Going vs. Being...

This morning I did not attend a church!
I know!
I'm a horrible person because I didn't go on a Sunday morning (I am going to worship with a Church Body tonight downtown though, so don't worry too much)

As I search my favorite social networks (Facebook and Twitter) I notice that a lot of my friends post things like "Loved Church today!" or "Going to church" or "Great message at Church today"....
I don't think there is anything wrong with loving Church, or even loving the message God used at Church that day....
but I wonder if we are getting caught up with putting more value on going to church and singing the right songs at church instead of being the church???
Let me explain...
First off, when I say Church I do not mean a building we go to to sing songs and hear a message. When I say Church I mean the Body of Christ. It is people, not a place.

With that cleared up I now start to wonder if we are starting to put more emphasis on our doing (i.e. going to church and being a regular attender) than our being?
Do we find ourselves worrying more about which Church we will attend each Sunday or Saturday or do we find ourselves focusing more on how we can be a better Church?

I do believe that God wants us to be in fellowship with other believers and He does want us to be worshiping with other believers on a regular basis.
But I also believe that God is more concerned about your being more than our doing.

Maybe this is where a lot of us have gone wrong!?
Maybe we have got caught up focusing on doing the right thing all the time and doing the things we have always done and have lost sight of what it looks like to BE a follower of Jesus Christ!

Because in all honesty I believe that these local Church Bodies that are "middle class, white, comfortable, give only 10%" are not what Jesus intended when He said, "Follow Me, die to yourself, love your neighbor!"

I'm probably the last person who should be writing about this because I need to work on BEING the Church just as much as the rest of us.

But may we find ourselves starting to live out the mission of Jesus Christ instead of just singing songs about it and memorizing verses on it.



(Scripture that really got me thinking about this whole Going vs. Doing)
Acts 1:8
Acts 2:44-47
John 21:22
John 15:12
John 3:30
Luke 17:33
Luke 17:21
Luke 16:15
Luke 12:31
Luke 9:23-24
Luke 5:28
Mark 16:15
Mark 12:30-31
Mark 10:43
Mark 10:21
Mark 9:35
Mark 8:34-36
Matthew 28:19
Matthew 23:11-12
Matthew 10:39
Matthew 9:11-13
Matthew 6:33
Matthew 5:16

New Neighbors Have Moved In...

On Thursday I will be giving a message in class, and it's a message that God has really laid on my heart this year, even though we're just two months in :)

It's this idea of loving our neighbor - and I'm going to be referencing the story of the Good Samaritan in my message. I did a research paper on the parable of the Good Samaritan last semester and after I finished that paper I now have a greater understanding of what God was trying to say to his audience with this parable.

Skip forward to the present time now and here I am sitting at Kava House prepping for this message that is two days away.

I'm sitting here thinking about the word love and the word neighbor and what Jesus meant when He says we are to love our neighbor.
Questions immediately fill my mind...
Do we love our neighbors?
Who is our neighbor?

As I keep on meditating over the passage and trying to understand what Jesus was trying to say to that culture I come to the conclusion that
A Neighbor Is Anyone Who Is In Need.

So now that I have this new understanding of who my neighbor really is it starts to sink in that when Jesus says we are to "love our neighbor as ourself"(Matt. 19:19, 22:39; Mark 12:31,33)
We are called to help everyone who is in need!
Jesus isn't calling us to just love those who think, look and believe like us.
He is calling us to love everyone.
Like the Samaritan did.

So now more questions arise...
are we going to love with no boundaries, like the Samaritan?
Or are we going to try to make excuses and try to justify ourselves and not love those who are in need?

...A Good Book...

So far on my winter break from school I have been reading The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne; I am only 3 chapters through it and it is already blowing my mind.

No lie, what Claiborne has been talking about in his book has been dead on with where I feel God leading me in my spiritual walk lately...

He has shared how when he was in college, much like myself, he had this struggle with how church was being done and did not agree with most of what he saw in traditional churches, much like myself.

In the latest chapter that I read he talks a lot about how we, as Christians, are now the Christ to the world, which has been on the forefront of my mind as well.

The verse that really stands out to me with this idea of literally being Christ to the world is Galatians 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
What if we lived out this verse in our lives??
Every day??
What if we simply just believed this verse??
Wow!

Green Pastuers Vacation...day one

I'm calling it Green Pasture Vacation because of it reminds me of Psalm 23 and how in Psalms 23 it says, "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in GREEN PASTURES"
when i hear the words green pastures i think of when I was growing up and my family had some cattle (cows) and whenever we would let the cows have more field to eat from they would roll around and eat and sleep and never leave their new pasture spot. And it always seemed that whenever we would allow them out there they would gain some extra weight as well.
That is what i hope will happen for my heart this trip.
I hope that this trip is going to bring some extra food to my spiritual life...I NEED IT!
I don't necessarily need to gain physical weight but i am in desperate need of some extra spiritual weight.

the first day on the trip that I'm calling "Green Pasture Vacation" has been a restful one thus far...
yesterday was the long van ride to Nashville...i filled most of that time up with some extra sleep as ricky had a good time annoying Mark...

Today is the start of the conference and, if I'm not mistaken, David Crowder is going to be kicking off the day...can't wait to worship with 5,000 other youth workers!

A verse that stood out to me this morning was "Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him." (Luke 15:1)
The challenge that hit my heart immediately after reading this verse was this: am i hanging out with people who are not like me? am i being intentional about getting to know not-yet-believers? i would have to say no to both of those questions. It seems more and more each day that God is calling me to be in more relationships with those who do not know Jesus yet...

Fill me up Father!
I am nothing without You!
Use me!
Make me more like your Son, Jesus Christ!
and please...Increase my faith!!

Faith Like a Child...

What if we had a literal faith like a child??
What would that look like??

What if we truly believed that Jesus lives inside of us??
What if we seriously believed that concept??
The same God who conquered death, gave the blind sight, and had a love that never ended lives inside of His followers!!!
That thought alone gives me chills up my arm...

Now...
think if we lived out this truth in our daily lives...
what would that look like for us??

I know for me it would mean having more faith...
it would mean living like there is no tomorrow...
it would mean living a radical life...
a life of sacrifice and selflessness...


What do you think?
What would it look like if you had a faith like a child??
What would your life look like if you fully believed that Jesus lives inside of you and is yearning for you to let him take control?? from the inside out...


The apostles said to the Lord "Increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5)

Trying Too Hard..

I think I try too hard sometimes...
I start to think that I need to do things in order for God to be present in my life...
I start to believe that if I'm not being solid in my devos that He can't use me...
I'm starting to wonder now if it's my own fault that I can't feel God at all times in my life...

But alas I remember...
I remember that it is not about me...
it's not about what I've done...or not done
I start to remember that He has everything under control...
I can't change the Creator's plans...
and I definitely can't hinder them...
no matter how bad I screw up...

Thank You God! For always being my God. For giving me the opportunity to serve you through youth ministry. For giving me second chances. For the friends I have that continually challenge me...whether they know it or not...

life in transition...

God is on the move again in my life.
A time of transition is approaching as summer comes to a close.
I'll be living in a new place. A new community.
A new job is on the horizon (even though I don't know where that is quite yet)
And even new ministries may be down my alley.

God I ask for Your wisdom. I ask that you would guide my decisions and keep my mind clear.
I give You full control! And I ask that Your will be done, not my own.
You are an amazing God and I thank you for this season of my life!!