Sticky notes

Today was my first day back in the office after my mid-year internship retreat. It was quite refreshing and needed. I've been a bit disconnected from this blog unfortunately and also from several other important priorities in my life.

The retreat was an excellent chance for me to put all of this internship stuff on hold, and get away in an effort to look and evaluate it from a distance.

Today I was in the office working on the loads of things that need to be done and should've already been done. That's not to mention the future things that I don't want to turn in to things that should've already been done. Amidst the many stresses, interruptions, and distractions I found a sticky note posted on my desk right in front of me. It looked something like this:

Kind of interesting! I completely forgot why I wrote it (I think it was part of a question for a youth survey), yet now this sticky note helps to serve as a reminder to something even bigger. What's most important to me? Definitely the relationship between God and myself. I haven't been in the Word personally nearly as much lately, and that's a real problem because God speaks to us through His Word.

Yet, even when I am disconnected God still speaks. I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit had a role in the interruption that caused this note to be unfinished. God has something to say to me and even though I didn't actively go to His Word to seek Him out, He still spoke through this little yellow sticky note.

It's amazing how God speaks to us in so many different ways. What are some of yours?

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Yesterday we celebrated our last elementary midweek program of 2008.  We couldn't think of a better way to do it than having birthday party celebration for our Savior.  We had a lot of fun singing Christmas songs, eating birthday cake, playing games, laughing, and the best part is that it was all in the name of our King!

What really stuck out to me was our devotion time.  In preparation for it I went out to a Christian bookstore and bought about three dozen small wooden crosses.  They looked similar to these:

The main difference is that the ones I bought had sayings on them, for example: "In everything give thanks", or "By His wounds we are healed".  These crosses were wrapped up into little presents and put into a shopping bag.

When all the children were gathered around me for our devotion time, we talked about birthday parties.  Presents, cake, ice cream, games, and singing were all mentioned first and often when I asked what sorts of things we do at a birthday party.  Each child was handed a present and given the opportunity to put it in the offering plate (with a painting of Jesus next to it) and to say thank you and happy birthday.  (If you're wondering whether the children were disappointed to be giving the presents away, the answer is yes.  They were definitely let down!)

I then picked up the offering plate and painting and started talking.  This wasn't fully planned out, but the idea came to me and I wanted to go with it.  The amazing thing that's so different about Jesus' birthday compared to ours is that Jesus gives us the presents, rather than us giving Him presents.  Jesus is our gift, He gave us His life and in so doing He saved our own.

Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is the eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"

2 Corinthians 9:15 - "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"

Ephesians 2:8 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God"

God's gifts are beyond measure.  I would not know where to begin counting the ways in which God daily and regularly blesses me.  In noticeable and unnoticeable ways, God showers us with His love. Yet all of these pale in comparison to the Ultimate Gift which we have been given: Salvation!  We do not deserve such a loving and merciful God and yet daily He proves to be more loving and more merciful than we could have ever imagined.  He invites us in to this mercy through worship, prayer, and Christian brothers and sisters.  Not only does He invite us in to His mercy, but He actively seeks us out with our backs still turned.  He offers up His Body and His Blood on the Cross, which we are joined to every time we participate in the Lord's Supper.  His Spirit cleanses us through water and the Word in our Baptisms, and we can do nothing but let the mercy flow through us each and every day as if it is a brand new gift to be opened.

So we turned these presents right back around and each boy and girl at "Camp Grace" (as we affectionately call it) received a gift from God on Jesus' birthday.  The "icing on the cake" being that each gift held inside of it a small wooden cross as a reminder of what the gift given to us on Christmas truly is.  Surely the presents, family, food, and time off (for some!) is wonderful!  They too are gifts from God.  These are given to help us celebrate what the true and most important gift on Christmas is: our Immanuel, who walked with us on this Earth to the Easter Cross, that we may walk with Him to Heaven.

It has a familiar ring to it...

Last night I had the opportunity to head to Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts to check out a concert.  By the name of the place you'd think I was at a classical music performance.  While the building and ushers certainly looked the part for a moving orchestra performance, the stage was decked out with lights, speakers, wires, and rows of guitars.  Yes it was a moving performance alright, although significantly louder.

I was blessed to attend a concert from contemporary Christian artists Tenth Avenue North and Sanctus Real.  Opening up for them was the fun band called Vota.  Together they rocked my face off along with a few hundred others in the cozy concert hall.

I begin with this picture for several reasons.  First, it's the only one I took of opening band Vota so I really had no other options.  Second, I feel this is really how I came in to the concert last night.  Not really seeing clearly, and not really motivated to go besides the fact that I paid for the ticket and didn't want it to go to waste.  Sort of just disconnected.  It kind of reminds me of Adam Sandler's character in the movie 'Click'.  He finds a magical remote that allows him to fast forward time to the parts he likes.  But during those parts that are on fast forward he seems quite robotic.  Not aware of the world around him and not responding to it either.

By the time Tenth Avenue North came on I was definitely having a blast singing and praising.  It had been awhile since I had such a moving worship experience, I really missed it!

If I had any hearing left, Sanctus Real fixed that.  Their tunes blew me away both in how loud they were, and how deep they were.  To add to the depth they took time to speak about their music and what it means to them.  It was an all around great concert.  In between Tenth Avenue North and Sanctus Real a representative of 'Mocha Club' came out to speak to us.  Not sure why it hit me so hard, I've heard so many speakers ask support for more causes than I can think of.  But it has stuck with me.  Kind of like the ringing in my ears.

The ringing in my ears has served me as a temporary reminder to not just hit the "fast forward" button again and go back to everything being about Andy.  It's reminded me that I'm being selfish and that I am invited to be a part of something far bigger than myself.  The ringing will soon fade away, and honestly I'm excited about that.  However, I am not excited about losing the conviction to care for those who are in "the back of the line" so to speak.  Those who are waiting while we take our fill and pass the rest on.  Those who are scraping at the bottom of an empty container. 

I almost feel silly typing this up on my laptop, drinking my fresh water from a bottle.  Meanwhile people are dying because they have to walk miles to get their water from a muddy creek.  God has given you and I such an amazing opportunity to help.  How do I know?  First, we both have Internet access.  Second, I'll show you a link given to me by a great friend: http://www.globalrichlist.com/  It really helped to put things in perspective for me.  Even an intern's salary ranks amongst the top in the world...wow.

I close with a part of Jesus' interactions with "The Rich Young Man".  It's quite convicting to read it while putting your own name in this man's place.  I encourage you to try it too.

The Rich Young Man (Mark 10-17-21)

17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

18"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. 19You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"

20"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."

21Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

I end the verse early here because you and I, we still have our chance to decide what our response will be.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."  - John 15:13

Post-Election Thoughts...

Duty, voice, responsibility...these are some of the things I've heard over the past week in the encouragement to "get out and vote".  Now, the day after the "most important election in history", I've seen a range of emotions including anger, excitement, disappointment, exhaustion, relief, thankfulness, frustration, happiness, despair...etc.

Forgive me, but I must take a moment to process some of the things I've been hearing and seeing over the past several days, especially today.  What has specifically troubled me are the phrases "I can't wait until the election is over", "I'm so glad the it's is over!", and so on.  I am especially concerned when I hear things like "Now we can get on with our lives" or something along those lines.

I guess I just don't understand why a great number of us get so emotional and passionate about "the issues" and "the candidates" once only every four years.  Then we talk about how happy we are to get back to our lives.  We also like to mention how we now have the right to complain because we have voted.

I would propose that our duty does not end at the voting booth, nor does it begin there.  Our duty is to be Jesus' hands and feet to a world that is in so much need of a Savior.  There is not a single human in the world that is capable to transform it.  We cannot vote for change, together we have to be change.

I would propose that our voice is not our vote.  Our voice is too great, too powerful a gift to be simply checked on a piece of paper or tapped on a screen.  Our voice is too deep to be placed on a sign or bumper sticker.  Our voice shows through our actions.  Do we believe in a cause enough to do something about it, or will we simply try to reason others into our way of thinking?

I would propose that our responsibility is to those who are living daily without knowing the life changing love of Jesus Christ.  How do we expect people to vote "morally" on the issues if their foundation is not in Jesus?  It's a losing battle.

The only thing that's over is the puppet show.  Now is the time where we can live out our duty to Jesus.  Where we can be His voice to the world - a voice of love and not hate.  In four years we get 1,461 days (yes I used a calculator, and even included the extra day in leap year!).  But seriously...we only get 1,461 days!  Our credibility lies in what we do the other 1,460 days until the next election.

Thanks for sticking with me as I pour out some of the things that have been convicting me lately.  I'll end with the words of Jesus:

Matthew 25:34-40 -

34"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. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

But if we confess our sins...

I created this blog months ago in an effort to log the ways in which I could see God working through regular experiences in my life.  However, since the fall schedule began earlier in September I've noticed a significant decrease in the amount of entries and time spent in this blog.  My first question - why?

Nearly every time I've written on this blog it has been because I have felt inspired to.  There was something convicting or motivating in my heart that I was moved to share with myself and with anyone who happened to stumble upon my ramblings.  Therefore the primary reason which would explain the lack of postings would be the lack of inspiration.  Yet my first question repeats - why?

What inspired me to post in the first place were the "God experiences" that I was having.  The most common prayer that I've prayed since this summer has been to have a greater and fuller awareness of God's presence in my life.  My hope was that not only would I believe God was with me at all times, but that I would feel it as well.  I wanted to physically know and be aware that God is with me as I walk to the football game.  As I biked to the store.  As I was working in the office...

These prayers were answered in very small-yet powerfully huge ways!  Looking back in these entries I notice that I've seen God in candles, slugs, weddings, jokes, plants, and so much more! 

I must be honest now.  Last night was the first time in a long time that I prayed that prayer for God to reveal to me how close and present He is in my life.  As I found my free time dwindle, I unfortunately saw my God time dwindle.  I've never been very good at setting aside time for God, because it's just so much more convenient to give Him what's left over (not to mention selfish!).  I didn't notice it right away, but those "revelations" have become less and less frequent.  More and more of my concentration and focus has gone to preparing for what's next, and then what's after that.

It's too bad that this is when we most often lose our closeness with God.  When I'm involved and stretched out over so many different things and interacting with so many different people is when I need to be most connected with Him!  If my goal is to be an arrow that points people to Jesus, then why do I forget Him at a time like now?

Realizing my lack of blog posts made me catch on to my lack of "God moments" in my life.  Realizing my lack of "God moments" made me catch on to my lack of a strong and meaningful connection with Him in this time.  I praise God for helping me to come to this realization after only a month and a half.  At times I've gone days before realizing, at times I've gone months, and sometimes I've even gone years before realizing that I'm trying to do life on my own. 

I do not have words to describe the unworthiness I feel to have such a patient God.  Such a loving God.  I do not have the words to describe the joy I feel to know that He doesn't give up.  I know that God has pulled me out of much deeper and darker pits than this one.  I know that I'm going to stumble and fall into this same pit again and many others.  Yet Christ's unfailing love will be the only constant.

2 Peter 3:8-9 "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

Wake Me Up When September Ends...

Wow!  I seemed to have forgotten that I actually have a blog and write in it.  To anybody who has checked up and found nothing, my apologies.  Things have been crazy around here since the beginning of the fall schedule.  More and more is being added as I've found less time for thought and reflection (which has been the prime motivator for this blog).

The Coopersville area has been hit hard with tragedies lately.  Deaths and murders have caused the loss of several loved ones, friends, and family here.  The main question we hear is "Why?"  People are searching for answers, and are understandably frustrated that so much sin, death, and suffering exists in the world that our God could easily stop and take away if He only would.  Thanks be to our God of love that those with questions are seeking these answers from godly people.

To let you get a glimpse into our world here I thought I would share with you an article I wrote for our monthly youth newsletter:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A lot has happened in the past month since we’ve sent out our last calendar. There’s been death, sadness, and suffering coming from every direction.

Sometimes we feel like we might be better off to just climb in bed and sleep through it all, as the popular band “Green Day” sings: “Wake Me Up When September Ends”

That is definitely one way to deal with problems...but unfortunately they will still be there waiting to meet us when we get up in October.

Instead of “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, I might suggest a different direction. I remember the chorus of a hymn that I’ve heard since I was young: “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”

When tragedies happen, we get shaken right down to the very foundations of who we are. The strength of those foundations will decide whether we stand strong or crumble.

All too often we set out to build our own foundations upon ourselves and our interests.  We forget the promises of Christ and instead put our trust in whatever satisfies us in the moment.

Tragedies are bigger than our “stuff” and they are bigger than ourselves, but they are not bigger than God. Hurt and sadness will still be there, but we can trust that God will work through these circumstances to fulfill His good plan. As Paul writes in Romans 11:36—”For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quite a short article to deal with such a heavy issue I'll admit, but when paper, ink cartridges, stamps, and envelopes come into play I had to get as short and sweet as possible. 

Life seems to be passing by faster than I can manage to reflect upon it.  I do realize that my title of "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is already coming in almost halfway through October.  It's very true that whether or not we are ready to accept it and deal with it, life is happening (but that's another thought all-together). 

For Jesus,

Andy

Got a light?

When I'm spending time in the Word I like to light a candle.  It's a neat trick I've picked up through a class and while doing group devotions with youth.  It really helps to focus thoughts and set the mood; whether it's a deep study or a short devotion.  No matter how inattentive I feel my mind is, the striking of a match (it definitely has to be a match) seems to quickly bring me into the moment as the candle is lit.

An interesting experience happened to me recently.  The candle I had been using was getting shorter and shorter, and I never really thought about what I would do when it was going to run out.  About midway through my studying, this candle was flickering its last flickers.  It split open and wax was pouring out.  The wick started to get dimmer and dimmer.  In a panic (why did I panic?  No idea.) I grabbed another candle and lit it from that same light and stood it right next to the other.

It looked like this:

The image captivated me!  I couldn't help but stare at this sight and think about how I really know how that short candle feels!  Sometimes we can overwork and over-commit ourselves to the point where it feels like we've poured everything out, and there's nothing left but a flickering of the light that used to be there.

I also think about our sinfulness; when we reject God and all the peace, comfort, and goodness that He is for the temptations of the world.  It's like all that makes us whole has completely burst out (more like 'been shoved out'!).  But matter how much 'stuff' we try to replace God with, it will never be enough. 

Sometimes I find it easier to think of our hearts as a bottomless cup.  We can try and fill it with everything and anything; work, sports, boyfriends/girlfriends, food, drugs, sex, husbands/wives, friends, school...it goes on and on.  Some aren't even necessarily bad for us, but none of these things are ever enough for us.  When we treat something or someone like a replacement for God (see: idol) we will only end up feeling more empty.  Only God is infinite.  When Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is our only God, then and only then are we whole.  Wouldn't it make sense that only an infinite God could fill our bottomless hearts?  Anything else in life then becomes an overflowing of blessings because our "cup" is already full!

This concept happens constantly throughout the Bible, but I am reminded most about the book of Judges.  Throughout this entire book, the Israelites are constantly turning away from God and worshipping idols.  When the result of their sins starts impacting their lives, they finally realize how terrible life is and cry out to God to fix them. 

This still happens constantly in life today.  We go through those times where our faith is not only #1, but it's also #2, #3, #4, #5...etc.  We incorporate God into everything we do and life seems great...for awhile.  Maybe it's because we get burned out, or maybe something else catches our eyes, but sooner or later we find ourselves trying to fill up with other things.  For some it's days, others can take weeks, months, or even years before we recognize how far we've strayed away. 

Yet God doesn't forget about us like we forget about Him.  Every time we cry out to God He is there for us.  Christ is our Ultimate Judge.  Not only in that He will judge us all in the end, but in that He has saved us and delivered us from our sins once and for all.

Psalm 68:34-35 -

"Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies.

You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; The God of Israel gives power and strength to His people.  Praise be to God!"