God's Presence, what does it feel like?

Last week we talked about how we can feel God's presence as an overwhelmingly cosmic, powerful force; one that is daunting, fear inspiring and ,well, kinda cranky. God in that view wants us to follow the rules or else!

Today's view shows a drastically different view of God, but it is no less valid than last week's illustration. In today's lesson we see God and human in partnership in the form of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Christ, as many churches teach, was both fully human and fully divine and thus presented a radically different view of God. Take for example the actions of Jesus in Mark 5. In that chapter, Jesus Christ is called to the house of Jairus to heal his sick daughter. But upon getting to the house, Christ is informed that the daughter has died and His services are no longer needed. However Christ questions the mourners, saying “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” He then goes into the girl's room and brings her back to life.

This is extremely different from the vision of God in Exodus isn't it? In Christ we see a loving God who seeks to heal, restore and turn mourning into joy. Christ does not force himself on anyone, rather he builds and works through the relationships with his followers. In that Christ is more akin to a companion; someone who walks with us, heals us and restore our relationship with God.

We can feel this Christ in many different ways. Maybe for you it will be through reading His teachings and understanding how the Lord of all is seeking to reach you. Or it could be through the acts of people around you who love you and support you. Heck, it could even be in a church our youth group, because that is where the people of God gather to worship, study and praise.

What are you feeling so far? Do you feel the immense presence of the God or is it the companionship of Jesus Christ? Again, either is valid way to feel God. But God is always working to lead you somewhere, so if you are feeling these things, it means that God is up to something. We would love to hear all about it so feel free to share it in the comments section!

Hope all is well and you had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

In Christ,
Bryson

God's Presence, what does it feel like?

Hi All! We are back in action in the blog world! I hope you have missed us!

For our first post back, I thought I would provide some visual assistance for the issue we talked about last night. In that meeting, we are talking about what God's presence might feel like because several of us were unsure about it after Youth Sunday. Unfortunately, that is a very difficult question to answer because as there are 6 billion humans, there are 6 billion ways to feel God. That's right! Each person feels God's presence differently but that does not mean we can't analyze some of the commonalities that our experiences share. I feel that we can break them down into three broad categories. All of these are valid ways to feel God's presence but I thinki that God utilizes some methods more than others. We will analyze these over the next few days.I want to spread this out a little bit. Take a look and let me know what you think:


1) God as fearful and all powerful Deity

Scripture basis: Exodus 19: 16-24

Breakdown: In these verses, God appeared to Moses and the Hebrews in a giant ball of Flame. There were sounds of trumpets, smoke everywhere and the earth shook. As a result the people were terrified. God was very angry, threatening death and judgment for those who did not follow God's announcement.

How is God presence felt: In these verses, God physically interacts with the people. But God shows Godself to be no mere being! God comes down showing every aspect of God's power, showing how mighty God is compared to the people. Thus, the people are justifiably terrified and in awe of God who is obviously the most powerful entity in the cosmos.

What it means to us: People still feel God in this way; as the overwhelming force, the literal God of everything. Some people also feel God talking to them, urging them to follow the straight and narrow lest they risk punishment.

In my opinion, God does not utilize this method as much to communicate with modern humans. If God did, we would hear more about it than the scattered accounts that we hear today. This is not to say that it is not a valid method, it is just not as prominent as it once was. Why this is so will probably never be known. Who knows, maybe we can all ask God one day :).

As far as determining weather the presence you are feeling is valid, we will get there over the next few days.

Take care!

Bryson

Sabbatical

Hi all,

The blog will be taking a sabbatical due to our recent abundance of ministry events. We will try to get back up and running when things calm down here in a few weeks. Until then hit us up on facebook!

In Christ,
Bryson

Running with a Purpose

The runners tense up, its almost time. They stand in their starting lanes, staring to the distant finish line while finishing their stretching. Finally, they lower themselves into the blocks, grinding their feat against the metal, ready to explode into a frenzy of energy. Then the voice of the official:

"On your marks. . . get set . . . GO!" [BANG!]

And the race begins.This phrase is typical of track events across the country. Whether it is a 100 meter sprint or a long cross country race, these 3 phrases are what start the runners into action.

The ultimate goal of these runners is always the same, they want to cross the finish line before any of the competition. But there are many other sub-strategies that will affect how a race is run. For example, sprinters will focus on getting a good, explosive start that propels them quickly towards their top speed. Long distance runners though do not put an emphasis on the start of a race, rather they try to set a pace that will allow them to use their energy as efficiently as possible. Beyond this, there is plenty of preparation that occurs before and after the race. Runners will make sure to get plenty of sleep, eat the right foods and get the right mindset before they even set foot out on the running course. But these on only a small selection of what runners do to prepare. Truly, there are so many elements that individual runners do that it would be impossible to list them all here.

When you think about it, a race is a splendid metaphor for life in general. But the race of our lives is far different than your normal 100m dash. The race of our lives is long, twisting, confusing course that requires us to get over obstacles and continually adapt our pace to the events that are happening. This includes our faith lives as we are constantly trying to negotiate barriers to our faith while trying to spread the good news to the world. It is a long, tiring race that requires a lot of devotion and calls us to create strategies that help us run better. But what could these be? What should we do to run a better Christian race?

The apostle Paul gives us a very good answer in his first letter to the Corinthians. In the 9th chapter of the epistle, Paul tells the Corinthians:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

Do you see the running strategy outlined here? Paul tells us to run to get the prize, a coaching tip I am sure many people are saying "well, duh!" after reading. But thankfully, Paul provides some excellent supporting points to tell us how to do this. He tells us not to run aimlessly, or box the air. Basically he is telling us not to waste our energy on things that will not benefit us, to step away from the sinful practices that weigh us down. Instead he tells us to make our bodies into slaves; to turn ourselves into devoted entities that faithfully carry out every order and work diligently to carry our tasks out. Basically, we are doing everything that athletes do to get ready and run a race. We eat right by feasting on our daily bread and the word of God. We rest on the Sabbath and focus on where God is leading. And through our growth we gain confidence that we take into the race ahead of us. All these elements combined will help us run effective races and achieve the goal we seek.

To do this, we need to take this thought out of the page and put it into action in our lives. So I ask you, what can you do to become a better faith runner? What training methods will help you gain the prize?

Something to ponder,

Bryson

Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. (1 Timothy 4:12 NLT)

Wrestling with God

Wrestling, it is one of the oldest sports that is still played today. It was around in Ancient Greece and on any given weekend during the winter, you can walk into most middle/high schools and see tournaments where wrestlers use moves and techniques that have been around for centuries! It is a sport that deals with base human instincts like a want for power, aggression and the need to bend our opponents to our will. It is definitely a brutal sport, but it's also more than its physical components. Wrestling is also a sport of will that features two combatants who are trying to use pure determination to outlast and outmaneuver their opponent. In the end the goal is to achieve total domination; to get your opponent to surrender or beat them until they cannot fight back. Most matches do not end this way however. In many cases, the opponents are so evenly matched that the struggle remains close and the opponents are forced to use every ounce of strength and will to stay in the match. In the end though, one person always comes away with the victory meaning that their agenda won the match.

In terms of our lives, we are all wrestlers. Unlike school wrestlers however, we wrestle with more than just other humans. We wrestle with issues from school, relationships, ideas, actions and change. We argue with our parents and spouses, we disagree with how our favorite sports team tried to score in the big game (honestly Denver Broncos, 5 times in the red zone and only 1 touchdown??? Who the heck was calling those plays? Stupid Chiefs). Yes we are constantly at odds with the world around us and are many cases trying to force our will over our opponents. This is especially true in our faith lives as we are constantly wrestling against sin and even with God, the creator of all things! Think about it for a second. When have you been at odds with God in your life? Did you hear the call of the Spirit to avoid a sinful act only to decide that you knew better and do it anyway? Or maybe you have been praying for a loved one who is sick and getting worse and you do not know where God is or even if God is acting at all. There are many different variations of these things going on in our faith lives. Basically, there are many times when we get locked in a struggle with the Creator and are trying to understand why God is acting the way God is when he should be doing what we think is best.

Well, we are definitely not the first people to engage in this battle of wills with God. The first took place way back in the Genesis times (Genesis 32 to be exact) when Jacob was afraid for his life and trying to escape across the Jabbok river. Why was he doing this you ask? Well, Jacob was running because just over the horizon was his twin brother Esau and 400 of his best men. Jacob was terrified because he thought that Esau was coming for revenge for the birthright and blessing that Jacob has stolen years before. Jacob was convinced that his brother would kill him and his family so he sought to escape across the river to safety. God however had other plants. The Bible tells us that the night before Jacob's escape he encountered a man who wrestled with him until morning. And what a wrestling match it was! It went for an entire night with no one gaining a clear advantage. But his opponent was no ordinary man, the scriptures say it was God who opposed Jacob that night and eventually caused Jacob's hip to come out of its socket. Jacob was tenacious though and despite his injury, he still fought. Eventually, the match concluded with God renaming Jacob with the new title of Israel; literally changing him from Jacob (which means fibber/deceiver) into Israel (the "chosen people"). With this new name, Jacob walked away (albeit with a limp) a changed man and went straight to his brother to ask for forgiveness. Shockingly his brother Esau threw his arms around him, telling him that he had never desired to hurt but only to welcome his brother back to Canaan.

So what can we learn from this? Well, God wanted Jacob to turn back and to confront the issues with his brother. As a result the relationship was repaired allowing love and grace to flow into both brother's lives. To do this, God had to wrestle long and hard with Jacob. Whether the encounter was a physical one or a metaphor for a spiritual battle in unclear. But it is clear that it was quite the match, one that we can learn from. In Jacob, we should be able to see ourselves hammering on God, trying to get our various points and agendas across. God on the other hand is clearly not fighting to God's full ability because he allows Jacob to remain in the conflict. God's act was that of a parent who wrestles with their children, but does not use full strength because He does not want to dominate us. Yet he pop Jacob's hint to forever remind him of the lessons learned from the match. God does the same thing when God wrestles us.

I feel that this description of this match is a-typical of all human/God wrestling encounters. We go into the fight grappling for all we are worth, trying to push our human agenda on God. But God, while God does grapple back, merely tries to outlast us while still loving us through our dark times. In the end, we always succumb to God and gain a reminder of the match in the process. Then we see the path that God wanted us to walk all along and we learn to trust for the next time.

What issues do you wrestle with God with? How can you learn to trust and see the correct path that God wants us to walk? Something to ponder.

Bryson

Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. (1 Timothy 4:12 NLT)

Soccer, the Game of Aim

Ok, it's confession time. I do not like the game of Soccer.

And its not like I haven't tried to to like it. I sat through World Cup games this past summer and saw Landon Donovon's now legendary goal. I used to watch the English Premier League which is widely regarded to be one of the finest soccer leagues in the world. I have also seen some Champion's League games which takes the best teams from every league on Earth and pits them against each other to figure out who really is the number one . But despite all this, I still cannot stand soccer. What can I say? I like games where points are scored in large numbers and it is not possible to end in a 0-0 tie. I also appreciate players who get actual injuries instead of soccer players who go down like they have been shot after being barely touched. And don't even get me started on soccer hooligan fans. . .(I say this mainly because I do not want to get bombarded by trash, batteries and flares by crazed Manchester United fans on my way out to my car tonight).

However, there are some things about soccer that I must acknowledge. It is undoubtedly the most elegant sport on Earth. Its players are masters of movement and can dribble the ball in many incredible ways. They can also shoot the soccer ball with precision accuracy and put some some crazy spin on their kicks. If you ever get the chance please take a look at some of these shots on Youtube. It is amazing how a shot can start off 6 feet outside the goal post and then eventually curve in over the outstretched hand of the goalie to score a point. It is truly a very impressive feat, one that if it happened more often might case me to actually be interested in soccer. Anyway, being that soccer is a game of ball movement having good aim is extremely important for success. If a player's aim is good, he/she will be able to make good passes to set up teammates and shoot the ball away from the goal keeper. If the aim is bad, passes will be intercepted, scoring chances missed and shots sailed wide of the net. Basically, aim is everything in soccer.

This is also true of our lives as Christians as well. As followers of Christ we are called to follow His teachings and commit ourselves to spreading the gospel. Unfortunately, it is a very difficult path to follow as we constantly slip up, get lost and go off in our own directions. In essence, our aim is not true as we are constantly not doing what we should. In church terms, this human propensity to miss God's mark, is called sin [insert dramatic music here]. Sin is something that a major hotbutton issue in the church and world today. It is so prominent that many unchurched people know what it is and understand how it is a serious moral offense. But it is more than that, it is something that isolates us from God and causes a gap in our relationships. It threatens to cut us off from our support systems and enslaves us to its purposes. I wish I could tell you here exactly what actions constitute sin but there are far to many to do so. But since I want to give you an idea of what sin is, I will list off the seven major categories (wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony) each of which has a link which should explain them. There are so many different variations of these though, so if you have any questions please feel free to get a hold of me about them.

Sin also fits in quite well with our illustration of a soccer game. The word sin in its base Greek form means to "miss the mark" or have errant aim which would translate to the many missed shots and opportunities in soccer. And as we are called to score goals so that the gospel may be spread, our inability to do so makes our position on the team very tenuous. After all, what franchise wants a player that constantly makes mistakes that might lose the game? Fortunately, our coach Jesus is not a typical coach. He knows that we are going to miss shots both accidentally and on purpose. And because He loves us so has taken it upon Himself to make sure that we stop that habit. Through His tutelage we need to learn to avoid missing and become the players He knows we can be. Yes, Christ is such a gracious coach, but there is still no reasons to keep missing our goals After all, if we keep missing and missing won't we get eventually from the team? Basically we need to as ourselves this question this week, How can you get better this week and allow Christ to address the sin that plagues you the most? How can you score more goals and not miss the mark as much? Something to think about. . .

Bryson

Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. (1 Timothy 4:12 NLT)

Down . . . Set. . . hut-hut-hut. . . . HIKE!

Football is by far the most popular in America today. Each week, millions of Americans tune in to watch their local high school, college and pro teams duke it out over one tiny pigskin ball. Many also find time to attend games in person and get so into the action that they feel the need to dress in ridiculous getups to show their devotion or fight people who support the opposition. Some fans even push the laws of good taste by getting tattoos, buying numerous expensive mementos or attending games with little to no covering because they prefer the feel of body pant. Personally, I never understood this tendency, but then again I am not a person who has the ability to write "GO TEAM! TAKE US TO THE SUPERBOWL IN DALLAS TEXAS IN FEBRUARY OF THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2011 OR DIE TRYING. HI MOM!!!!" while still having room to put a detailed portrait of his/her favorite player on their stomach. I guess if I had that much real estate to work with, I would definitely want to use it to support my team. But I digress from my point!

When you think about it though, football is truly a barbaric game. One one side, you have the offensive players who are desperately trying to run or pass the ball across the goal line to score. To do this, they have specialty roles for each player such as blockers who try to savagely hold off defensive players or quarterbacks who throw the ball to running-backs/receivers who catch and sprint with the hope of scoring an elusive touchdown. It is no less brutal or regimented for the defense either. It is their job to tackle the ball carriers by stopping them dead in their tracks and to do so they have specific players for each opposing position. And as both teams have the opportunity to play both offense and defense; a football game generally becomes a seesaw battle of strategy in which execution of a play becomes critical. Additionally, the better the players you have, generally the better your team will be. But even having good players is meaningless unless their is a good organization behind them. To maintain greatness you need systems of support like coaches, waterboys and talent scouts to help the players! Yes football is definitely a complicated sport, but it is one that can teach us a lot about what it is to be Christian.

No I am not talking about being a Christian that ruthlessly tackles people who have opposing views, (although having a stout defense against the opposition is important). What I am talking about is the principle of teamwork without which football could not be played and the gospel could not spread. Think about it for a sec, football is the ultimate game of teamwork! With out each player doing his job and holding true to the common mission of the team, individual players would get destroyed by the opposition! Furthermore there would be chaos, no one would know what play to run or how to get the ball into the endzone for the score. The same holds true for Christianity. But unlike normal teams, we are given the special play of accomplishing the Gospel call and fulfilling its elements of feeding the hungry, loving one another, healing the sick, loving God etc. To score a touchdown on this play, we need every team member fulfilling his/her duties lest the opposition gets through and tackles our players. But how can we, a church that is so divided by politics, race, theology and economy ever band together to get out and work as a team?

Well, in my opinion we can do so in three steps:

1) We need to get into the huddle and listen to the words of one of the best who ever played the game. He was one of the greatest, most legendary offensive forces of all time, someone who still hold many records. If he had a nickname it could have beet the Saul zaw for how he cut down people or the Bear Paul for how tenaciously he spread the faith. That's right, I am talking about the apostle Paul. To fully get his point, picture him addressing our team in the locker room like he addressed the divided church at Corinth saying "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." Basically he is telling us to unite around the message of our Coach, Jesus Christ, so that we might better play the game.

2) So how do we do this? We can do this by reaching out to other Christians and by loving everyone who crosses our path. By embracing this path of conciliation, we can begin to build bridges between people and establish the relationships that are necessary for team identity and team work.

3) We can also aid this by remembering our role as Christian "football players". Each of us has different gifts that we bring to the field. Some of us are excellent blockers, people who can go out and protect others by supporting them through the play. Others are called to go out and be the playmakers, the people who throw the pass/run the ball in order to spread the message. Finally there are the those who are supposed to work against the opposition by limiting their opportunity to score while still helping them realize the nature of our Message. Every position is different yet equally important and since there is no I in team it will take everyone on the roster to win!

So how can you go out into the world and better run the play that has been given to us? How can you reach out to your team so we become better and we limit the points scored against us? How can you be the best ball player you can be? Something to ponder!

Bryson


Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. (1 Timothy 4:12 NLT)