mentoring.  After digging into the first few verses of Acts 16 we quickly recognize Paul's passion for "Intentional Mentoring".  This a huge challenge for all Christ Followers.  Who mentored you along your path?  Who are you mentoring?  Who are you bringing with you on your journey?  We dug into 2 Timothy 4:9-12 and discovered just how much of an impact Paul had on people.  17 years after the events in Acts 16, Paul writes this letter to Timothy.  Can you count how many people Paul had mentored over the years in just these 4 verses?

After Paul and Silas pick up Timothy, they quickly discover that they don't know where they are supposed to be going.  Below is a video of their path but you can read for yourself about the trouble they had about their next destination in Acts 16.

5. In ministry there will be times of "Directional Confusion".  We must remember to continue to seek God's guidance and there is probably a reason that He doesn't show us the right destination immediately.  We also need to remember to "honor the mileage" as Paul, Silas, and Timothy would have walked to all of these destinations just to be redirected by the Holy Spirit when they got there.  We are talking about a ton of time before there was clear direction from God.

For a Review here are the Ministry Challenges:

1. Long Commitment
2. Intense Disagreements
3. Hard Miles
4. Intensional Mentoring
5. Directional Confusion

SURGE In Review: 3/7/2012

GAME:

Tug of War was the game for last night...There were not really any wars...but the team of Katie and Donya took out the Saldaña sisters... 

Worship:

The CYMSURGE worship Band led the students in "Forever", "One Desire", "How Great is Our God", and "You Never Let Go".

Last night we hit the mid-way point in "The Journey".  The focus for last night was preparing our students for meaningful ministry.  Here are the highlights that we learned from the end of Acts 15 and the very beginning of Acts 16 about ministry.

1. In Ministry, Long impact will require Long Commitment (Acts 15:36) - Paul and Baranabas had spent 2 years on the first journey and were talking about taking it again...The longer we commit to a certain ministry...the deeper the impact we will make...for instance in youth ministry we only have around 7 years with each students at the maximum...some churches throw in a different youth leader/youth worker every single year or quarter and sometimes this pattern results is minimal depth, minimal relationships, and minimal impact.

2. Sometimes in ministry there will be intense disagreements (Acts 15:37-40) - We just need to remember that when we disagree it needs to be done respectfully as I believe this disagreement was between Paul and Barnabas.  I believe they still deeply respected each other after the disagreement...There isn't any evidence in Scripture that shows us any negative conversations by Paul about this conversation with Barnabas (and believe me...he had plenty of opportunities).  When we disagree on direction we need to remember to not destroy each other's character.  

3. Sometimes in ministry there will be hard miles (Acts 15:41 and 16:1) - There are only 2 verses here that talk about Paul and Silas's trip from Antioch to Derbe and Lystra...but again we need to honor the mileage and terrain and realize this is a 300-400 mile trek all on foot through a mountainous country side.  In ministry, we will see  some hard miles...some fun miles...more hard miles...we need to remember as Christ followers doing ministry that for how far we've come on our Journey that there probably are still some hard miles ahead of us if we are on the path that Jesus has called us to.

To be continued...next week!

SURGE in Review: 2/22/2012

Pre-SURGE:

Last night at SURGE we started off with some Pre-SURGE Tweets!!!  For most Surge stuff coming up you can get your thought on our scrolling Twitter board at CYM but using #CYMSURGE.  We ended up having around 8 tweets rotating.  You can tweet about #CYMSURGE anytime during the week and we will post it the following Wed. night.

GAME:

We played some awesome rounds of mini-dodgeball last night in the CYM Student Ministry Center.  

Worship:

Katie, Corrie, David, and Scott led us in some really awesome worship last night!  The songs were "All Because of Jesus", "I am Free", "Shout to the Lord", and a brand-new one to us called "One Desire".

Last night (after some of the smell cleared the room! LOL!) we discussed the feeling of completion.  We talked about how Paul and Barnabas completed their first missionary journey and how the church gathered to welcome them back after a 2 year journey.  We talked about how there were some believers who approached the church in Antioch stating that the Gentiles would in a sense have to abide by all the Jewish laws before they could become Christ followers.  This took us into a discussion about the differences between the backgrounds of the Jewish people and the Gentile people.  Both came from sacrificing cultures but the Gentiles were used to sacrificing to multiple gods to "make them happy" and the Jews were used to sacrificing to God to "make Him happy".  However, the Jews in Antioch couldn't sacrifice to God very often because they were only allowed to sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem.  So in order for the Jews to make God happy they would have to obey every command in the Old Testament.  This brought on a plethora of rules and regulations that went far beyond what God had intended.  So the church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to seek out the wisdom of the Apostles and Elders.

How does this effect us?  Well, we still have a tension between two factions in our churches today.  The Saints and the Sinners...We sometimes have a hard time blending the new Christ followers that still have a ton of sin baggage with the long time Christ followers who have created a ton of rules.  The most important part that we need to remember is that living the Christian life isn't about rules and it isn't about making cookie-cutter Christians...It is about remembering that we are all on different stages of "The Journey"but we all have been called to take on spreading the Gospel of Jesus.  His love and grace still covers both groups and in fact, calls us all to be unified as the CHURCH.

A Youth Ministry Home Run...

During our Voltage (CYM's Sunday School) lesson yesterday I asked this question "Who is the brightest, most inspiring Christian you personally know?"

This type of question comes up a ton in youth ministry curriculum and it is always one I am hesitant to ask. It is awkward for me to ask this question...one, because if the answer isn't "Gosh, you are Jon" then I feel like I am not doing a good enough job...and two, because if it is "Gosh, you are Jon" then I feel embarrassed and that the kids are just saying it because I am in the room...

So with the Group Questions yesterday I had to go there and to my surprise...I found an answer that I loved!  Several students shared one name...and this name is one of the volunteers in our Wed. night SURGE CYM ministry.

Dani Helm!

The reasons were multiple but the main reason was because "she takes the time to stop what she is doing to ask how I'm doing...and then she listens."

Incredible!!!!

I am so thankful for our Volunteers in CYM who sacrifice a ton of time to pour into students.

Could you do me a favor?  Would you be able to take some time this week to ask one person under the age of 18 how they are doing...and then listen?

Surge in Review: 2/15/2012

Last night at SURGE we continued "The Journey" as Paul and Barnabas traveled from Pisidian-Antioch to Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.  We discovered that there has been a pattern emerging as to how the Jesus message was spread through the cities that Paul went to.  Here is the pattern: they went to the synagogues, spoke to the Jews, then to the Gentiles (sometimes signs and wonders), there was always a split audience (those who believed vs. those who did not), the animosity of those who didn't believe (mostly Jews) grew, Paul and Barnabas were persecuted, then they left town.  We have to remember that Paul's first missionary journey is only 2 chapters in our Scriptures but it was really a 2 year journey.  One key thought that we looked at was how close to home Paul was when they entered the city of Derbe.  He was so close to the city of Tarsus where he was from.  It looks as though the journey is leading Paul and Barnabas to a place of refuge except...when they leave Derbe they head right back to Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian-Antioch.  They head right back into the cities that ran them off.  Paul was even left for dead in Iconium after being stoned.  But this didn't stop him nor Barnabas from going back to strengthen the fledgling congregations that had just formed.  They went back to choose leaders and to let the new Christ followers know that the journey will be hard.

How about you?  Has your journey been hard?  If so...you are probably on the right journey!

Surge in Review 2/8/2012

Last night we continued "The Journey" series.  We devoted a great deal of time specifically to Scripture last night.  We traveled with Paul and Barnabas as they sailed from Paphos to Perga (This is where John-Mark left the team) and then traveled on foot to Pisidian Antioch.  We talked about honoring the mileage as we read from 2nd Corinthians 11 and wondered if any of these trials and persecutions that Paul faced happened on this trip.  After they arrived in Pisidian Antioch they went to the synagog on the sabbath.  We discussed how this was a pattern that Paul established on his journeys into different towns.  He went first to the people who had a similar background (the entire Old Testament) before he began preaching/teaching to the Gentiles.  During this particular portion of Scripture we read that Paul was given the opportunity to speak.  We related this to "Fear" and how we are all given or will be given opportunities to speak/act but may be too paralyzed with fear.  Paul had a glimpse of how these Jewish folks might act towards the message of Jesus.  He too had once been in a Jewish council that listened to a young man named Stephen preach about Jesus.  The outcome of that was the Jews stoning Stephen to death as Saul/Paul was watching their clothes and gave approval to the stoning.  Could it be possible that after Paul stands up that he is in line for stones being thrown at him as well?  When you read this portion of Scripture from Acts 13, honor the mileage.  Do not be afraid!

Scriptures to Check out:

Genesis 15:1

Numbers 21:34

Joshua 1:9

2 Kings 1:15

Jeremiah 1:8

Matthew 1:20

Matthew 14:27

Matthew 28:5

In the Game

This morning I listened to John Ortberg talk about playing the game.  This was his message from this past weekend as the entire country was gearing up to watch the Super Bowl.  This message was directly linked to serving the Kingdom (playing the game) during the entire week.  He related the church to a locker room where they go over the playbook, make adjustments in strategy, and where an inspirational speech is made.  He talked about how much the locker room is needed but we don't meet in the locker room for the locker room's sake.  We meet in the locker room so that we can go play the game.

We meet at church every Sunday to review the playbook (the Bible), make adjustments to our strategy for reaching the world, and find an inspirational thought or message to get us going.  One thing he said really caught my attention.  He talked about a child never dreams about becoming the best spectator to ever watch the game.  Children have a dream and a passion to become the best player to ever play the game.

When I was a kid, our favorite game to play in the backyard was tackle football.  I remember the players who we used to be.  I was always Deion Sanders.  My neighbor Nathan was always Barry Sanders and his brother Shane was usually Randall Cunningham or Derrick Thomas.  My brother was Christian Okoye because he always ran us over.  We never pretended to be fans or spectators.  We always dreamed of playing in the game.

Is it possible that God gives his children the passion and desire to want to play in the game?  The Kingdom of God is better when everyone who is a child of the King serves and when the spectating is left up to the world not to the church.  Then, when we all play the game from the same playbook, the world will watch in amazement and be stirred into a desire to "Get in the Game" themselves.

Thanks John Ortberg for inspiring me to stay in the game!  

SURGE in Review 2/01/12

This past Wednesday at CYM we talked about the island that Paul and Barnabas first reached after setting sail from Antioch.  We talked mostly about the Elymas the Sorcerer and Sergius Paulus the proconsul who was governor in Paphos.  There were 2 main ideas that I hope were able to surface during our time together.  1. It was the Holy Spirit who called and sent Saul and Baranbas.  I believe He sent them because God wants to be known...He always has.  Would you want to serve a God that remains hidden?  2. There will always be competing voices in our life.  We must strive to discern which voices are coming from God and which voices are coming from the world.  Elymas was trying to turn Sergius Paulus from the faith.  Who or what are the competing voices in your life?