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Jesus is Serious.

After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?[a]”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”

“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.

Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”

“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.

A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.

“I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others[b] will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.” (John 21:15-19)

 

There are many statistics out there about the future of the church, about how it is very limited and that the church is dying and more and more people are not going to church. I don’t know if this is true or not, I know that what fuels me as a youth minister is preparing students to be disciples for Jesus Christ and I am beyond blessed to be a part of that journey.

The Journey that we experience now in our lives with being disciples starts in this passage.

Today, I had the awesome opportunity of co-leading a Leadership Lab with with my friend and fellow youth worker, Jason Weaver. Today obviously we talked about Leadership, but specifically we talked about how true leaders are learners as well, that journey is not a destination but a life long process. We really tried to stress that we never know everything about being an effective leader because we are always learning how to better ourselves.

An example in this discussion was the disciple Peter, because we felt that he was a shining example of a leader that was constantly learning, faltering, getting back up and trying again. The passage above is an example of his getting back up and trying again. Jesus is preparing him for what’s coming next which is huge. The creation of the early christian church. One observation that came to me as I reflect on our experience of learning together today:

1. Leadership is uncomfortable.

It doesn’t matter who you are, at some point in time I am sure you have experienced this notion. There are times as leaders where we wonder why the heck are we doing what we are doing, but we are and so we continue. If you are as stubborn as I am then when you have decided to do something because God has called you to it you are going to stick with it to the very end. Nothing is going to stop me from trying again and again, but that doesn’t change the fact that at times God brings me to a very uncomfortable situation and usually God uses my mistakes to my message in this time.

So put yourself in Peter’s shoes.

How many times recently have you denied Christ’s call on your life because it was just not comfortable and not convenient. If you are like me this happens like a lot and if we are honest we are not comfortable with where God leads us, but know this and be encouraged with the simple truth that as He brings you to a tough situation you are being equipped and empowered in this situations!

In this moment Jesus is serious about the task that He has for Peter. It’s not enough that Jesus has shown Peter the best way to live. It can’t end there, Peter must now go and do likewise. This might be the uncomfortable part of being a disciple. When we finally get up to show up and listen to Christ, he has the gall to tell us to leave His presence and share the love and grace with the world.

What do mean leave?

I just got here!

Exactly. Now go and share what you have learned in the showing up.

Jesus, our Lord and Savior has called you to something. It is very unique to you because you offer something that no one has ever offered in the history of world. You were created to do this exact thing. He is dead serious too, so….

Next time you feel that God doesn’t know what He’s doing…..

Be still.

Trust.

And Know that God is with You and everything He does is for the good!

Then all of God’s children together said:

Amen.

 

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Having the Latest and Greatest

For those of you that didn’t know Amazon came out with an entire new line of kindles today. For more information on what they are go to the amazon website. Out of curiosity I went to the website to see what the “family” had to offer. Of course they were bigger and better than before, better resolution, HD, you know the works.

Then something disturbing happened.

“I need one of these.”

I love my Kindle Touch and I have had it maybe a year, maybe. So I was a bit disturbed by this new desire to buy a new kindle. I logically thought like many of us did that I could sell the one I had and use it to buy the new one and so I wouldn’t really lose much money in the process.

Then I thought this is why technology changes every year because we keep buying and buying and buying the latest and the greatest because it never stops. There is always going to be the next ‘thing.’

But that is just what they are.

Things.

They give nothing to our soul. We as human beings have this practice of putting things in our lives hoping they will fulfill the hole in our heart, but they won’t. They can’t because they have no power except for the power that we give them.

Everything that we need is in Christ’s love and grace and his willingness to die for us even though we didn’t deserve it. It’s like the following:

If you could have a million dollars or friends which would you desire first? Which should you desire first?

Money and things can’t give you happiness or eternal life because they aren’t anything but paper and resources that are used to make them. The only power they have is the power we give them.

So, what power are you giving the latest and greatest in your life?

Christ gave you the ultimate gift, himself. He extended His Love and Grace.

What will you do with it?

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Who God Made Us To Be

God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them. (Genesis 1:27)

“Who was I made to be?”

“Exactly who you are.”

Ever had this conversation with someone? Have you ever asked the question of who we are made to be and then been given this response? It seems to be a very truthful albeit unhelpful response. It’s start to the point, simple, and yet extremely complex.

How can something be simple and complex at the same time?

That seems unreasonable, but we see it all the time in the scriptures. Love your neighbor as yourself doesn’t sound complex but it really is.

To add even more complex to this conversation let’s hone in the question of this post.

Who has God made me to be?
God created all beings in His image.

We are made to be like God, but we are not God. Which means we have qualities like God, like Love, Grace, Peace, Kindness, Caring and may others.

It’s that simple.

The problem is that we complicate the equation. We make it seem that we are not created to be in God’s image because if we were made in His image we wouldn’t make the mistakes that we do, but that is not true because at the same time we are human, and the nature state of being a human is making mistakes.

So you see the point now.

It’s simple, yet complicated.

Which is why the Israelites struggled with this thought and their worth and identity for years. Which is why Jesus came to begin with, to show us who we were made to be. His disciples. Jesus comes to the earth to help us realize our worth and identity, that it is not in our sins that we are defined but in the faithfulness of Christ. Christ defines us for who we are by saying, “I will die to prove that you are worth my image.”

It’s a powerful and influential force that comes when Christ dies for our sins. In that one simple act we are rebranded in the body and blood of Jesus. Because it is truth what it says in Galatians 2:20:

I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

You and I are not what we were before.

Christ is the active and abundant force that is within us, giving us the direction and words to say when we need them. However, we must embrace this force that is within us because when we do that we truly embrace who God made us to be all along, His image.

We no longer live but the body and blood of Jesus Christ live within us and we live by faith and are defined by the faithfulness of God’s Son, Jesus. Who died to prove that we are worth His image.

May God encourage, equip, empower, and energize us to embrace His image.

Amen.

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Letting God In

“Therefore, my dear ones . . . work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ). [Not inyour own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight” (Philippians 2:12,13)

“Hear this: I don’t think God wants you at war with yourself. He sent the prince of peace to soothe those tumultuous waters already. Self-depreciation is a cruel response to Jesus, who died and made us righteous. Guilt is not Jesus’ medium. He is battling for global redemption right now; his objective hardly includes huddling in the corner with us, rehashing our shame again. He finished that discussion on the cross. Plus there is no time for that. We’re so conditioned to being a problem that we’re actually the answer.” -Jen Hatmaker

Over the last couple of years I have noticed something about people and in particular followers of Jesus. It is easier to extend grace to everyone else, but when it comes to extending grace to ourselves that is something that is almost impossible. I work with teenagers, as many of you well know and the thing that really gets to me about teenagers is sometimes they surround themselves around people that may not have the best influence on them. 

Why?

Well I think I have come to realize that not just teenagers, but people in general invite people into their lives that they think they deserve. Which could be possibly why some girls have the worst boyfriends.

Why are we always so self-destructive?

Why is it so easy to invite destructive people into our lives but so hard to invite our Creator?

In some people situations they are haunted by what has happened in their past and a part of them feels that they are defined by what happened 10 years ago, but it was 10 years ago!

See this is the exact reason why God sent His son.

So that we wouldn’t defeat ourselves but that we would be redeemed and would live a life abundantly and not shackled. Christ died for all our lives so that we could have a fresh start, so that we can try again. In the same way He extended grace to us we are to extend it to the world and also ourselves because sometimes the worst critics of ourselves is in the mirror.

Here is the point. We let people that destroy us in but not God, but in order to truly experience the abundant life that is full of redemption we have to let God in. God is the perfect gentleman He won’t force Himself upon anyone. He wants us to choose to let Him in because when we make that choice then our very heart desires it as opposed to being forced. True disciples are developed through our own desire for God to come in and help.

May you let God in and may God truly show you the abundant life that He has for you.

Amen.

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New Day, New You

Today I started a new daily devotional for my morning time with God. It’s called, “New Day, New You” by Joyce Meyer. The topic for today’s devotional was willpower vs. God’s Power, and it brought some interesting reflection.

When you hit a rough patch what do you do?

As Americans we are brought up in a culture that says, “You hitch yourself up by your boot straps and you keeping going.” There is a lot of pride in this world and especially in the United States, but is one stronger when they bring themselves up by their boot straps or when they say: “Lord help me.”

We are commanded by God to be led by His spirit, in fact in John 15:5, John says that “apart from God, we can do nothing.” I would interpret that mean that without a relationship with God we exist but we don’t really live.

When was the last time you really felt that you were alive? Like really alive, the kind of feeling that gives you such passion for God and life and people, when did you last feel this?

I challenge all of us this week to search for God’s spirit and to embrace it no matter the circumstances.

Again, Thank You Lord for this amazing reminder of your presence amongst us!