In thinking about the evening I have been wondering how I should prepare my heart.  I believe there are three things we should all do in preparation for entering any worship environment:

The book itself is a short book but it is packed with some amazing truths and life-changing questions.  The author, Parker Palmer, is a Quaker theologian who has wrestled most of his life with the question, “why did God put me on this earth?”  Palmer then seeks to answer this question throughout his book.  Below are some of the quotes that challenged me:

• Trying to live someone else’s life, or to live by an abstract norm, will invariably fail-and may even do great damage. (Kindle Locations 72-73).
• Vocation does not come from willfulness. It comes from listening. I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about-quite apart from what I would like it to be about-or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions. (Kindle Locations 77-78).
• there is a great gulf between the way my ego wants to identify me, with its protective masks and self-serving fictions, and my true self. (Kindle Location 84).
• many young people today journey in the dark, as the young always have, and we elders do them a disservice when we withhold the shadowy parts of our lives. (Kindle Locations 201-202).
• If we are unfaithful to true self, we will extract a price from others. We will make promises we cannot keep, build houses from flimsy stuff, conjure dreams that devolve into nightmares, and other people will suffer-if we are unfaithful to true self. (Kindle Locations 313-314).
• When I give something I do not possess, I give a false and dangerous gift, a gift that looks like love but is, in reality, loveless-a gift given more from my need to prove myself than from the other’s need to be cared for. (Kindle Locations 471-472).
• The God I know does not ask us to conform to some abstract norm for the ideal self. God asks us only to honor our created nature, which means our limits as well as potentials. (Kindle Locations 483-484).
• A leader is someone with the power to project either shadow or light onto some part of the world and onto the lives of the people who dwell there.  A good leader is intensely aware of the interplay of inner shadow and light, lest the act of leadership do more harm than good. (Kindle Locations 723-724).
• if people skimp on their inner work, their outer work will suffer as well. (Kindle Locations 841-842).

If you haven’t already, please read this great book!  I would give this book a grade of “A”.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)
⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

So there are three things I have learned so far through this fasting journey:

1. I am incredibly blessed!!  Seriously, I don’t even consider how readily food is available to me.  I CANNOT complain about God’s grace and mercy on my–EVER!!!
2. I get grumpy when I don’t eat.  Just saying!!
3. The farther down this journey I go the more sensitive I become to the groanings of this world.  I cannot even imagine what God must feel as He looks down on His creation and sees us in such turmoil, despair, and chaos and yet unwilling to to turn to Him.

I pray I will seek to see this world and my own life through God’s eyes.

Here are the details of my sabbatical:

When:  March & April 2012

Would like to focus on:

• Personal
  • Physically
    • Exercise Routine
    • Healthier Eating Habits
• Spiritually:
  • Spiritual Disciplines
  • Study on Contentment/Book of Job
• Artistically
  • Guitar Lessons
  • Drawing class

• EPIC
  • Professionally—what does God want EPIC to be known for and how do we develop that?
  • Relationally—what needs to happen to create a more unified environment among students at Grace Point?
  • Leadership—development of more adult leaders (especially college age students) and put together a plan for the development of student leaders.
  • Visit 5 student ministries

• College Ministry
  • What would a college ministry look like at GPCC?
  • Visit 2 college ministries

I will be starting my sabbatical with the Simply Youth Ministry Conference in Louisville, KY from March 1-5, 2012.

Please pray that God will give me clarity as to what He wants from me and the student ministry at Grace Point Community Church.

1.  Start small

Sometimes we fail because we plan too big.  Start with a small goal with the disciplines, understanding that the Christian life is a growing process that takes time.

2.  Put together a plan

Once you have set some goals concerning the practicing of the disciplines, put together a plan of how you are going to get there.  Take into consideration, when, where, what, and how the disciplines are going to look in your regular life.

3.  Find an accountability partner

Find someone who will hold you accountable to be faithful in practicing the disciplines.

4.  Pray

I know it may sound like a given but we often forget the reality of the spiritual world we live in.  More than anything, Satan does not want you to develop disciplines that will strengthen our relationship with God.  Make it a practice to wake up every morning and begin your day praying that God will help you be faithful in your relationship to Him.

5.  One last thought—ENDURANCE! 

Remember that the disciplines wouldn’t be considered disciplines if it didn’t take hard work, determination, and perseverance in putting them into practice.  It also wouldn’t be considered “practicing” them if it didn’t mean we weren’t going to fail every once in a while.  Don’t let failure throw you completely off course.  God so deeply wants a relationship with you that He desires that you move past the failures and keep going!

When challenging his leaders in relation to serving students he said there are three things he asks them to do:

1.  Pray

You can’t lead someone spiritually if you haven’t asked the Spirit to guide and help.  Prayer is one of those “must” that rarely ever happens.

2.  Prepare

Be ready to for what might come up with students.  Know what they are going through.  And if you are teaching a lesson, definitely take the necessary time to know and ingest the topic you are discussing.

3.  Pursue

Teens like to know they matter and one of the best ways to do that is to pursue them.  I’m not talking about during church or the EPIC teaching times, but outside of GPCC and EPIC.  Contact them through Facebook, text, or call them.  Meet with them for a shake or a burrito.  Show up at one of their sporting events.  Really, just love them throughout the week.

Thanks Adam, for this great reminder!

Question: How many of you would consider yourself a daredevil?

Question:  What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?

Question:  What is the most dangerous thing God had ever done?

Illustration:

Chronicles of Narnia:  The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Mr. and Mrs Beaver are explaining to the kids about the world of Narnia, how Narnia got to the place where it is cold, frozen, etc., and goes into great detail about Aslan.

Lucy, the youngest of the three can’t grasped that a Lion would be something that people would be excited to see.  She asks the question, “Is he (Aslan) safe?”  Mr. Beaver quickly replies, “Safe? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he is not safe.  But he is good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Of course if you are familiar with the Narnia story you know that Aslan represents Jesus.  So essentially, the message of that scene is that Jesus is not safe but he is good.

Application:

Jesus is not safe.  He didn’t call us to live a “safe” life.  He didn’t die so that we can live a mediocre, non-challenging life.  Jesus is very dangerous.  His teachings are dangerous and those that truly follow Him will find the path they walk to be dangerous.

So how do we follow Jesus?  We live has he lived!!

1 John 2:6 (NIV)
6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

So then the question to be asked is, “How did Jesus live and how did he command us to live?”

Mark 12:28-31 (NIV)
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

John 13:34-35 (NIV)
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

But loving people isn’t always safe.

Loving people means we invest in the life of others.

It means we have to get messy.

It also means we have to give our all!!

So how do we love?

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NIV)
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

One of the best examples is David.  Read Psalm 42.

Psalm 42:1-11 (NIV)
¹ As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
³ My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
⁴ These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.
⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and
⁶ my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon–from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
⁸ By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me– a prayer to the God of my life.
⁹ I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”
¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
¹¹ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Though it is discouraging that David felt this way, I am thankful to know that he struggled like most of us.

is heading out to Vail, CO to compete in the Junior Olympics.  He qualified at a regional race in Marquette, MI and now he and dad, Rob–one of our EPIC volunteer staff, are on the way to compete against 92 boys and 68 girls, in this very prestigious event.

Just for fun, here is the schedule of events for Hunter over the next week:

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

MARCH 4, WEDNESDAY: REGISTRATION
Registration: 5:00PM – 8:00PM-At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters
Team Captains’ Meeting: 6:00PM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail

MARCH 5, THURSDAY: DOWNHILL TRAINING- VAIL
Registration: 7:30AM – 9:00AM-At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters
Team Captains’ Meeting: 5:00PM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail

MARCH 6, FRIDAY: DOWNHILL TRAINING- VAIL
Registration: 7:30AM – 9:00AM-At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters
Team Captain’s Meeting: 5:00PM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail
Opening Ceremonies: 6:00PM- Meet at the Children’s Fountain in Vail Village for the Parade. Dress warmly!

MARCH 7, SATURDAY: DOWNHILL RACE- VAIL
Registration: 7:30AM – 9:00AM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters
Lunch: 11:00AM – 1:00PM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters
Team Captains’ Meeting: 5:00PM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail

MARCH 8, SUNDAY: SUPER G- VAIL
Registration 7:30AM – 9:00AM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters
Lunch 11:00AM – 1:00PM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters
Team Captains’ Meeting 5:00PM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail
Parent Social: 5:30PM – 7:30PM- At the Vail Golf Course. Wine, Beer and Light Appetizers will be served.
Athlete Social: 5:30PM-7:30PM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters

MARCH 9, MONDAY: WOMEN’S GIANT SLALOM- VAIL
Registration: 7:30AM – 9:00AM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters
Lunch: 11:00AM – 1:00PM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters
Team Captains’ Meeting: 5:00PM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail

MARCH 10, TUESDAY: MEN’S GIANT SLALOM VAIL
Registration: 7:30AM – 9:00AM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters
Lunch: 11:00AM – 1:00PM- At Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Athlete Headquarters
Team Captains’ Meeting: 5:00PM- At Ski and Snowboard Club Vail

MARCH 11, WEDNESDAY: SLALOM- BEAVER CREEK
Registration: 7:30AM – 9:00AM- Park Hyatt (below McCoy’s)
Lunch: 11:00AM – 1:00PM- At Beaver Creek Chophouse
Awards Banquet: 6:00PM – 9:00PM- Eagle’s Nest, Vail Mountain

Please be in prayer for him.  I would love to see Hunter succeed in this.

I will post more as I hear it.

I also want to thank the group that really made this thing work–the EPIC students.  You guys stepped up in absolutely incredible ways.  The buzz on your campuses, the energy at the event and concern for your peers is contagious.  Man, I am in love with you guys!!!

Here is a clip Matt Barnett put together highlighting the second night of REVOLT:

Thank you God for giving us the opportunity to impact your kingdom!!!