CHRIST BE WITH ME by St. Patrick

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ where I lie,
Christ where I sit,
Christ where I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of the Christ.
May your salvation, Lord, be ever with us.

DO YOU FOLLOW THIS GUY ON TWITTER?

"Lord...first let me go bury my father." And Jesus said, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Tonight I asked our High School students, "Who do people in our culture follow?" The answers ranged from athletic superstars such as Tiger Woods to Hollywood superstar Ashton Kutcher. Then I asked, "how is it that these superstars are followed?" One of the seniors said that people follow Ashton Kutcher on twitter. Another student said that people follow Tiger Woods by walking the golf courses to see him shoot a double eagle.


After further discussion, I asked "how is it that we follow Jesus?" According to Matthew 8, Jesus instructs a young man to Follow Him. But what does that really look like? Bible Scholars have a few different takes on what happened that day. It's possible that the young man put off following Jesus until his father died. Maybe his father was sick and the young man was just waiting until that moment. Or maybe he didn't want to follow Jesus because he wanted to ensure he received his father's inheritance.

Why do you think the man asked to bury his father? What's wrong with his request? It seems reasonable and responsible for this young man to look out for his family and bury his father.

Here's my take: I think the young man was doing what many of us do. He turned responsibility into an excuse. The young man was allowing an arguably legitimate responsibility - burying his father - to get in the way of embracing his greatest responsibility - following Christ.

I pray that students can stop making excuses for not following Jesus. Following Jesus means that we put him first and obey his commands. Following Jesus means that we leave the world a better place than we found it. Following Jesus means that we know Jesus' voice so well that when he calls us; we listen and are able to hear his voice.

Next week our students will talk about "Why" people followed Jesus. We'll be using 3 or 4 clips from the movie Braveheart to jumpstart our discussion.

Radical Prayer needed for Haiti

Acts 10:34b-35

"God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him."

~Radical Prayer goes to the root, the heart, the center. The word radical itself comes from the Latin radix, which means root. Radical Prayer refuses to let us stay on the fringes of life's great issues. It dares to believe that things can be different. Its aim is the total transformation of persons, institutions, and societies. Radical Prayer, you see, is prophetic.~

-from Richard J. Foster

There is a time for everything...

Solomon instructs hearers in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 to know God has a plan for everything. Within these few verses, Solomon says that there is a time to weep. I have found my soul weeping over a few things during the past few days.

First, I weep over the disaster in Port-Au-Prince Haiti. Despite the chaos, Haiti's miracle child was found in rubble. Surviving after 8 days, his uncle found him.

Second, I weep over my friend Lapiz in Costa Rica. He is a precious child of God I met in 2007 in a barrio in San Jose. He sent his one and only soccer trophy to me through Kelli and Corey. We will display it on our mantle as a sign that God provides hope for those who trust in Him.

Skaken? No...Stir it up!

God has moved in our hearts as we have worshiped God and heard the spoken word from 2 Timothy 1:6-7. During church group tonight, our students said that the speaker Jay Strack challenged them in the following ways: to care more about people, to truly love, to not do drugs and alcohol, to finish strong, to live with excellence, to not be a coward, to be bold...and much more. As a church group we talked about what the speaker said, what God said to us and what our plans of action should be.

Pray that each of our students will continue to be stirred up and not just shaken. Think about cooking. What happen when things are stirred? Something new is created. Paul tells young Timothy to stir it up! God wants to do a new thing by stirring up His power in our lives!

Thousands feared dead in Haiti

Last night as Elliott and I were watching CNN, tears started running down both of our faces. Elliott looked at me and said, "God should have stopped this earthquake." I told Elliott that I didn't understand why this happened but we must respond through giving financial resources and respond through prayer. You can donate money through Compassion International at www.compassion.com.

REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE

Mark 10:21 - Jesus looked at him and loved him!

Facebook addiction anyone?

We have started a new Bible Study on Wednesday nights with our High School students entitled "It's About Time." Last week our emphasis was "It's About Time to Build Relationships." We discovered that Andrew Olson can play "Don't Stop Believin" on the piano. He did a great job. I encouraged the students to take their friendships to the next level. Facebook has become such an addiction for young people and adults. The Princeton Review revealed a study that Facebook enables students to live in a fantasy world. Although I love Facebook, I can't let it become a priority. People and relationships are still priority; not Facebook friendships.

I encourage you during this new year to take your friendships to the next level. Begin praying earnestly for someone for whom you have not prayed before. Reach out and get to know your neighbors and perhaps those in your classroom. And we can't forget to reach out to Jesus. When we reach out to touch Jesus, He touches us with a power so real you can't explain it. But through the touch you know that you will never, no never, be the same. You will have a different view of the world, of yourself and of others.

Physical touch was very important to Jesus and it should be very important to his followers as well. The Gospel of Mark tells us that when the Rich Young Ruler approached Jesus, Jesus looked at him and loved him. I interpret that to mean that Jesus embraced him. Christ followers need not forget that looking at each other in person (not on Facebook) and embracing each other is an important role in sharing Christ.

PURE JOY #2

These are my friends who live in La Carpio in Costa Rica. Two of my friends who have served with me previously in Costa Rica set out on a journey to La Carpio this month. My two friends are Kelli and Corey Miller - Mom and Son. They were kind enough to take some gifts for me to these precious boys. Yesterday they took a family to McDonalds (in San Jose) where they spent 4 hours eating, laughing and playing together. After leaving McDonalds, Kelli and Corey (along with the missionary Lalo) took a few of the kids to get school supplies!

God is so good! We are so blessed! The poor will always be with us!

PURE JOY!

Preach the Word - 2 Timothy 4:2

2 Timothy 4:2 - Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season....

This past weekend our church had the blessing of hosting the inaugural event of The Festival of Young Preachers. This event was historical and inspirational. As I sat and listened to these young preachers, I was constantly reminded how we are called to preach the word in season and out of season. But what does that mean - to preach the word in season and out of season? To me, it means to be prepared to serve God in any situation, whether or not is is convenient. As Christ followers we need to know the Word of God so that we can be courageous in responding to the call that Jesus places on each of our lives!


The event began Thursday morning, January 7 and concluded Saturday afternoon, January 9. During the festival, over 90 young preachers between the ages of 15 and 28 preached at one of the four venues. The Festival of Young Preachers was a unique initiative to inspire the Christian community with the talent, the passion and the spirit of young preachers. The festival was not a competition but rather an inspirational and ecumenical event for the whole community of faith. The plenary sessions were led by Kyle Idleman of Southeast Christian Church, Brad Braxton who has formerly pastored Riverside Church in New York and Stephanie Paulsell who serves as the Houghton Professor of the Practice of Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School.

RESOLUTE

I've been thinking about what type of resolution I should make for the new year. The word resolute means "characterized with firmness and determination." What sort of New Year's resolution should a Christian make?

I believe there is a difference in having goals and resolutions. For instance, one of my goals for the year is to learn Spanish. One of my resolutions is to have more determination in being patient with my family. It is important for each of us as Christ followers to think about the things for which we are to be determined so we can become more like Jesus. In my opinion, the purpose of resolutions from a Christian perspective is to simply become more like Christ.

Here are some suggestions that may help you begin thinking about what resolution you need to make to become more like Jesus: (1) Pray to the Lord for wisdom (James 1:5) in regards to what resolutions, if any, He would have you make; (2) Pray for wisdom as to how to fulfill the goals God gives you; (3) Rely on God’s strength to help you; (4) Find an accountability partner who will help you and encourage you; (5) Don’t become discouraged with occasional failures; instead allow them to motivate you further; (6) Don’t become proud or vain, but give God the glory.

Psalm 37:5-6, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”