Let wonder replace worry

A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

-Thomas Merton

Ash Wednesday

With everything going on over the past couple of weeks (my son being born, small stuff like that) I almost forgot that Lent is already upon us. Today marks the beginning of our journey to the glorious Easter morning.

We do not enter this period of fasting and prayer to attract God’s attention or to be noticed by other people. Lent is a way of paying attention to our own lives.

As we observe a holy Lent, we remember our baptism. We remember that we have already died once. The light of resurrection waits for us at the end of the journey. Ash Wednesday invites us to turn again, take up our cross, and move ahead on the way to meet the one who shapes us, marks us, claims us as his own.

Delicious for Chanukah- Really? Are you sure?

Second Sunday of Advent: Peace

We seek peace today:

When we look at the news and see the horrible way people treat each other.
When we look in our homes and see the horrible way people treat each other.
When we remember just how lucky we are.
When we remember just how blessed we are.
When we give out change to bell ringers on the street.
When we give our thoughts in prayer.
So that we’ll understand we are God's children.
So that we may give it to the homeless.
So that we may share it with family and friends.

How can we ask for peace if we are unwilling to offer it? Praying for peace is like asking to be fed when the food is right in front of us. We can create peace ourselves- but often we are afraid. Afraid we will lose, afraid we will look dumb, afraid of what others will think. Many times, peace comes from being in the right place at the right time. May we ask God to lead us to that place. To a place where we do not have to fight and argue any more. To a place where we are no longer afraid. May we be reminded that “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

NOTE: Parts of this post come from "The Book of Uncommon Prayer" by Steve Case.  Every youth worker should have volumes 1 and 2 on their bookshelf and should never go on any youth group trip unless thy are in the backpack along with the permission forms. I plan to post sometime about the impact these 2 books have has on my ministry.

First Sunday of Advent: Hope

This morning we lit the candle of hope. Sometimes things just never seem to go right in life. Yet we still get up out of bed and are determined to go on. Why? Because we have hope. Hope is what keeps us alive. And we know this hope is God given...so that we can see him.

I saw hope today...

In the eyes of a small boy, looking up to and wanting to be like his Dad.
In a mother’s hand as she holds her daughters.
In the present a teenager left on my desk.
In the face of children as they saw the Christmas cookies in fellowship after worship.
In the face of the bell-ringer standing outside in the cold.
In the shelter worker accepting warm coats for those who need them.
In the choir who sang with all of their might.
In the smile of a troubled student who showed up to talk after everyone else has gone home.

Hope is all around us—it embodies everything we see at this time of year.

So today, we lit this first candle on our journey to the manger.

Advent 07

As we begin the Christian year this weekend with Advent, Nicole and I made an Advent Wreath today. I was pretty good with the glue gun. Believe me, those candles are not going anywhere. I also was in charge of cutting the greenery a putting it into a pile for Nicole to be artistic with. Here is the finished product:

The best thing about an Advent Wreath is that every piece you use is a symbol. We don't just use evergreens, pine cones, wheat stalks, and everything else because it looks pretty. They each remind us what Advent is all about: preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus. And it was a blast to make together. We plan to make this a yearly tradition with our family.

See You at the Pole

I'm thinking about boycotting SYATP this year.

That's right, not even mentioning it or promoting it to my students.

I'll back up...

I first attended See You at the Pole in the fall of 1992 on my Junior High School Campus.  It was completely student led. We made posters, postcards, and invited everyone who we thought might actually attend. 125 students showed up 90 minutes early for prayer and the free breakfast at the Baptist Church across the street. And we celebrated the huge success.

I never missed a year between then and when I graduated.

The thing I have always loved about this movement is that in 1990 a group of student's had a vision and just one year later a million students were coming to school early on a September morning to pray.

No national office
No staff
No budget
No t-shirts
No "pray hard" bracelets

Nothing but a vision that could only come from God.

So why would I not promote the event this year?

Over the past 6 years of full-time youth ministry at my church, I have been getting increasingly uncomfortable with the commercialization of a vision that was placed in the hearts of teenagers.

I have gotten 5 catalogs this summer telling me that I have to order the promo kit for $50- $70. There are shirts, wristbands, lanyards, key tags, promo DVDs, brochures, handbooks, info cards, and much more.

Perhaps the worst thing they are selling is a freaking "Pole Pass." I wish I was being sarcastic.

Notice that in the previous sentence, I wrote "the worst thing "they" are selling."

I got to thinking about it. Who is "they" anyway? Who decided it was a good idea to profit off a movement of God on school campuses around the world.  I wondered who was behind this.

As you can see on the website, no organization is listed anywhere. There is a phone number for "call in orders" and an address, but I was unable to find the name of the organization behind  the website. So after a little more digging, I found a small note in on the bottom of one of the catalogs I was sent in much smaller font than anything else on the page.

Any guesses?

It was the National Network of Youth Ministers. (Of which I have been a member for years.)

I'm guessing they are the ones printing shirts and pole passes every year.

I don't guess I am mad at them for doing this, just disappointed they are choosing to take this route. The only question I have for them is what gives them the right to take this vision that was placed in the heart of a group of kids in Texas in 1990 and to profit off of that vision. Consider what they are doing.

By selling youth group promo kits (again for $50-$70) they are taking a campus movement and moving it into the church. By me ordering brochures and poll passes and giving them to my students to give to their friends, what ownership of this event do the students have?

I cannot describe how great it was for me to meet with a group of kids, make postcards, phone calls, hang posters all over the school. 

We did it because it was our vision, our event. This just turns it into another church thing. Not that church events are bad, but why can't we allow our students to do something on their campus on their own. Their vision, their goals, their event.  It really meant a lot to me all of the years I was in school.

So I have not decided for sure, but I an thinking about boycotting SYATP this year.

By the way, the history of SYATP is truly incredible. If you don't know about it, read the short blurb on the website.

Of course, if you want the complete history you'll have to buy the DVD. Yeah, that is for sale too.

Lent Reflections

It is hard for me to believe that we are already half way through our Lenten journey this year.  For the past couple of weeks I personally have been focusing on how Lent forces the believing community to live in the moment and not fast forward to a quick “Jesus fixes it” answer. In Lent, we are forced to live in the moment of repentance, waiting, wrestling, angst, longing, and faith.

As Christians we are often so quick to give “the answer” that we miss living in the tension… a fusion of hope and fear; faith and doubt; trust and unbelief; steps forward and falling back; trusting and playing it safe. Maybe in this tension/fusion/journey… is where we find God and God refines us.

Lent takes us on the journey of remaining in the moment where we must stay still, move slowly, suspend quick answers and quick fixes and walk a slow, contemplative journey to the cross.

In this journey, the cross takes on deeper meaning. In this pilgrimage, resurrection is seen more clearly and affects us more deeply.

Merry Christmas

Remember, Christmas is a season, not a day. Don't be so quick to take your lights down.

The Birth of Jesus
1-5About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

6-7While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

8-12There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."

13-14At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:

   Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
   Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

15-18As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

 19-20Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told! 

Pentecost

Acts 2:38-47

Peter said, "Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites."

He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, "Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!"

That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met.

They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

And the church was born. On this day, Peter stands and proclaims the name of Jesus. The same Peter who just a few weeks ago was ashamed to admit to a servant girl that he was a follower of Jesus, the same Peter that screamed and cussed and said he never knew him, the same Peter who ran away and hid. There is something different, there is passion in his eyes and fire in his bones, and he does not care who hears him.

From that day until this, the name of Jesus has never ceased to be proclamed. In many cultures, in many tongues. And that same spirit that forever changed Peter lives in all whom God elects to be His children.

Thanks be to God.