Life is wearing....

Why is it that life get's messed up? How do you respond when things go wrong? I have been asking myself these questions today. I'm seeking answers and call upon God to help me understand. I'm not sure what's going on anymore, and maybe that's what God wants. I have God in a little box and I like Him there. I understand things better when He stays there. But God keeps moving in and out, all across the board. Maybe He is trying to teach me something. Maybe I need to rely on Him more. I feel like I don't need God with most of the things in my life. Perhaps God is in the process of breaking down the walls that I have set up.

On top of all this garbage, I am getting sick. I hate that feeling when you know a cold is coming on, you're body starts to ache, your head feels like it weighs 800 lbs., and you get really tired for no reason, you have no appetite, which sucks because I like to eat. I think today is a lethargic day. You ever get the feeling that you want to leave but don't know where to go? That's the feeling I'm having today. I want out but I don't know where I'd go to. Life is stressful, relationships are stressful, ministry is stressful, loving God is stressful. I wish I could read something that would make everything easy all of a sudden. Unfortunately that is not going to happen. Whatever happens, happens I guess...

Two thoughts...

Okay, so last night was awesome. 92 people at Nexus. What the frigg? I dont know. Must be that God is doing something cool!!!

Okay, this second one...
My mind began to wonder today what church and religion would be like if in the Middle-Ages, Islam has not taken over Africa and Christianity would have "stuck"? All the way from Egypt to the Northern states in Africa, Christianity is almost nowhere to be found. Mohammed and his people pretty much moved right in and dominated. The main reason for the decline of the Christian Church in Africa was because of the infighting and problems among the church. Heresies began to be taught and people were fighting and aruguing and bickering with each other. Christians arguing?? What??? Could it be?? What scares me the most is the the church today gets caught up in some of the same stuff. We argue over little things, quarrels, and disputes. But why? What good does this do? Not a whole lot. Eventually Joseph Smith or Mohammed are going to infiltate our Christian churches with peace, rightness, and attractiveness. (What, this has already happened?) We as a church need to remember that...
1. We dont have all the answers.
2. Only God does have all the answers.
3. Keep our eyes on the prize. It is our job to remain doctrinally pure, and satisfyingly attractive to people.

We have to be careful or we are going to lose out big time!

Although I sound somewhat pessimistic about ministry, and Christianity, God is doing great things in our midst. Great, great things.

Freaking iPod!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Okay, so this post is a bit late....I had a few things I wanted to blog about but they have been held on to because of the current sickness of my iPod.

Thursday, as I was leaving my house to go to NWoods, I dropped my iPod on the driveway...a second drop in a series of droppings. I quickly reached down, grabbed it, prayed, and turned it on. It still worked!! So I got to the church and as I was getting out my car, I was processing a few topics I needed to blog about. Then all of a sudden, a thought of dropping my iPod AGAIN crept into my mind. I quickly rushed that crappy thought back to the recesses of my mind. Then, as I gathered everything I needed to take into church, I turned and started walking And BAAAAAM. I hit the iPod on my side mirror. And....BOOOOM. Onto the parking lot ground at church. I thought, it looks in tact still, it should be fine. So...I go to leave the church.....and EXPLICITIVE!!!!! I doesn't work right anymore. So, long story short....my iPod is sick. Anyone have any ideas to help me fix it, or get a replacement?? I have like 8 months of extended warranty left on it. How can I get a free iPod replacement??? I'm desperate!

Anyways, now to what I was going to post about in excitement!!! Less than one month from today, Chicago CUbs tickets go on sale for the upcoming season. February 24th to be exact. On this day, I will spend upwards of 8 hours on the phone, on the internet, getting busy singal and signal after signal. But, it marks a great day. That means that the upcoming season is only a little over a month away.

Wow.

I have to say, it hasn't been too often as of late that I have been "wowed" by God lately. However, last night was one of those nights. It was an awesome night, with awesome people. I don't know why things at the Gathering are going great. I don't know why we are seeing more people come each week. The one thing I do know is that in the midst of growth, I am growing more and more aware at how amazing God is, and how little I have to do with good things that happen. I am wowed by God's greatness as he continues to work, in spite of the sinful people that we are. So awesome!!!

Psalm 34:1-3 says:

I will praise the Lord at all times,
I will constantly speak His praises.

I will boast ONLY in the Lord;
let all who are discouraged take heart.

Come, let us tell of the Lord's greatness;
let us exalt His name together.

This is my prayer this week!

We can't dazzle God!

An excerpt from the Raggamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning:

"How long will it be before we realize that we cannot dazzle God with our accomplishments? When we will acknowledge that we need not and cannot buy God's favor? When we will acknowledge that we don't have it all together and happily accept the gift of grace? When will we grasp the thrilling truth of Paul, "'We acknowledge that what makes a man righteous is not obedience to the Law, but faith in Jesus Christ"' (Galatians 2:16)"

It seems like I go through each day with the mindset, "what am I going to accomplish today?" It is in those accomplishments that I feel like I worship God, whether it is with schoolwork, reading the Bible, worshipping God, meeting with college students, etc...Something very profound hit me today. I am because of God. I live and move and breathe because of God. I take a lot for granted.

Perhaps the mindset I should have beginning every day should look something more like this, "God, you are God. Thank you for speaking to me. I am weak, sinful and gross. You hold the power, you hold the grace. Thank you for being so good to me, I don't deserve it. Hopefully I can know you better today than yesterday."

It is when I start thinking in terms of getting things done that I get distracted.

Dancing like a moron.

On my way to work this morning I was listening to Coldplay's Rush of Blood to the Head and I couldn't help but wonder, "Is Chris Martin (Lead singer of Clodplay) worshipping God while he plays, and yet he doesn't even know it?" To see this guy play music is like watching a a person serve God with their abilities. There seems to be something spectacular about the way this guy plays. If you've ever seen him live (you are very lucky) you have probably noticed that he plays with passion, he dances around at the piano, he dances with his guitar, he sings loud, he jams...he is loving every second of what he is doing. It makes me think that this guy knows something. He knows there is something else out there. He understands that he is making something beautiful. Maybe more, he feels it. While he is playing, he gets it. He understands. I wish that I could get it like Chris Martin does. It must be awesome to be so passionate about something it makes you dance and make weird faces and not care what you look like. I don't know if this guy is a Christian, but I guarantee if he is not a Christian, God is still pleased with him while he is doing what he loves. I guarantee that God loves to see us doing what we were made to do.

Dave Matthews is the same way. Now I know Dave is a bit more...how do you say...more out there than most. But if you've ever seen him live, you understand. He loves what he is doing to the point where he is dancing and looking like a moron. I wish I could do that!

Crash

I just finished watching Crash. Crash is a terrific movie and I suggest to anyone who hasn't seen it yet to make sure to rent it. It is a phenominal movie that portrays racial diversity in Los Angeles and the struggle for several different people to love each other. (Yes, Bethany cried, but for good reason.) It was eye-opening for me. It was a little bit heavy on the language side, but perhaps it was necessary to get the jist across. I had no real problem with its rating.

If anyone is interested in being in a small group or if you don't know what a small group is all about, talk to me. Hopefully in the near future some college-type small groups will be starting!!

Go BU beat Creighton!!!!!!

Weekend Update

Sunday night was pretty awesome. We had Chad Thompson in to speak at Nexus about some of the truths about homosexuality and the church. I know that for myself it was quite eye-opening. I hope that Chad coming and speaking will have a direct impact on others like it did me. That was Sunday night!

Sunday afternoon provided some of the most ridiculous football I've seen in a long time. The Steelers and Colts game was insane. Most everyone has read, seen, or heard about this by now, so I won't waste your time. But the highlight of the afternoon was getting to watch some of the Bears meltdown. I'm sorry to all you real Bears fans, those who have suffered miserably like myself as a Cubs fan. I truly am. But to all of you who are Bandwagoners....I couldn't have prayed for anything better!!! Thank God!!! No more Bears fans for a while.

Just a short note to any college students....we are off and running with this college ministry thing. If you would like to be a part of what we do, please e-mail me, or call the church office! Or come hang out with us this Sunday night after Nexus. We are sure to do something righteuously excellent!

SNNNOWWWW

So just two days ago I posted about how mad I am at the weather man for not giving us a winter this year. And here we are today, and it is cold....AND SNOWING! Good work weather man, I will stop boycotting you.

Monday afternoon at 12:30 we are going to have a meeting with pizza at Northwoods about the college ministry with pizza if anyone is interested with pizza. If you are interested, let me know. You can email me or post to this blog or do whatever you like. But I need to have a number by Sunday night so I know how much pizza to order!!

Elf

So I just finished watching Elf with Bethany. This is the third time I've seen this movie, and for some dumb reason, it keeps getting funnier. We were tired and in a laughing mood so we rented it and tried to fall asleep on her couch, but it's too funny to sleep to. Oh well, at least the movie is good!

If you are a college student and are interested in getting some food on Monday and to talk about some college ministry stuff, let me know. Perhaps some pizza at Northwoods while we pontificate????

Too late, going to bed, goodnight.

Genesis 24-Why can't I have such great faith?

I was reading today in Genesis chapter 24 and was amazed at a few things that in previous reading, had overlooked. The first thing that amazed me was how faithful Abraham's servant Eliezer was. Here he is summoned by Abraham to go back to his master's homeland, and to find a wife for Isaac. Now, not only did he obey what Abraham told him to do, the next thing he did was incredible. Shortly after he had gotten into the city where Abraham told him to go, he began to pray EXPECTINGLY asking God to show him something SPECIFIC. Sure enough, God showed Eliezer exactly what he asked Him to. Now, after Eliezer talked to Rebekkah, she invited him back to her house with her family. Her family AGREED that this was from God and that she should go back with the servant to marry Isaac. This is the second amazing part. Her family had such ana amazing faith that this is what God had for Rebekkah that they just let her go. Why can't I have such an amazing faith?

Trying to figure it out

I am currently smack dab in the middle of trying to figure out how in the world we are going to reach college students in this area. It seems to me that there are only currently a handful of them that I even know, let alone 40-50 (where I'd love to see it by the end of the year). Man, it is exciting to have this opportunity, and stressful too. I thought several months ago that I wasn't even close to starting and building a ministry, and to a big extent, I'm not. I have a ton of help from some awesome people and resources, and thankfully, I have the Gathering to build off of. I am searching for some great ideas or whatever from anyone as this process begins. Perhaps prayer might be of some value right now. One thing is for sure, I am excited!

I hate how football isn't even over yet and I'm already looking forward to baseball season. The terrible thing is that baseball season is 162 games long, and I have to know what's going on in every game. It really is an addiction, but oh well! It is something that is fun, although certainly excessive on my part.

Last thought, what the heck is up with this weather? Where is all the friggin snow and cold weather? It's getting borderline ridiculous if you ask me.

First Day of Work

So I started my new job yesterday. The first parts were quite boring and bland. Paperwork, building tour, that sort of thing. But the latter half was exciting. Charlie and I began to talk about my specific job duties as well the things that aren's as specific. It should be fun, and challenging helping him build some college students into this ministry.

I also wasnt to remark about something incredibly silly. Right now I am eating Ranch Sunflower seeds. They are quite possibly the most delicious snack ever made. I haven't had any since Softball season, and I am glad that I have a bag now. They are scrum-trulescent!

If you or anyone else you know might be interested in a college-aged small group, or would just be in favor of hanging out with people your age, get at me...We are interested in setting something up!