Word's From A Recovering Sinner

3 Days til Bedlam

2011-11-30T00:24:00.003-06:00

As you read this, it is three days until Bedlam. But I'm not really in a Bedlam kind of mood right now. If you haven't seen it yet, go watch 50/50. It's about a guy who has cancer and it chronicles the pain both physically and emotionally that people go through during this situation. It makes you cry, it makes you think, it makes nothing else really seem important.

This week is supposed to be all about football. How this game is the biggest in OSU history. If OSU wins, it earn its first Big 12 Championship, it's first BCS Bowl, and maybe, with a little luck, a National Championship opportunity. But none of that seems to matter right now after watching 50/50. The only things that continue to pop up are God, Family, and Friends.

The possibility and actuality of death makes you think. Earlier today a student on our campus was killed while riding his motorcycle. A couple weeks ago four more members of our OSU Family died in a plane crash. My Grandad died from Pancreatic Cancer. Death makes us think, makes us realize what's really important in life. And it's not football. It's not earning prestige in Call of Duty or being the most popular person on campus.

Don't forget what's really important in life.

Faith in God and living for Him, Your Family, and Your Friends are more important than Bedlam.

I Needed This Reminder

2011-09-16T00:39:00.001-05:00

Ray Jones' son was playing baseball, and his team had batted around, but when it came to his son's at bat, he struck out. In fact, every time he came to the plate that night he struck out, never once hitting the ball. After the game, his father came up to him and he said, "Son, I'm so glad you struck out every time you came to bat tonight." Confused, his son did a double-take wondering what in the world his dad was thinking. But Ray said, "This way I can tell you that I am so proud of you, and you can know that it has absolutely nothing to do with what happened on the field."

Just think about that for a second, God is proud of you. This is Love with a capital L that He shows us. That even in our failures, our mistakes, and our sin, He still loves us. I often lose sight of that and its easy to do so.

And it doesn't mean we stop trying or keep living in our sin. It means that God has and will always be there for us and is still working even when we feel like He isn't, or even when we fail. It means we put more effort into pursuing Christ and Christ's goals. Because:

He is working.

He is moving.

We are not yet complete and won't be til the day we die.

Let's get uncomfortable, take risks, love and serve others, take the Church to the people, live the Gospel, make Jesus Famous.

Living as if God Isn't Around

2011-08-28T01:13:00.001-05:00

Did God leave me? Why can't I hear him? He must've left because I would've heard him? It couldn't be that I'm not listening, that I've wandered off, that's crazy talk.

Say something, anything, I'm listening now. Talk to me now. You must not be there. I'll try to contact you again when I feel this way again. I guess I'll go back to how I was living, distant from you, not trying to further your Kingdom. Trying to pursue my own interests, my goals, my dreams, it's all mine.

What have you done for me lately? You took away dad's job months after getting it. You took away my scholarship to the place I wanted to be more than anywhere this summer, making me wonder if I'd make it back here. I told you I would praise you no matter what happened, I wasn't lying, but I haven't done much praising have I?

It gets harder to praise you when my plans aren't going my way. Me me me, thats all I care about isn't it? Not what you have done for me throughout all of this, your plans for me, your goals for me, the people you want me to be with and love on, to serve. I've truly been a shitty servant to you because I haven't been trusting you. Maybe if I ever get a tattoo I can print that on my back "Failure of a servant."

Not once have I thought about how you are using each of these situations in my life? Making me more dependent on you instead of thinking I can do everything. Knowing you are really there, even thought I can't hear you, when we both know the truth is I'm not listening to you speak. You are always talking, but I'm not listening, I've been too busy playing nhl, doing homework, watching tv, on the computer, and everything else in between, except doing the things you want me to do.

And all of this falls into place in this thing we call life. Except, You gave me life, not the games or the music I play. You created me for a purpose, and its not to spend every moment of spare time watching tv. You made me in Your image, and I'm destroying that temple with my thoughts and behaviors.

I say you are my all, my life, but actions don't back up my words. For too long I've been ignoring you, but no longer. For too long, I've decided not to act when I do listen, no longer. You are here, with me forever and always. And forever and always, I will be with you. On earth, in Heaven; my focus, priority, and mission will be to make You Famous. The good kind of Famous. Famous with a capital F. Loving You and Others as a servant. A servant-leader at some point, but first and always first, a servant.

You are here with me. Through the tough times, the good times, the mourning, the rejoicing, the pain, the joy, the despair, the peace, the happiness. You are here with me, and I'm going to listen better.

I surrender the control I've been holding onto. I surrender the worries I have about being a servant-leader for RUF and our campus. I surrender the dreams I have for myself, personal, relational, occupational, spiritual. I surrender my life to You. And from now on, I'm going to live that way.

Serve/Convert

2011-08-07T13:40:00.002-05:00

As Christians, we serve not to convert, but because we have been converted.

When you read this, what thoughts run through your mind?

Motivational/Demotivational Friday Part 2

2011-08-05T19:22:00.001-05:00

What is something you are being tempted with right now?

"Do you really want to spend the rest of your life wondering..." This is just one of the many thoughts that creep up when we are being tempted to do things. This whole summer it's felt like I've been tempted to just coast through everything. School. Work. God stuff. Knowing that if I did not make certain grades during this summer would result in me not returning to OSU gave me the motivation to fight through that, along with God's endless help. At work, I wanted to work as hard as I could to honor God with every day I was there. But actually spending time with God? In His Word? Prayer? Community? Those areas I truly stunk up. I let the exhaustion from work and busyness of school tempt me into going through the motions in this area. Now that is all over, waiting for my last grade to come in, the temptation continues...but in a whole new way.

So what are you being tempted with right now?

Motivational/Demotivational Friday's!

2011-07-22T22:23:00.000-05:00

I've decided that every Friday will be Motivational/Demotivational Friday where I will post a motivational poster for your/my entertainment.

This one has special meaning because I just finished summer classwork that was due at 10pm tonight and was started at 5pm today.

This poster is kind of like life though. We often try to shortcut things in our lives. School, work, family, friends, even God. I know for me, my relationship with Christ is often shortcutted and given low priority or no priority because "there isn't enough time in the day." But we can't do that. Christ has to be the number one thing in our life, given top priority and full support. Then everything else has to fall around that and at the same time work around that.

And honestly I've sucked at that recently/this summer.

The time to change is now.

Tune in every Friday and throughout the week for more posts/posters

When Shadows Fall On Us

2011-06-21T22:56:00.000-05:00

This song has been running through my mind a lot lately. The link below is the audio of it if you want to follow along. I miss you, Nick.

Shadows

Life is full of light and shadow
O the joy and O the sorrow
O the sorrow

And yet will He bring
Dark to light
And yet will He bring
Day from night

When shadows fall on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When darkness falls on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When all seems lost
When we're thrown and we're tossed
We'll remember the cost
We're resting in the
Shadow of the cross

With every breath I take, every heart beat
Sunrise and the moon lights in the dark street
Every glance, every dance, every note of a song
All a gift undeserved that I shouldn't have known
Every moment I lie, Every moment I covet
I'm deserving to die, I'm earning your judgment
I, without the cross there's only condemnation
If Jesus wasn't executed there's no celebration
So in times that are good, in times that are bad
For any time I've had it all I will be glad
And I will boast in the cross, I boast in His name
I will boast in the sunshine, boast in His reign (rain)
What's my life if it's not praising You
Another dollar in my bank account of vain pursuit, I do
That count my life as any value or precious at all
Let me finish my race, let me answer Your call

How strict is too strict?

2011-06-20T21:18:00.000-05:00

So I attempted to have an interesting conversation with a co-worker today after overhearing part of his convo with another co-worker about God and Jesus and stuff. Anyways, this part of the convo was directed towards Church Music, more specifically, using instruments during our music times at church. Now, he was saying that there is no biblical basis for using musical instruments; therefore, he believes (and I think his church as well) that when worshiping through music that we should not use instruments because the Bible does not say to do so. Sadly, we could not elevate the conversation today because of time constraints, guests, work stuff, and him not directly answering questions I was asking him. The way he said it made it sound like he believed it was wrong to do these things, even though he would not strictly say that. But he brings up an interesting point, even though I don't agree with him fully on what he is saying. Should our churches/us do things that are not specifically laid out in the Bible during our services/lives? Is it wrong to use musical instruments/do whatever it is just because the Bible doesn't explicitly tell us to do so?

Now I have a completely different opinion and an entirely different response to these comments that I couldn't express today because of time and I'll share later after yall discuss some. So, Ready, Set, Discuss!

anxiousness

2011-05-19T23:38:00.001-05:00

This is what God has been teaching me about lately.

What do I have to be anxious about?

Being worried about my first week back at work and seriously being freaked out today as I sat in my truck before work today. Even though I've done this job before I got really freaked out.
What about girls and the worries they bring to the table?
Friends whose relationships with have deteriorated over the last few months?

And just when I finish praying this morning and God brings forth a peace for the day, I get an email. And now for X amount of time I'm left in the unknown and it scares the crap out of me.

Is this God teaching me to continue to give it all to Him and not to worry because it won't add a second to my life to worry? Is satan pushing harder cause he's found my button?

Probably both. Continuing to trust God even through the scary times that lead into a summer of unknown.
I'm scared. But I'm praying and trusting

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SuCo Day 3

2011-05-11T20:35:00.000-05:00

I skipped over day two. Not that nothing important or crucial occurred on this day, but I'm today has been more thought provoking.
I absolutely love the music team for our large group. You can tell they mean the words they are singing. Do I always mean the words I'm singing?
The large group topic has been sanctification, and God has been hitting hard to me on that. I need to do a much better job at killing all sin in my life.
Humility-thinking much less of yourself, and more about others. I've sucked at that recently.
Went to the dating/relationships seminar today. Now I feel ready to date. I'm not. But I'm in my head as usual.
Jesus loves the Church not because she is beautiful, but Jesus loves her despite all the filth that occurs, and that is what makes her beautiful.
I've sucked at making meaningful conversations recently.
I've sucked at being vulnerable with people. And now its super scary.
I love the beach, God is moving and teaching. Tomorrow I'm spending time at the beach with just me in God listening and talking. It needs to happen.
But I am so blessed by the friends I have in ruf, and I'm going to miss them this summer.
Time to go back out and dance the night away, ruf style!

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Summer Conference day 1

2011-05-10T00:16:00.001-05:00

It took us two days, 17 hoursish total to get here, except it felt short.Beautiful beaches. Awesome group of people. And God.

Sanctification is the main topic this week during large groups and im stoked to learn more about it.

I need to get to know everyone else in our group better. And I will starting at breakfast.

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Don't Forget

2011-05-03T01:20:00.001-05:00

I forgot. I forgot what happened on that trip. I forgot that God kept us in Dallas instead of sending us to Haiti. I forgot what God did on that trip. How He worked through me. How He worked through others. How He brought our team together. The conversations I had. I forgot that on this trip I gave my testimony for the first time. How God brought me out of that wickedness and filth, and made me clean again. I forgot that I made a pledge that I wouldn't forget. Were they empty words? Not at the time, but they seem to be now. I forgot about my plans for after the trip. The labels on the water bottles. Oh, is that why I have a hundred water bottles in my truck, I forgot.

I've been forgetful lately too. Forgetting to read my Bible. Forgetting to spend time with God. Forgetting to pray for my friends. Forgetting to memorize scripture. Forgetting to challenge myself and others. Forgetting who really is Michael Minshew. The servant. The friend. The listener. Where is he? Sure, I still am these things sometimes, but I feel like I've sucked at it recently. Where did he go? I've been questioning a lot recently and it scares me. There isn't enough time in the day to figure this crap out.

I forgot. I hope you've done a better job at remembering than I have.

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Study Break on NHL

2011-05-02T15:32:00.001-05:00

Another glitch while playing Luke, it was a goal, even though I was winning 6-1

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NHL At Night

2011-05-01T02:29:00.001-05:00

Luke was pretty mad when I tied it up with 12.8 seconds to go.

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Matthew 5:31-48

2011-04-18T16:52:00.000-05:00

*This is from my personal study of the Word today. So it is written to me from me. However, the parentheses in the first section are for you, answer here or to yourself. P.S. open up the passage and read it yourself and see what God has to teach you from this passage, it may be something different than He showed me today.*

Matthew 5:31-48

Divorce(31-32)- Whoever commits divorce, commits adultery, unless it is on the grounds of sexual immorality. Our country today, sees divorce as normal, or an easy fix to life and relationships. But the Bible clearly states if you get a divorce, unless because of sexual immorality, it is wrong, the same goes for marrying a divorced woman. (I understand that this might make some people a little angered to see this, but isn't this what the Bible says? Or am I interpreting it wrong? I do not feel like I am interpreting this wrong. So why does our country, even our community, often feel that divorce is okay?) Marriage should be a permanent union between man and woman as the two become "one flesh." Remarrying a wrongly divorced(not justified in God's eyes) person is committing adultery. (What do you think?)

*Sexual Immorality can consist of adultery, prostitution, and fornication, among others, but the Greek word is porneia.

Oaths(33-37)-Do not swear by Heaven, or Earth, or anything. No promises. But let my yes' be my yes' and my no's be my no's. Because I cannot do anything. I cannot promise anything. Do not swear by/using God in any way, but let my character be of such integrity that my words can be believed without an oath.

Retaliation(38-42)-If someone hurts me, slaps me, punches me, or verbally punches me, don't fight back. If someone takes me shirt, give him more of my clothes. Go the extra mile, be there for people. Give to those who need it, the poor, the needy, the broken. Give to those who need love. Humbly Love.

Love Your Enemies(43-48)-Love my neighbor, Love my enemies, pray for those who persecute me, pray for my neighbors, pray for my enemies. Love those who are hard to love. Greet and meet people I don't know and begin this same cycle of love with them. "sun...rain..." - God shows grace and care for all of his creatures; therefore Jesus' disciples are to imitate God and love both neighbor and enemy.

Get Uncomfortable
Love
Keep Yourself Pure Michael

bedtime

2011-04-18T00:55:00.001-05:00

HPmmI'm laying in bed, can't sleep, writing this from my phone(I <3 technology). But I can't sleep. Thinking back on the events of today. I worked on homework from 10am-1145pm with a few brakes in between.

I gave up going to a friends homechurch and his home with our friends(lost community).

Spent just a little bit of time with God(most of the reason for staying back).

Worked on homework all day long, and taxes(which just sucked).

Beat Luke in ping pong on a broken table in our lounge. Also jammed out on an acoustic guitar that had no strings that I have now taken possession of because no one has claimed it(btw I played a great set).

Broke my best friend's heart

No wonder I can't sleep.

But through all of this, I know God is still working in my life and restoring and purifying me, and for that I am truly thankful.

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........

2011-04-14T18:20:00.002-05:00

I've stared at this screen for a good ten minutes, and cannot think of what or how I want to say.

I'm tired.

I'm ready to be home.

God is still God and God is still good, yet I haven't thought that recently, or lived that out recently.

I've just floated along the last few weeks. I'm just kind of here, getting by, doing what I should do to be a good student. But it's not enough. I know it isn't enough.

When was the last time I read my Bible outside of church of RUF? I don't know.

The last time I tried to memorize my verses? I don't know.

Last time I shared the Gospel? Longer than those two combined.

Have I dwelt on God throughout my entire day? Nope, I've spent my time thinking about two girls instead, neither of which will happen, but I digress.

My effort lately towards God = major suckage.
and I'm tired of it.

Anyone else want to start over?
That's the beauty of God's Grace and Mercy, it's always there, because we always mess up. But at the same time, we have to react to it.

It's time to change. I've said that a lot, "I need to change" "It's time to change." What's going to be different? I don't know.

But it starts on the inside. It starts with dwelling more about God, and less about girls/hockey/baseball/working out/ultimate frisbee/food/sleep/nhl 11 scoreboard vs luke/______.

So how are things going to change?

What do you want to discuss?

2011-04-10T22:42:00.001-05:00

If there is anyone who still reads this site, this question is for you.

What do you want to talk about?

This blog was intended to be an area for discussion, so the ball is in your court. Present a topic and let's talk about it.

Worship

2011-04-06T23:34:00.001-05:00

Everything you do is an act of worship towards someone or something.

So who or what are you worshipping?

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Not Westboro

2011-03-31T00:25:00.001-05:00

The great thing about creating plans, is that often times they aren't God's plans for us. It is something that I have had to struggle with learn a lot about this year, and it has been frustrating and at times, not fun. But I am always so thankful that His plans are greater than mine. Which leads me into the topic that I was supposed to write about a few days ago, Westboro. And this post, sadly, is going to be pushed aside to later this week. The reason for this is because I just stumbled upon an interesting site, churchrelevance.com.

*Disclaimer* This post is completely unfair to most churches because I have only been to a handful of churches in America. It is a rant that is fueled out of seeing countless churches not doing anything about the lost in this world. Churches that are more consumed with having large congregations and are not equipping people to spread the Gospel.

I saw a post on Twitter about the top 200 church blogs for the spring 2011 season. So I wandered over there, looked at the list, recognizing three of them, but then I found something more interesting. "Churches to Watch" and "Top Churches to Watch." Finding this oh so intriguing, I start browsing through the "top" churches in America, recognizing more churches I knew and listened to than blogs I had read. But what caught me off guard was how they were organized. Here are the categories for the "best" churches:
Church Growth
Church Innovation
Church Planting
Church Size
Influencing Other Churches
All Areas

Now obviously these churches are doing something "right" to end up on these "top" listings. And churchrelevance.com's mission is to help "create relevant effective ministries;" however, is all of that really important? Yes I understand that having a big church that is planting and growing other churches is awesome in some facets. Having a church within walking distance of everyone in the world is something that we should be striving towards. But I feel they are missing out on a couple key aspects.

Missions. Community. Where is the list that shows what churches are giving generously towards missions and sending out people to spread the love of Christ and the Gospel Message? Where is the list that shows what churches have an intense community that is showing nothing but love towards one another and is strengthening the Body, The Real Church and is adding to that community within their cities? Where are those kinds of lists?

Why have become a nation that is becoming more and more interested in who has the best stuff/staff/buildings/how big the congregations are/a billion other reasons that aren't really as important? How about those who are focused on equipping disciples to go and serve and feel missions in America and worldwide are important and don't care about what their building looks like? (I didn't see The Village Church on that list, por que?)

Do you agree? Disagree? Indifferent? How does your church stack up? Are they putting emphasis on areas like community and missions, or in areas like building and congregation size?

Remember when I made the comment that there should be a church within walking distance of every person on the planet? Do you know who that church is? You. We are the Church. The Body of Christ is the Church and we should be taking the Church to those who do not know Christ, not the other way around. Is your church training you to take the Church to the World? Is your church sending people sending out people to share the Gospel/staff going out personally and doing so/aiding in doing so? Is your church urging you to stay in, or go out?

Christians and Jesus

2011-03-17T00:27:00.001-05:00

When you hear the word, Christians, what thoughts do you think?

When you hear the name, Jesus, what thoughts do you think?

Are the thoughts similar? Do they correlate with one another? What are your thoughts?

Please do not hold back whatsoever

Books

2011-03-12T23:43:00.001-06:00

I love to read books. But the way I chose the books I've read/will read have come from a variety of sources. Suggestions from friends. Personal information about the book. But the biggest reason I have for choosing the books I've read are based off of the title. A catchy title categorizes most of the books on my shelf and stack. So, I'm going to explain to you why each book is on my shelf/stack. If for any reason you are looking for books to read, or have questions about said book, ask, and I will gladly tell you more.

My plan was to write out each book that I've read/have to read and how they came along. But as I started writing that out I realized that I was coming off as arrogant about what books I've read. And yes they are mostly great books and I recommend some, but those books aren't important. Jesus is. I could read every book in the world about Him, but if I don't act out my faith because of how Jesus has changed my life and make every effort to spread the Gospel message, then what good are those books? This all spans from the fact that I have just finished two books in three days, mainly because I didn't like them. Those two books speaking about the Holy Spirit and the Gospel message, but once again, if I am not sharing God's love in every second of my life and telling of how He died on the Cross for the world, then what was the point? I read books in order to learn something, to gain knowledge, and to wrestle through what I've learned.

One mistake I've made in the past is spending more time reading random books about Jesus than reading THE book about Jesus. That is something I strongly urge you to not let happen in your life because the Bible is the ONE book that truly matters. It is the ONE book that we should read over and over again and study deeply each time we open it. It is the ONE book that we should be completely in love with. Sadly, I definitely do not show that on a day-to-day basis. I tell you this because something I have been working on recently is being real and authentic with people (which I'll explain more later on here, hopefully). And I will still end up finishing these books and moving on toward the next 10-20 for the next stack (which is a great segue into being a good steward with my money post), but studying the Bible and then sharing Jesus' story and love will be the #1 priority (again) in my life. Because I'm tired of being passive, It's time to be a doer.

The entire Bible points towards Jesus. Together, let's fall back in love with story of Jesus and spread His love to this world.

Love God. Love People.

Joesph

2011-02-16T18:44:00.000-06:00

So today I studied out of Matthew 1:18-25.

18Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel"
(which means, God with us). 24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Something that really stuck out to me was how legit Joseph was during this time. You may be reading this and think, "What? Joseph tried to divorce the mother of Jesus Christ the Savior, and you are calling him legit?" But let's think about this.
-Joseph and Mary were betrothed, not exactly the same as our modern society calls being engaged. Meaning, customarily, the parents of a young man chose a young woman to be engaged to their son. After the second stage of betrothal, only a divorce could properly break the binding contract.
-Betrothed partners were referred to as husband and wife; however, they were not yet considered to be married.
-Then Mary was found to be with child.
-Having sexual relations during the betrothal period was considered immoral and was also considered adultery. According to Mosaic law, the penalty for adultery was to be stoned to death.
-Joseph then considers divorcing her, because she appears to have been unfaithful.

So Joseph is hurt, he probably feels betrayed by his betrothancee (betrothal + fiancee)(I like to make up words)and most people in his situation would make an extremely big deal out of the fact that she is pregnant and not with his child while she is legally bound to him. But Joseph doesn't do that. Verse 19 says he "resolved to divorce her quietly." And in doing so, showing compassion to Mary even though he is probably broken by what he has found out. Obviously we know that Joseph didn't divorce Mary, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and explained everything about Jesus, and our Savior, born of a virgin, saved us.

But Joseph, not knowing the whole situation, still proved to be man of God in showing Mary compassion after thinking she had been unfaithful to him. To me, this definitely earns Joseph the award of Legit.

It makes me think about how mean I've been to a few friends that have hurt me in the past over something that is so small compared to how I'm sure Joseph felt when he thought Mary had cheated on him. I definitely haven't been showing love to them or to God through those relationships with them. That's something that I am going to work on now after reading this passage. What about you? Is there anyone that has hurt you that you haven't truly forgiven? Or have you hurt someone that maybe you need to seek their forgiveness? Are there any grudges you are still holding onto? Let's give it all to God and start loving on them and Him.

Love God. Love Others.
Love Jesus. Love People.
Love. Love.

Pretty-fying Your Blog

2011-01-23T17:34:00.000-06:00

Welcome back to Word's From A Recovering Sinner. Sadly, it has been a long time since I have put a lot of effort into this blog, which means there are probably very few people who still come here to read and discuss. But hopefully that is about to change. I've started writing new topics and discussions for our blog that will debut in a couple of days. These are some thoughts that have been on my mind for awhile and hopefully will provide a few laughs, tears, sweat, maybe some bloodshed as well, who knows. This first series I think most of us can relate to in some way or form as the recurring theme involved with be authenticity.

As I started thinking seriously about this blog again I came to the conclusion that it needed something else, something new, something fresh. And what's the best way to do that, in the form of a new site. It would be perfect, it would have a new layout, pictures, maybe some 3D or possibly 4D features, it was going to be legit. Simply put, I wanted my blog to be the coolest looking blog anyone has ever seen. Then I started thinking seriously/rationally about all of this again, and this question kept popping up in my head: Why am I spending so much time frivolously looking for new color schemes and layouts instead of intentionally spending meaningful time with God or within the community that we've built here on our floor and with our friends?

This comes with incredible timing as the sermon at church this morning discussed idolatry, specifically with the Egyptians and Israelites in Exodus. What we often forget is that anything we place in front of God can become an idol or is an idol. And it doesn't have to be a bronze statue to bow to, it can be in the form of television, sleep, football or footBale, (as in the false god from the bible, I don't know how you spell it but I thought that was clever)or even something as simple and stupid as a new layout/website for a blog.

I am so thankful for the friends I've made while being up here. Together, we have built a community that is so passionate for loving God and loving each other and if it wasn't for that community, especially within the last two weeks, I might still be looking at new layouts for this site.

So what's keeping you from spending time with God right now? Whatever it is, I encourage you to put it on hold for a little while, and spend meaningful, intentional time with God and within your own community or building up a community, because that time is far more important than other thing on this earth that will eventually waste away.

1.1.11

2011-01-01T14:33:00.000-06:00

Welcome to 2011 and Happy New Year's to those of you that still keep up with this blog! My hope is that this year more time will be spent living according to God's will and serving and loving Him in everything that we do! I hope to post more this upcoming year just on what God is showing me and what God is doing in my life. So here's to a new year, a new start, and a year of following after God.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
-2 Corinthians 5:17

Come To Jesus Re-Focus Meeting With Myself

2010-11-16T00:27:00.000-06:00

For awhile now I've felt like I needed to change something. I've felt like something needed to be different in my life. I've felt like I've just been coasting through school and life and my relationship with Christ. So finally I had enough and I held a Come To Jesus Re-Focus Meeting With Myself late Sunday night. I talked to Jesus, sang to Jesus, read scripture, and drafted a semester goal list that will serve as my to-do list for the rest of the semester with plenty of room for expansion. The time was refreshing and exactly what I needed to get my priorities back in line. So here is the Shew's To-Do's for the rest of the semester:

1. Love God Love Others
2. Defeat Satan
3. Intentionally spend time daily studying the Word
4. Intentionally spend time daily memorizing scripture
5. Intentionally spend time daily making intentional conversations
6. Finish reading plan
7. Begin study through Grasping God's Word
8. Get in shape (only allowed in gym if intentional time has been spent with Jesus that day)
9. Be a good student and keep that scholarship

Something God has been showing me recently has been how important it is to have accountability with other people. Which is also perfect timing because a few of us have decided to begin an accountability group as we hope to not only grow together as men but as brothers in Christ who will go out each day into the world and share God's Love and His Message. I love God's Timing, it is so much better than any of ours put together and multiplied by two.

So what are some of the goals that you would like to achieve in the upcoming days/weeks/months/or years?

Body, Let's go be Doers

New Post Is Coming

2010-10-19T03:09:00.000-05:00

Sorry its been awhile since I've updated this thing...but...I will post tomorrow/today sometime titled, Campfire at the Horn's.

Until then comment below about how you have seen God work recently or what God has been doing in your life.

Week 4 Update

2010-09-13T00:51:00.000-05:00

Go Pokes! Raise your hand if you like college! Now seeing as how I have no idea who just put their hands up I am going to assume that everyone who just read that sentence raised their hands in the air and waved them like they just didn't care. All I have to say to that is Me Too!! I love college, its pretty fun, you should try it sometime. Who loves lists?? You should all put your hands up for that, literally, because it's time for another list entitled, College!!, WOOOOO!!!

Time slips away very quickly - Each day gets shorter and shorter, especially when you throw in class, homework, rest time, fun time, eating, working out (haha that doesn't happen much anymore), and sleeping every once in awhile. When you put all of those together, you get no time. Plus football games, church, quiet times, bathroom time, bcm, and other things that I'm sure I am forgetting equals less than zero time left in my life.
Girls - As I've mentioned before, there are so many really cute girls here at school. They're everywhere. And the ones I've met so far are pretty stinkin awesome.
Football - It scares me sometimes. Week 1, we dominated. Week 2, we played like crap and almost got beat. The good thing is that our guys know it (I know football players, pretty awesome, not gonna lie) and are going to play better.
Football Games - Are Awesome with a capital A!! We arrive early to the games, two hours early to be almost exact, the cool thing is how the town reacts on game day. People come from all over to tailgate and party, then about 15 minutes before game time the stadium gets pumping. It also helps that 60,000 strong are in attendance as the video boards light up with the standard intro video of the 'boys, then switches to the guys coming from the locker room down the tunnel as Ready For War plays through the stadium. Then the music stops...and the clip from Tombstone comes on where the guy tells the other guy to go back and tell them that Hell's coming for them, then Ready For War comes back on and the 'boys come firing out of the gate ready for war. Then all the traditions that I know you want to hear about that I will save for another time, Go Pokes!
Momentumum - was awesome, read more in post above that will be up sometime soon.
Floor - Floor Bible Study started this week, which had a great turnout, very excited about that. We are arguably the most social floor in our dorm, doors are always open and usually there are at least 10 people in one room at a time, but God is using those moments to have some intentional conversations and simply great times to show love to other guys on our floor. Most of our floor goes to church on sundays and goes to the bcm on mondays and thursdays, which is so awesome because they are at least hearing the Gospel there too and seeing other people show them love.

Like I've said before, God is working in the lives of K3, which is answering so many prayers, so in short, Jesus Rocks with a capital R!!

God Is Faithful

2010-08-27T07:25:00.000-05:00

From the moment I stepped on campus a little over a week ago, God has been faithful. Here's a quick list of the ways God has been faithful during my short time here at school:
I've met tons of really nice people
My roomate hasn't been crazy yet, besides the fact he's a sooner fan
God has put me on this floor for a reason
I've met some great guys, especially on my floor, who love Jesus
I've been to a church that knows what it means to be a community
I've gotten involved in the BCM, where I honestly feel God is telling me to get plugged into
I've had a quiet time with God every day this week for the first time since mission trip
Almost every guy on our floor came last night to the BCM

From the moment I've stepped on campus it is so prevalent that this is EXACTLY where God wants me

And I know without a doubt that God has huge plans for us this year.

So how has God been faithful recently in your life?

Things I've Noticed About College In The 4 Days I've Been Here

2010-08-21T23:56:00.000-05:00

There are so many people here
I walk everywhere
Racquetball is legit
There are cute girls everywhere
I'm exhausted already
I still want to get a tattoo
I've developed a smugness about Texas (The state of Texas is so much more mostest awesomer than oklahoma)
It's a small world (seen people from middle school that I haven't seen in years)
It feels like camp
I get a fresh start
From what I've seen so far the Baptist Collegiate Ministry is pretty legit
The guys on my floor are awesome
My roommate is a sooner fan, who knows why
I've met guys who truly love Jesus and are intentionaly spending their time investing in me and other guys and girls they've met this week
I know this exact place is where God wants me to be

I know that God is going to do some awesome things here at osu this year and I am so eager to see his plans unfold

Matthew 4

2010-08-15T02:23:00.000-05:00

Addiction is a tricky thing.

So is temptation.

So is the devil.

Basically, the devil sucks.

Temptation is all around us thanks to him. In fact, when you try to give something up it seems like more and more things tempt you than you realized before. At least that's the way its been for me. Especially recently after coming back from mission trip and sharing my testimony there. But temptation will find us in forms we never expected, you see the devil is sneaky like that. So what should we do when we feel tempted?
Something that has helped me recently when dealing with temptation is remembering and reading back over Matthew 4. This chapter is devoted to Jesus being tempted by the devil. The devil took him up and down a mountain and have him bread after forty days of fasting, all Jesus had to do was bow down and worship him. But Jesus held firm and if a tired and hungry Jesus can resist the devil who is offering the world to him (which is already God's anyway) then why cant I resist something so minuscule that causes me to sin?

This is where the application comes in. My application for this is a two-parter. 1: read Matthew 4. Re-reading Matthew 4 reminds me of what Jesus went through to resist the devil and gives me hope that through Him I can as well. The problem is that I can't always remember to to back and read that chapter, which brings me to numero dos. 2: write it down. Write it down in places I'll see it, i.e. desk, chair, tv, wrist, arms. The last two tend to be the most effective, cause its always with me. Does that give me the ok to get a tattoo?

Anyways those are the two ways that help me fight the devil, along with prayer, hope this helps you.

(Written from the floor of my best friend's house late at night after my last day of working and an awesome dance party with even awesomer friends)

Service

2010-08-11T02:03:00.000-05:00

So anyone who knows me knows that service is a huge deal to me. And it is so easy for me to serve and show that servant's mentality and heart while on mission trip. But when I get home, I lose so much of what I so desperately want and strive to be. If that makes any sense whatsoever then my thought is why is it so easy to be a servant on a mission trip but hard back in the "life" or " home"? Stuff as simple as organizing a plan for passing out water to the thirsty or food for the hungry? Things I truly wanted to do and said I would do when I got back from mission trip.
(For those wondering, most people who we give water to will not have time for or want to talk, so my thought was to design a label for the water bottle that either shared the gospel or shared a few verses or even simply said "Jesus loves you" but for the past two weeks I have stared at that water bottle on the floor of my room as I pass on by.)
So what is it the fact that I'm leaving for college in a week and I'm scared out of ny mind?
Is it that I just don't know what to say about Jesus on a freaking water bottle?
Am I just too busy and too wrapped around other things right now?
Or maybe it goes back to my last post about how little effort I've put recently into my relationship with God.

I think all of these have a small say in the matter, but the last one hurts the most, cause its the biggest. Coming from a guy who loves to serve, and who wants to one day marry a girl who has a servant's heart and mind and yearns to serve her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and a guy who wants to have his first tattoo say "servant of the lord" or simply "servant", I feel like the worst servant right now. I certainly don't feel like I can say that right now about myself, because of the lack of effort.
And I'm saying all this on my phone from my best friend's living room floor that I'm staying with because I'm so sick of how quickly I came down from my mission trip high and how awful of a servant I've brought back in myself since team anywhere.

And I apologize for the rant I just went on.

But it gets me to this point: when I wake up in five hours, I go home, a place that,is comforting beyond do many levels, but also holds many temptations, and as I spend my last couple days at home, they will be spent serving, worshipping, and praising my God whose Name is above all Names and who is my Strong Tower!
Hold me accountable.

It's time to start being the servant I'm called to be.

Effort

2010-07-29T00:42:00.000-05:00

So I just got home from a Texas Rangers baseball game, I am a big fan of the team and the game, and to be honest I was embarassed to be at that game. The lack of effort shown by a team that gets paid millions of dollars total to play the game was less than my old high school team, which at times put out little effort. The left fielder threw the ball in to the short stop and it bounced a couple times, not a great throw, then he let it go through, as the fielder rounded second and could've easily taken third base. There were more instances of this as the game progressed and it reached a point where I legitimately believed they had given up.
But something happened in the last inning that really put me over the edge, the Rangers got a base hit. It was an infield hit, and the infielder made a bad throw and went into the dugout, so our runner was able to take second base because the ruling is if the ball goes out of play (which includes the dugout) the batter gets the next base. Now you may be thinking, wow what a huge break, they must be pumped up now and excited, well our runner sure didn't show it as he WALKED to second base, not jog, not run, but WALKED. To me, this showed that he had given up as well and didn't care about the outcome of the game. The rest of the game proved my point as the batters watched good pitches to hit and swung at bad pitches or dug themselves into holes that they could'nt get out of. Bottom line, the Rangers effort tonight sucked and was a poor excuse for a major league team.
Now I know that no team can win every game and I know that no team can have the same great performance as other games, but it was something about the EFFORT that stuck out to me tonight. And the word EFFORT keep hitting me, and I finally realized why. Ever since I returned from mission trip, I have given God less and less of my effort. I left that mission trip wanting to do several things:
Spend more time studying the Bible using the methods we used in our devotional times.
Plan a label for the water bottles and times and dates to go out and hand out water bottles and talk to people about Jesus.
Remember - Ekklesia, Matthew 4, Serve (which falls moreso into the above statement)(ask me about those later).
Remember what God did and not forget it.

Brothers and Sisters, I need your help. Team Anywhere, you may be able to provide more help because we share this experience, but I am opening this to everyone. I need your help to hold me accountable to doing these things and remembering what God did during that week.

Help me as I try to put more effort into my walk with Christ

God - Budziszewski w/ an ending from Shew

2010-07-07T22:45:00.000-05:00

God is like nothing we could have imagined.

God is utterly other than us - other in a way we express with the world holiness. Yes, He dwells within each Christian, but He's not you. He isn't the same as you, He isn't a part of you, and He isn't a "higher" you. Yes, you're made in His image, but you're not Him. You're not the same as Him, you're not a part of Him, and you aren't a "splinter" of Him - nor will you ever be. He doesn't depend on anything else because He is what everything else must be explained by. Although we can know what He has taught us about Himself, we can never comprhend Him completely because He is greater than our minds. Anything He wills, He can do. He not only holds supreme power but He also uses it. Nothing can defeat Him and nothing can happen contrary to His will. He is also supremely good - light with no darkness. Although evil is real, He detests it and brings it to judgment. He knows everything, He pays attention to everything, and nothing escapes His notice. He's not just a What in three Whos - one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is no one like Him. He is set apart. He is what He is, and there was never a time when He was not.

God is utterly intimate with us - intimate in a way we express with the word love. He's our father. He's our master. He's our brother. He's our shepherd. He's our husband. He's our friend. If you think these are "just figures of speech," that's fine. But remember tha figures of speech are always mere shadows of the real thing.

Maybe you don't want God to be that holy. Maybe you don't want to be loved that much. Maybe you don't want to be loved that much by something that holy, for our God is a consuming fire. None of that makes a speck of difference to Him. Though we can reject His loving pursuit, God is relentless, inexorable, and utterly unfettered in His pursuit of us. He empties Himself, pours Himself out for us, to the point of death, whether we want Him to or not. He crushes out sin. He is utterly opposed to whatever in us opposes Him. He wants us to be holy, to be set apart for Him. And He expects us to like it!

25 of us are about to embark on a journey to Haiti, and for the most part, we don't know what to expect once we get down there. A mixture of excitement, nervousness, wicked out of our pants scared are just some of the feelings we are going through right now. Satan must be wicked out of his pants scared too because obstacle after obstacle has been placed in our path especially over the last 24+ hours in attempts to derail us from the ultimate goal, Jesus Christ. In the end we know this, Satan's attempts will be futile as Jesus' light continues to shine through the darkness. Church (church means every follower of Jesus Christ,) we need you to pray for continued financial support to pour in, for our safety during this time (10-17), but above all, that God's will be done.

God is God and God is good.

Tonight

2010-06-22T22:03:00.000-05:00

I always wanted to be a singer, wanted to play the guitar and become famous. I'm working on the guitar part, but the vocals are definitely not there, and neither are the lyrics. But this is a poem I wrote late one night after I had fallen to Satan's ways. I'll explain it in depth later.

Tonight you've won
Because of you, I have fallen,
Far too long you've kept me from His light,
Well that ends, tonight.

Listen carefully Satan
You're winning streak is over
Your evil ways have no place here
And your days are numbered.

As I stand here tonight
I know my Lord is moving
Moving closer
To ending your reign.

For that day will come
Where you will fall to His wrath
Nothing can save you,
Nothing will save you.

For on that Day even you will bow
Not out of reverence, but humiliation
For God's mercy extends to me
But you, God has no mercy.

So leave here O wretched one
You have no right to dwell here
You're finished
He has won.

Now forgive me father
For I have wronged you far too long
Lord, I ask tonight be the night
I return to You, to Your Arms, Home.

As I stand beside You
I become stronger than he knows how,
And in this hour
we begin our attack.

Father with you by my side
And Your everlasting Water,
My Water gun is ready
To take down the evil one.

So tonight we charge to Hell
Carrying with us, Your tools of life,
For with this device, Satan,
Your life, will end.

It begins tonight, Lord,
And I stand before You.
Embraced by Your Love,
Nevermore, will I fall.

Who Read's This Blog?

2010-06-14T13:18:00.000-05:00

I'm going to take a break from the series that I had planned to write for just a bit and I want to ask you a simple question. Do you read this blog? If the answer is yes, I ask that you comment with a simple yes, you don't have to put your name, or any information about you, I just want to see if anyone is reading this site. If the answer is yes, then included in your comment, write what you want to discuss, because this has been mostly one-sided and I would love for it to open up to you, the readers, on what you would like to talk about.

Friday, April 30, 2010 - Letting Go

2010-06-01T22:09:00.040-05:00

Senior Night for baseball...

This night was 14 years in the making. For fourteen years, I played baseball, the last four with a great group of guys who I am definitely going to miss and already do. So let me walk you through the entire night.

Senior Night is the last home game of baseball for the seniors on our team. Pretty self explanatory. Anyways there were ten of us, and only ten of us played, besides a junior who came in relief. Anyways, the game was a tough one, not only emotionally but the game itself was a typical north crowley come from behind fashion, sadly it did not turn out the way we had hoped. We lost 6-7, story of our season, half of district games were lost by one run. And for most of us, this was our last game. Less than half of us will go on to play college baseball, and less than that may make it to play longer. But for me, this was it, this was my last game, and it still truly has not set in yet. But I do feel very fortunate, my last time in the field I caught the last out on a flyball in foul territory, and the last time up to bat I hit a base hit to right field, so I do feel very blessed that is the way God decided to end my baseball career.

But it was after the game that hit me the hardest. Every other member of the NC Baseball program, freshman through junior lined up around the base path and shook each of our hands after we walked out to the mound with our mom and dad as our dads threw our last pitch to us. This was the emotional part, and I did it last. I was the last Senior of '010 to round the bases and step on homeplate in the 2010 season.

So did I have any regrets? Well, I would love to say no I didn't have any regrets. However, I would be lying to you, and I am a horrible liar so you would have figured it out anyway. My only regret is that I did not keep God involved in the game as much as I had planned to. But that is the funny thing about plans, often times they never end up the same way you had planned, hehe, planning the plans never come out how you planned. This year I did a better job of it, but I will never be able to meet my expectations because I set the bar way too high for me to ever achieve. But that's okay, because everything that happened during my four years of baseball has formed me into the man that I have become now. Both athletically and in my relationship with Christ.

A friend of mine once told me that, in a nutshell, God had given me this gift of baseball, and I had held onto it for too long instead of giving it back to God and letting Him use it my life to glorify Him rather than myself trying to use it to make me happy. And he was right. I held onto baseball for so long because I never wanted it to end. But as I caught that last out, as I got my last base hit in my final at bat, and as I rounded the bases for the last time in a baseball uniform, I stepped on home plate, signifying a full circle ending to a great baseball career that would not have been possible without God, and with that final step on the plate, it was time to let go. It was time to let go and give it back to God, and since then, that connection with baseball is not the same, but that is perfectly okay because God is bigger than a game of baseball.

Wrestling and Matt Striker

2010-05-29T22:21:00.000-05:00

So one of the few things that I have managed to keep somewhat of a secret about to some people over the last few years is that I am a huge wrestling fan. Sadly, during the last year, that has slowly began to disintegrate and I have not followed it as much as I used to. But I'll lay a few truths on you before I continue.

1. The Undertaker is my favorite wrestler and probably the best ever.
2. That is all.

That's all I could come up with, so let's continue. So some wrestlers over the years have shared that they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which automatically makes them somewhat of my other favorites. The most prominent ones are Sting and Shawn Michaels. Now the background story behind writing this is because i recently (today) bought Wrestlemania 26, on blu-ray of course. And even though I do not keep up with it as much as I used to, I bought it for a few reasons:

1. The Undertaker is my favorite wrestler and supposedly his match with Shawn Michaels (other favorite hinted above) at this years 'Mania was the best ever, so naturally I had to see it. Which brings me to point two..
2. This was Shawn Michaels last match.

Being that this was Michaels' last match and knowing that he has a relationship with Christ, because of the countless interviews, seriously if you go back and watch almost any interview of the most recent kind (last 3-4 yearsish) you will see that he will make some mention of Jesus Christ being his Lord and Savior. And for a guy like that, in the type of business that he is in, to say something like that, he has become one of my all-time favorites.

Now let's flash-forward to today, and I am watching Wrestlemania as I write this. And there is a storyline, with one of the superstars creating this cult-like group called the Straight-Edge Society. Pledged not to do drugs or drink, one star, C.M. Punk, has challenged another to a match, and as he introduces himself in the ring, he talks about how he is a savior, and how he could be their savior (the their referring to the crowd) and right after he says this, Matt Striker (guy in the title, who also happens to be a commentator) says this softly in his microphone but loud enough to hear while watching, "There's only one Savior." And as soon as he said this, seriously, I was like, "BOOM, IN YOUR FACE PUNK!" It was such an awesome moment to see that there are other guys in a business that you grew up with for so long that have faith and love Jesus, and for me, this proved to me that He does.

And even though he is just a commentator now, Matt Striker is now one of my new favorites.

So think about the tv shows that you watch, (Lost, so sad it's over) and think about the actors/actresses involved in those shows, and ask yourself, why do you look up to them? Because Sting, Michaels and Striker, speak it and live it, that Jesus is their Savior, that's why they are some of my heroes. And I am sure there is some actor/tress that you look up to, so simply look at who they are and how they live, and ask yourself why do you look up to them?

Irony of Jesus

2010-05-23T16:26:00.000-05:00

Now this is part of three of a three part series, so part of it may not make sense, but it is all summed up at the end of the talk. Sorry to not be original, and sorry to stray from my own little mini-huge series on here, but I wanted to share with you my talk from this morning. Plus, I'll be honest with you. I have not had much time to write about the other series on here because of the time needed to be devoted to this, and sadly it will be a couple of days til I get the next part of that series up, mostly because of the finale of Lost tonight. So anyways here it is, enjoy.

Irony of Jesus

Stephen kicked us off with the story of Joseph and how God’s plan through the events in his life was ironic.

Then Andrew came in and talked about Peter and how his life was also ironic…

And now it is my turn to share with you part three of our irony series entitled, the irony of Jesus. I should probably introduce myself before I start, my name is Michael Minshew and I would like to let you in on a little secret about me. Are you ready? I love baseball. I absolutely love it. And for the last fourteen years, it has been a huge part of my life. But I never imagined that God would use this game to impact my life in a different way than just playing the game. But I’ll talk about that a little later…

Now the people who heard that the Son of God was coming thought Jesus was coming to be a conquering king and rule over them in a king-like manner, but God soon changed those thoughts as Jesus began his works here on earth. Their expectations of who Jesus was would soon change as they found that he came to die on the cross for their sins. And as we see in Philippians 2:1-8, Jesus came to earth to be a servant and encourage others to do so as well.

Philippians 2:1-8. “ 1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

As I said before, people thought Jesus would come and rule as a conquering king, and Jesus will indeed come back to rule, but He first came in the form of humility. As we see in verse 7, he made himself nothing and in doing so, took the form of a servant. This is a great example of Christ’s humility because Jesus is the son of God. And he could’ve stayed up in Heaven and never come down to earth. But instead he chose the path of a servant. It was his love for us, his children that drove him down, to human form. And as he walked the earth, he took with him that servant-hood mindset, and humbly looked to other’s interest and showed love. And he remained a humble servant even to the point of death on the cross. This was the ultimate act of humility, the ultimate act of service, the ultimate act of love.

So just to remind you again, I love baseball. I would spend hours outside throwing a tennis ball up against the bricks of our house and simulate games where, of course, I would always win. And I continued to do this up until my junior year. And it was that year that of baseball that God really took baseball back from me. You see, this was the year I had been waiting for for a long time. Varsity baseball. The big time. And I was ready to play. So the first game rolls around, and I am pumped, I have my sweatbands on, wearing number 19, with James 1:22-24 written on the inside of my hat. And as soon as I get back to the dugout after warming up, I’m met by my head coach, and in his hands, is the stat book. Now my job for the night had just become very clear, and it wasn’t to play first base either. Instead, my job was to watch the game, and keep a record of what happened. But in that moment, God reminded me of something and it was something that He had been teaching me since my first day playing baseball for North Crowley. That my number one job was not to play first base, no matter how badly I wanted to. My job was to show love to the other guys on my team, and to encourage them in any way that I could. It’s ironic because I went into high school expecting to just play baseball, but the outcome of that situation was completely different. God took that passion and used it to teach me greater things that are so much more important than just playing a game.

Jesus showed the people something greater than they had expected, service and love. The irony is that their expectations of Jesus, was an all-powerful King who was just coming to rule over them. But instead, they got a servant in Christ Jesus.

We’ve seen the irony if Joseph and Peter’s life. And maybe you’re sitting here today and maybe your life is like Joseph, and it’s been tough. A life where the outcomes were different than your expectations. Where the situations in your life, have not been pleasant. And you may be in a place that you really do not enjoy being in right now. But just like Joseph, God can still use these situations in your life to bring people to him and can strengthen your walk with Him through it all. Or maybe you are like Peter, and you have walked alongside God for awhile, but have strayed from the path. And you’ve disobeyed God through your words and actions. And you’ve continued to do so. And you feel trapped in your sin. But just like Peter, your life can be restored too. God can bring you back on that path. He can release you from your sin. And God can still do incredible things with and through you. And we know the irony that Jesus, who some thought would rule as a conquering king, but before he does that, he became a servant first to all mankind and died on the cross to save the world. Now for some of you today, you may not know who Jesus is, or you may have even had a different perspective of who Jesus is as you came today. But remember this, no matter what the situation, no matter what is going in your life, God still loves you. So my question for all of you today, is what is going to be your response to this love?

Now in a moment we are going to take an offering, and if you do not know who Jesus is, please do not give anything, but instead take this time to reflect on what we have learned today about who Jesus is and what your response will be to His love for you. And if you are member, and you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then we ask for you to accordingly to what God wants you to give.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

2010-05-12T14:44:00.000-05:00

My last Collide Live.
Collide is the name of our high school youth group. The meaning of Collide comes from two ideas that mold into one lifestyle. The first part is broken down into two different ways that people live. The Sacred side, meaning living a life for Jesus, which many Christians, and I'm guilty of it too, live only on Sundays and Wednesdays at church. The Secular side is the life we live when we are at home, with friends, etc, away from church. The idea behind the Sacred vs the Secular is that we should not be living double lives - living a sacred life and a secular life, but it should be one. The way we act, think, the things we say at church/mission trips/camps, etc; the life that is lived for God should not be turned off once we leave church and return home or wherever. And the way we do that, which brings us to the second idea, is by Loving God and Loving Others. This is our mission statement at Collide. It comes from Matthew 22:37-40:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

And Live is our wednesday night program for high schoolers with games, skits, music, and a talk from a high schooler and what God has been doing in their life.

Well, back to the title of the topic, this was my last Wednesday Night Live, and I'm not gonna lie, it was a hard one. (BTW ((by the way)) I am a senior in high school, who graduates June 2, WOOOO!!, which is why it was my last Wednesday Night Live.) One of my best girl friends, who was the first person I met when I came to this church and is also a senior, gave an amazing message about God's faithfulness in her life and trusting that He will continue to be faithful, even when times get tough. It was the perfect message for the seniors as our the travel down High School Boulevard is almost at its end.

But the night wasn't over there. After her talk, our HS Pastor, (As of press time he wants to be called Emerging Generations Pastor from now on instead of High School Pastor)(go to stuffchristianslike.com to read about it, his blogs are pretty awesome)(cheap plug)(BTW the blog is written by Jon Acuff, who is not my HS pastor, my HS pastor got the idea from his blog, in case you were curious) asked the seniors to get come to the center of the room as the rest of the high schoolers/adults gathered around us and prayed for us. And that moment was really hard. Like I said before, I won't lie, I cried a little bit, I'll admit it. The friendships I have made, not only with my class, but the younger and older kids as well is something that I am so thankful for and I am so thankful that God brought me to this church 5 years ago.

My journey down High School Boulevard is coming to a close. The realizations of this started with this night and as amazing of a night it was, it is still a tough one to think about. It isn't over yet though. High School has not ended yet, sadly. I still see all my friends at church on sunday and during the week. And once I move to college I plan and hope that I can still keep up with those friends. Mostly to get them all to come to where I'm going to college so that it makes this process a little easier. Just kidding. But seriously that would be awesome. I love yall! It isn't over yet and I am not going to act like it is either. And if after I graduate I never see them again, I know I will meet up with them in Heaven!

...to be continued...next entry in this series will be titled...

Irony of Jesus Outline (will be deleted soon)

2010-05-06T14:42:00.004-05:00

Recap of Old Testament (Stephen)

Recap of New Testament (Andrew)

People during the time of Jesus believed that He was coming as this all-powerful King who would be kingly and rule all king-like (fragments will be revised) and, but it was the opposite he came in the form of man, as a baby, to love, and to encourage greater love and humility, as found in Philippians 2:1-11

- “ 1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

(I am thinking of splitting up how I talk about this passage, meaning, I split it up in one of two ways, one being reading the passage as a whole, then talking about it, or reading a few verses, then talk, few verses, then talk, etc)(This will now be played out in the lines below)

Path 1: Humility. Verses 3-4 say, “But in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Why do you think this was so important to God? For us to put other’s interests above our own? Because in Verses 6-8 say, “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” It is because of what Jesus did on the cross. It is because He was obedient to what God’s plans. God put us above His son. God killed His son, so that we could spend eternity with Him. And Jesus was obedient to his plans, humbly, becoming a servant to do His works. Referencing 2 Corinthians 8:9, “9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” He was in a position of power, but his love for us drove him to a position of weakness for the sake of sinful mankind. Imagine that. That position of weakness is human form. And it was because of His love for us that he came down to become a servant. To serve us. The last people who deserve this. Because we don’t deserve it, but he still loves us. This could only be done humbly. This is where the term bondservant comes from. (That whole paragraph is extremely rough but it will be refined and smoothed out, hopefully you can help me with that and I will have mom look at it as well, plus I don’t expect to say this word for word either but I like to have it all written out to give me a good idea of what to say, you know?)

Path 2: pretty much the same as path 1 except the verses individually will be placed in between my talk, example:
verses
my writing
verses my writing
etc.
(what do you think?)

Some personal story (I’m working on it, sorry)

Jesus came to earth in the form of man, and in doing so, completely shifted what the people of this time were thinking He would be. The irony is that they thought He would be an all-powerful King who was just coming to rule over them and be king-like. But instead, He came to be a servant.

What has God done in your life that could be considered ironic? What is something that has happened in your life/or is happening right now that God has used in a completely different way/or might use in a different way then what you think and how does that affect the way you are going to live when you leave here today?

(so obviously there are some places that need work but what are you comments/concerns/whatevs?)

What Is Love?

2010-04-17T22:50:00.000-05:00

Scripture plainly says that "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16). For that reason, when God's authority is being expressed, love is present. To put it another way, the exercise of divine authority is always framed in love.
Love is willing to admonish others when they falter. It rejects freelancing, do-it-yourself, long-ranger spirituality. Instead, it values the interdependence of the body.
Love realizes that because we are members one of another and have the same ancestry, our actions have a profound effect on our fellow brethren. Love deplores individualistic, privatized Christianity. Instead it affirms its need for the other members of the church.
Love is sometimes sweet, kind, and nice. But when it faces the horrors of unrepentant sin, it can be combative and unbending. Love is patient, respectful, and gentle. It's never strident, demeaning, or dictatorial. Love repudiates pompous and inflated claims to authority. Instead, it's stamped with humility and meekness.
Love isn't flabby or sentimental, but keenly perceptive and discerning. It never manipulates or imposes its own will. It never threatens, forces, demands, or coerces.
Love propels us to accept responsibility in being our "brother's keeper." But it forbids us from becoming intrusive meddlers into his life. Love never usurps the place of God nor judges the motives of others' hearts. Nor does it think the worst of them.
Love recognizes that we are called to represent the Holy Spirit's will to one another, not to substitute for His person or replace His work.

Who is Love?
God is love.

Church and "church"

2010-03-15T22:27:00.002-05:00

Do you have frustrations with the "church?"
"Church." You know, that building that most of the time will have a cross on it that people go to once or twice a week to sit for an hour, maybe "sing" a few songs, listen to some guy talk and sometimes rant at you, then leave and forget immediately what he said that morning, and continue living your life as if you had never him speak. Yea that place.
Now don't get me wrong, great things can happen in/out/because of "church," and God can truly do some incredible things within the church, but the twenty-first century "church" has drastically changed from the New Testament Churches the Bible speaks about, and as you may have picked up on, I have a few frustrations with this "church." So before I share with you my frustrations I want to hear what your frustrations are with what the "church" is or has become.
May the revolt against the "church" begin.

Clouds

2010-02-25T20:28:00.002-06:00

This morning I pulled out of my neighborhood, and drove up to school about an hour earlier than usual. You see, I have a baseball tournament this weekend, and with that, I missed school today and will miss most of school tomorrow. So, during this time away from the burdens of school, I miss two tests plus a memory work thing that I have to recite. So this morning, I leave the house an hour earlier to go on in to take one test and then take the other test and do the mem work tomorrow. Well as I pull out of my neighborhood I see these clouds and I am immediately calmed. My nervousness is gone. My stress about having to do all of this in the allotted time left goes away. The last time I saw these clouds we were in a storm. Except, we weren't really in the storm. The storm was pretty severe all around us, but not where we were. These clouds were a reminder to me that God is in control. That God was there with me. And that I shouldn't worry or be afraid of what will happen. God soothed me during this time, and I immediately went to prayer, while I was driving to school. God took away my fears that not everything will get done, and with that, God blessed me with being able to take my two tests leaving the mem work to do tomorrow. God truly is awesome. And it doesn't have to always be big things. And it shouldn't be either. Meaning it shouldn't take a big miracle to make us say "God, You are incredible. Thank you so much for doing this. I love you so much!" Because miracles happen all around us, everyday. That is how awesome God is. So for me, this small sign was so huge today in my life and God got my attention right away with it, and because of it, I was able to make God an active part of my day, which I should be doing a lot more of.
So once again, Who do you say God is? What miracles, big or small, has He done in your life recently? How are you going to glorify God today?

Who do I say God is?

2010-02-24T13:36:00.007-06:00

For me, God is many things.
He is my all. I've grown up in a Christian home with a mindset that God there with us every step of the way in everything that we do, that He will never leave us nor forsake us, and that He knows everything that we will do. Because of that, God first and foremost is my everything. He is my life. Because He is my all, my worldview, the way I view everything going on around me, is through His Word, The Bible. It is The Bible that has influenced my thoughts and the way I see people and the world itself.
He is my best friend. For years I have struggled with feeling like I did not belong in the place that I was. But time and time again God has reminded me of why he has put me in the place that I am. Even in those times though, God has been there for me when I have those doubts. He is the ultimate friend. I know that he will never leave me, I can talk to Him at any time, day or night, and know that He is always listening, and above all, He love's me.
He forgives. I screw up. I fall. I make mistakes. I sin. But every time I sin, God forgives me. And even though I screw up, He loves me, and doesn't love me any less.
He loves. The biggest one. He loves me. So much that He sent His Son to die on the Cross for my sins so that I could live with Him for eternity. Love is a powerful thing. But no love is greater than His for me and for us. And there is nothing that I could do to make Him love me any less, which is incredible, cause I've done some pretty bad stuff growing up. But He loves me. And He loves you too. Jesus died so that we could spend eternity with Him in Heaven. This is the greatest love of all.
So who do you say God is?
What has God done in your life that reminds you of His love?

Who do you say God is?

2010-02-13T14:21:00.000-06:00

Who do you say God is?

What's Next?

2010-01-28T21:36:00.003-06:00

So I've been having a rough time trying to figure out what to write about next and I was wondering what you personally would like to hear?
Examples - my story, what God has been doing my life, or something else that you may be wondering about that we can discuss on here. So let me know what yall think.

Remember Why...

2010-01-18T16:30:00.009-06:00

You've heard the cliche statement "Jesus Loves You." Whether that be your mom or dad or a Sunday school teacher growing up or even just some random person you came in contact with one in day. And that person probably either did one of two things, they just said it to you and that's all they said about it and went on their way, or they took the time to explain the statement to you. And if you have not heard that statement before, then you are about to once again.
Ready?
Jesus Loves You.
Probably one of the most commonly used phrases in this world, and unfortunately it has not been explained as well as it should be. So here it is.
"For God So Loved The World That He Gave His One And Only Son, That Whoever Believes In Him Will Not Perish But Have Everlasting Life." (John 3:16)
We screw up. Everybody screws up. We all make mistakes. We all do bad things. None of us, emphasizing the word NONE, None of us are better than each other. We all sin. I sin. I screw up. And if we continue to do so, we destined to spend eternity in Hell. And ladies and gentlemen, Hell is as real as this earth.
But do you want to know the silver lining in all of this. Its Jesus Christ. He came to this earth and died for all of our sins. He took the burden and weight of all of our sins and washed them away with his death on the cross. This was His gift to us. Why did He do it? Because He loves us. Because of His love, He has saved each and every one of us from an eternity apart from Him in Hell. All we have to do is accept that gift. Accept that Jesus Christ really came to this earth to take all of our sins away and believe that He is our One and Only Savior. Jesus Loves you so much that he died for you and for me. The question for you, is how are you going to respond to that gift of love? Are you going to ignore it or are you going to accept God's gift of love and start living a life that is pleasing to God?
Remember it doesn't matter what you do or who you are: Jesus. Loves. You.
Next time you here this remember why this statement is so important.

Love God Love Others

2010-01-12T14:54:00.000-06:00

Matthew 22:37-40
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Sounds easy enough right? Love God Love Others. What does this verse mean to you? What does the phrase Love God and Love Others mean to you?

more to come later...