The Wednesday Wrap

We had a great time at FBC Youth Worship last night. I'd love to tell you all about it. First a quick recap:

1. Countdown
2. Student Scripture/Prayer (Morgan and Becca!)
3. Singin' - "Glory to God Forever" (new!), "Sweetly Broken"
4. Offering
5. Video - "Who Are You?"
6. Message - "Identity Crisis"
7. Response - "Yahweh (Why Should I Fear)"

There you go! Last night was definitely one of those chase-after-God nights. From our worship to the reflective video (watch it above) to the message to the closing we were (I hope) waiting expectantly for God to show up, to speak to us.

And to be honest with you, after everyone was gone I was wondering if we missed Him. If I'm being completely transparent there are nights where I feel like everything is "right" - the worship is genuine and heartfelt, the message is clear and convicting, and the desire is there - but there is no visible evidence that God showed up in a big way.

Now, I'm the last guy to want to measure the spiritual success of our gatherings by how many people cried, or how many hands were raised during worship, or how many public decisions were made/shared. But I truly forget sometimes that while I'm waiting for God to show up LOUDLY He often prefers to work slowly, quietly, and inwardly.

So frankly I left last night a little down, a little frustrated, asking God this question: "I did everything You led to me to do, said everything You led me to say... why didn't You show up?"

When I got home I had three messages waiting for me on Facebook. Two were from students who were there last night and wanted to share what God had spoken to them through our time together. The other was from a student I haven't seen in almost two years who wanted to share that the time he spent in our youth ministry really meant something to him and he just wanted to encourage me to keep it up.

Isn't it funny? Isn't it funny that when we think God's not there and that He isn't working just because there's not a huge EXPLOSION of worship in the moment that He patiently, quietly, and profoundly corrects us?

I stand gratefully corrected.

Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It's way over our heads. We'll never figure it out.

Is there anyone around who can explain God?
Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?
Anyone who has done him such a huge favor
that God has to ask his advice?

Everything comes from him;
Everything happens through him;
Everything ends up in him.
Always glory! Always praise!
Yes. Yes. Yes.

Romans 11:33-36, The Message

- Tim

iPreach

Thought it might be of interest to you if I shared several churches/pastors that I regularly download and listen to off iTunes. In no particular order, here are some of my faves:

1. Rick McKinley at Imago Dei.
2. Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill.
3. Francis Chan at Cornerstone.
4. Johnny Hunt at FBC Woodstock.
5. Andy Stanley at Northpoint.

That's just a few, there are many others I sporadically download and listen to. Enjoy!

- Tim

Book Review: Too Busy Not to Pray

I just finished the book Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, one of America's largest churches. I've been seeking more depth and substance in my prayer life lately and after skimming several books on the topic I settled down to read Hybels'. Honestly I chose it because of its length - fairly short - and what seemed to be a simple and intensely practical approach to the topic of prayer.

After finishing it today I can say that this is one of the best books I've read recently, and one of the best books I've ever read on the subject of prayer. My all-time favorite book on prayer is Brother Lawrence's (a 17th century French monk) work Practicing the Presence of God, but now this contemporary work is at the top of that list as well. It's interesting because each one deals with prayer in a simple, practical way, but whereas BL's focuses on constant communion with God through a prayerful mindset, Hybels' deals more with creating intentional time and space to meet with God (commonly known as a "quiet time"). Each are crucial aspects to a Christian's prayer life.

All that being said, I've begun a new practice after reading practical books like this. I'm making a list of three things I will do or change after reading Too Bust Not to Pray. Here are the three things I'm going to do after finishing this book:

1) Create sacred space and practice. Starting this coming week I'm going to try meeting with God in different places and at different times and using different methods, in an attempt to find a place, time, and method that works for me. My goal is to settle into a daily discipline that will increase the depth of my prayer life and personal time with my Father. I'll keep updates on how that's going on this blog.

2) Start expecting answers to my prayers. Too often we pray with little or no faith that God is going to answer. The truth is that He answers every prayer one way or another. I think many times my prayers are just born out of what I feel like I SHOULD be praying for rather than a faithful expectation that God is listening and will answer, whether the answer is "yes", "no", "wait", or "grow".

3) Start following the leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit. This requires a deeper relationship with the third Person of the Trinity - acknowledging, worshiping, and communing with the Holy Spirit in a way that I haven't necessarily done in the past. I believe doing this will lead to more frequent and more intense promptings on what the Spirit is leading me to do. Don't get me wrong - I'm not expecting to speak in tongues, fall on the floor foaming at the mouth, or feel led to heal people with holy headbutts - but I do expect to get a deeper sense of things I am supposed to do or not do in my everyday life. This is an exciting thing to look forward to!

There you go - TBNtP is a great book, I HIGHLY recommend it, and I look forward to putting many of the principles I've learned into practice. I plan on taking in a couple short books on my reading list over the next couple of weeks before diving in to my next big "learn-from-it" book: Andy Stanley's Communicating for a Change on the topic of speaking/preaching.

Later!

- Tim

Great Article - Church: Love It, Don't Leave It

Just read a really good article over at The Washington Post called "Church: Love It, Don't Leave It." For anyone who loves or hates the church, it's a great read. Check out a couple excerpts:

For almost two millennia, it was axiomatic that Christians, like, actually went to church (or at least told other Christians they did). From Cyprian to Calvin it was believed that for those to whom God "is Father the church may also be Mother." But increasingly Christians are trying to get more spiritual by getting less church.

We love the church because Christ loved the church. She is his bride--a harlot at times, but his bride nonetheless, being washed clean by the word of God (Eph. 5:25-26). If you are into Jesus, don't rail on his bride. Jesus died for the church, so don't be bothered by a little dying to self for the church's sake. If you keep in mind that everyone there is a sinner (including yourself) and that Jesus Christ is the point and not you, your dreams, or your kids, your church experience might not be as lame as you fear.

Click here to check out the whole article.

- Tim

The Wednesday Wrap

(You just never know who's going to show up on a Wednesday night.)
Hey hey my friends. Hope you're all loving this fine overcast Thursday. You know what can bring a little sunshine into a day like today? THE WEDNESDAY WRAP! Here we go!

We had a great time last night at FBC Youth. Attendance was up from the past couple weeks which is great, and it was good to see everyone. Here's a quick recap of the night:

\\Countdown
\\Video - Camp40 Retrospective
\\Missions Moment - Iraqi Refugees
\\Worship - Meet With Me, It Is Well
\\Offering
\\Message - "When Things Go Wrong"
\\Closing Prayer

The message last night was a one-shot titled "When Things Go Wrong". We basically addressed this question: when things go wrong, whether little things like zits or BIG things like losing a loved one, how are we, as Christians, supposed to respond? We framed our answer to the question within the context of John 11 - the story of Lazarus' death and eventual resurrection.

Pulling from The Message Bible, here are the main points from last night's message (it might be helpful to read John 11 from The Message first - click here to check it out):

1. Know that God gets it.
“… a deep anger welled up within him… Jesus wept.”
One of our first responses when things go wrong in our lives is to assume that no one gets how we're feeling, especially God. But the truth is that God is not some distant deity, and when Jesus took on flesh (see John 1) and became a man He experienced all the range of emotion that we do. In this story in particular we see that He was both angry and deeply saddened. Whatever you're going through, God gets it. Another thing you have to do is...

2. Understand that God has His own timing.
“… if he loved him so much, why didn’t he do something to keep him from dying?”
We are also super-impatient when it comes to trials that we go through. We want our problems fixed right now, but we have to understand that God has His own timing, and it's not always RIGHT NOW. Sometimes God will allow whatever you're going through to endure, and you have to...

3. Believe that God has a bigger plan.
“This… will become an occasion to show God’s glory…”
You've got to believe that whatever the reason is for what you're going through, there is a bigger plan going down. Not only do we tend to be so impatient when it comes to the troubles of life, we are also notoriously short-sighted. We have trouble seeing more than one or two steps ahead in life but the truth is that God sees it all - He knows the end of your story and He is working it out to manifest His glory in your life. And for those that are truly seeking the heart and will of God, there is the assurance that God has a bigger plan and if it requires you to endure then you, with great joy, will endure. Finally, you should...

4. Have faith that God CAN change your situation.
“Then he shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ And he came out…”
This doesn't mean that God always WILL change your situation, but He certainly CAN. Why is it that we always assume that God is not going to change our situation? We always lean more toward the battered Christian point of view - the one that says "this is my cross, I have to bear it..." But the truth is that there are times when God can and will change your situation. Sometimes He does it by changing your heart or your attitude. Sometimes He does it by changing your circumstances. And, like in Lazarus' case, sometimes He does it by raising the dead. None of these is less a miracle than the other - a changed heart is is just as much of a miracle as a dead man being raised to life. The important thing is to have FAITH that your situation can change!

That's the night - if you weren't there we missed you! Hope to see you all at Bible Study on Sunday... BE THERE!

Later,

- Tim

Camp40 Retrospective

Tomorrow Night

I hope you'll all make it out tomorrow night to our midweek youth worship service at FBCCS. I'm excited to prepare for what I think will be a relevant message for everyone - "When Things Go Wrong".

We'll look at the story of Lazarus and pull out a few principles that apply to anyone going through a rough time, whether it's as devastating as losing a loved one or as "little" as your car not starting in the morning.

Hope to see you there!

- Tim

Engaging Gay Community

There's a great conversation on the Church engaging the gay community over on theOoze.tv (click here to check it out). There are some great thoughts in the conversation about presuppositions, genetics, missional engagement, etc. Here are a couple more that I picked up on:

1) If the Church prays for the Gospel to permeate the lives of those who are in the GLBT community, is God more likely to bring GLBT's to the church on the corner or give the church on the corner opportunities to enter in to loving relationship within the GLBT community?

2) Speaking in reference to Jesus' teaching on the speck and the log in Matthew 7, author Andrew Marin brings up a great line of thinking. Is the cultural acceptability and embracing of GLBT lifestyle among today's younger generations related to older generations' failure to put strong, loving Biblical marriages on display for their children?

Thinking...

- Tim

Back!

Well we all made it back in one piece from Camp40 at Cedarmore in Bagdad, KY. We pulled out of the church on Friday at 2:30 and pulled back in on Sunday at 1:30. In that 47 hours we prayed, worshipped, studied, climbed, danced, laughed, ran, did push-ups (?), shot videos, got covered in bbq sauce, hey-hi-hey-what's-up'ed, wrote on each other in sharpie, fished, swam, pet horses, ate chicken-on-a-stick, got hooked on pix, drive-by-hugged, met some hummingbirds, ran from a chictopus, stayed up WAY too late, and didn't get enough to eat.

I think that about covers it.

I'll take some time to post some afterthoughts up here later.

- Tim

Article Round-Up

Some interesting articles from around the interwebs:

\\To Write Love On Her Arms
The story of how TWLOHA got started and the desire they have to make an impact:
When I met her she was struggling with drug addiction, depression, self-injury and had attempted suicide. She had just been denied entry into a treatment center so my friends and I enthusiastically gathered around to support her. She spent the next five days coming back to life in our living room.

\\We Will Care For Any Newborn
A pastor says that his church will take in any newborn baby as an alternative for those considering abortion:
"I make a promise to you now and I don't want you to keep this a secret," the pastor pronounced, "the Peachtree Presbyterian Church will care for any newborn baby you bring to this church..."

\\Getting Twenty-Somethings Involved
An interview with Mark Batterson (pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C.) on engaging young adults:
It's not just about not doing anything wrong, it's what are you doing right? What kind of difference are you making? And certainly the Holy Spirit within us and the cause we're called to ought to mobilize us to be the ones who are making a difference! I think one of the tragedies of the modern church is being known more for what it's against than what it's for. But I think that's changing, and that's exciting to me.

The Wednesday Wrap

Hello friends! Thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog today. Here's our weekly wrap-up of our midweek youth worship service. First up, a snapshot of the night:

1. Countdown
2. Opening Prayer
3. Songs - Your Grace is Enough, Give Us Clean Hands
4. Welcome Time/Offering
5. Message - "Who is Jesus" (Matt. 16:13-19)
6. Assignment - "Names of God"

Last night was a great chance to scale everything down and really spend some time in worship, prayer, and the Word. Attendance was pretty down, but as I told the students that were there each of them was there for a purpose last night and I'm convinced God sets divine appointments for us (meaning that when we seek Him we are where we need to be when we need to be there).

All that being said we spent a good amount of time in Matthew 16 last night exploring the story of Jesus asking his disciples 1) who other people were saying he was and 2) who they, his followers, said he was. In this passage Peter makes "The Good Confession" - that Jesus is the Christ (Christos, Masiah - literally "the expected one"), the Son of the Living God." Jesus surprises us by saying that Peter doesn't know this because someone told him, but because God in Heaven revealed it to him.

So we spent some time just exploring the idea of answering the question - who do you say Jesus is? - and exposing the all-too-easy to make mistake of thinking our good confession can come from regurgitating something we've heard in a sermon, a small group, or read in some book somewhere. A truly good confession is born only out of God's revelation to an individual or group of people.

That's a super-short recap of the night. I'd love to talk more about the message or hear about how your devotional "homework" went if you were there. Comments are welcome! (Click "comments" below.)

Have a great week.

- Tim

Becoming More Like Christ

Riffing off a thought from the missional dinner the other night...

As Christians (a word that literally means "little Christs"), we are to become more and more like Jesus. As we minister and seek to reach others for the sake of the Gospel, we are to put on more and more of the character of Christ. How then, are the following aspects of Christ's ministry lived out as we seek to reach others?

Incarnation
Crucifixion
Resurrection

In other words, if I want to reach a particular group of people (let's say middle and high school students in my case), how do I become incarnate (come into their world), how do I die to myself (make sacrifices for them), and how do I see God do an amazing life-regenerating work in them?

This is a line of thinking I am really excited to dive into over the next few weeks (months? years?).

- Tim