Cold Sores

one of the things i hate most are cold sores. they suck. they hurt. they prevent me from doing one of my favorite things...eating. i have one right now, and it just is horrible.

this got me thinking though:

a cold sore is so small. it is barely noticeable (sometimes). it can make some of the easiest things the most painful thing ever. eating, something that we do every day, becomes so complicated and painful because of this tiny little sore that comes around just out of no where. talking, another thing that is a daily thing that we do to communicate to others, hurts so bad because the sore is rubbing against your tooth. its so small yet it causes so much pain.

sin, is a cold sore. big or small, its a cold sore. we go about our lives daily, sometimes we develop a cold sore in our lives that can be debilitating. something so small, that seems almost invisible, can bring us to our knees in pain. sin has the power to do this in our lives.

one of the ways you can contract a cold sore it sharing something that a an infected person had, like a drink, or even kissing. same with sin. we tend to fall into sin because we are sharing in the same things that others are doing. following in their sin. small or big. sin is sin. a cold sore is a cold sore.

on webMD it says there is no cure for a cold sore. if you get one, you will always get them. the virus stays in your body for life. sort of sucks. unlike a cold sore, sin doesn't have to have this affect with us. there is a cure. it is Jesus Christ.

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

We are washed clean of all sores. of all sins. we are without blemish when we come in front of Jesus, confess, and and acknowledge him into our lives. with Easter coming up, it is the perfect example of Him dying on the cross for our sin, and then resurrecting 3 days later to defeat death. his death cured our sores.

AMEN

random fact: Many hotels and hospitals in China don't label the fourth floor. Why? The pronunciation of "four" sounds like "death".

Hmm...blown away?

so....

last night we finished our series called The Pursuit at Shiftstudents last night. what a powerful night. we had two students in a video explaining how they try to lead a life of holiness(if you want to check out the guy who did the video and his work click here). it was amazing. we also had a student come up and share his unbelievable testimony. it was so powerful that it brought many students to tears.

we changed up the service order, trying to switch things up a bit so the students don't get into a routine. the message was the first thing and then we had 7 songs to close the night. God was moving in that room. i don't know how really, but you can tell there was a presence in that room that was too big to ignore. my brother adam and his wife came just to check out the service and they even said that they have never seen something like what happened in the room(follow my brother's blog here). every student forgot about the person next to them and was worshipping in a way that i have not seen yet at SHIFTstudents.

God is definitely doing something here at CCV SHIFTstudents. its something big. We are continuing to create a place where students want to invite their friends to hear the real, truthful, and maybe even sometimes offensive book of the Bible. We will continue to preach God's word with the up most truth and love.

i am so thankful God has allowed me to be apart of this ministry. i cannot wait to see what he is going to do next.

AWKWARDNESS

Just a quick thought:

I'm all about awkward moments. i think i put people in awkward situations all the time because i absolutely love it. a lot of people hate it and they do whatever it takes to avoid those certain circumstances. i would have to say that students are the ones who hate it the most. they are all about image and do not want to be embarrassed. but again, one of my favorite things is to call out students. its just fun to me.

but i was thinking, why do we avoid awkward situations? especially in church. isn't it sometimes an awkward feeling when you are the only ones raising your hands to worship? don't you sometimes feel awkward when you want to bow down and pray in a room where everyone is standing? don't sometimes just being a Christian awkward in just living life in this secular world? or even in a tough conversation we can feel this way? we avoid it because we feel embarrassed because we are uncomfortable.

these things have to do with a degree of awkwardness. but the thing is, these things lead to a spiritual breakthrough. it will help us grow. we should be at a place where we want to look awkward. we should want to feel awkward. we should not be worried about the person next to you.

we should embrace the awkwardness, and push through it. those situations will help you grow in more ways than non-awkward feeling.

random fact: If you look at the sun RIGHT NOW, you are technically looking back in time. It takes 8 minutes for light from the sun to reach Earth.

God is Good

God is Good. plain and simple. there is no way that i can say God is not apart of everything that is going on in my life right now.

i am 2 months away from being a college graduate with a degree from APU in Youth Ministry and Adolescent Counseling. you have no idea how much i would like to be done with college. i have senioritus soooooooo bad. but i only have until may 8th and then I'm done, so i think i can hold out until then. counting down the days though.

i just got hired at CCV. i am working there part time for now, and hopefully it can turn into a full time thing after i am done with school here in a bit. i am just super stoked that i get to be apart of this ministry and i love the people i work with. it finally hit me that i am now getting paid to do something i absolutely love doing. what a concept, huh? it allowed me to quit islands, which is a miracle because i thought i would never get out of there. i worked there for 6 years, holy crap that's a long time. i will miss the people, but i wont miss the place. it was a good place to work, and it did its job for me while i was going through school.

i have an amazing girlfriend. love her to death. she makes me a better person. she loves Jesus. she is awesome.

so, with that, i thank God. He surely does provide. if you want to check where i am working at click on the webpage (here) or click on our facebook (here).

Not Success but Refining

yesterday in class, we had Dr. Archibald D. Hart, the Senior Professor of Psychology at Fuller Seminary. super smart dude. really "hip" for a 60-70 year old man. he was awesome. he gave a cool lecture and i really liked what he had to say.

along the lines of what he said was:

GOD IS NOT IN THE SUCCESS BUSINESS, HE IS IN THE REFINING BUSINESS.

love this because it true and we forget this. how many times do we pray to God about how you want to do well on a test, or you want a situation handled, or you want something really, really bad? and when you don't perform well or something is not a success we are are like "what the heck God? where were you at?" God is not here for your success, he is here to refine you. to break you down and change who you are at the core, so there is a new person that comes out of tough situations. a person who is more centered on Him than before.

if you think God is here for success you got the wrong idea about God and you will be broken down and refined harder than anyone else.

IN THE EYES OF GOD THERE ARE NO FAILURES, BUT FORCED GROWTH.

wow. that's what we are so worried about. failing. we don't want to fail, it makes us look bad. when someone does something incredibly stupid, what does every yell? "oooooooooooh! epic FAIL!" no one likes that. the idea that in God's eyes there is no failure, only forced growth, that is encouraging. every time we fail to do something, it helps us grow in some way, shape or form. failure forces us to grow, helps us learn from our mistakes. we can take this idea in our faith journey. it is encouraging.

random fact: The costume for the Cowardly Lion in the popular Wizard of Oz film was made from two real lion skins, and it weighed in at over 50 pounds. To ensure the actor didn't suffocate, the lights would be turned off and the soundstage doors opened for fresh air every half hour while he was on set. He claimed it was like "working inside a mattress.

Silence

today, i was driving to the church offices and for some reason i did not have music playing. which, if you know me, that is really, really weird because music is such a huge part of my life. i was about to turn on my ipod, but i didn't, i pulled back. i couldn't remember the last time that i was in complete silence, completely alone. to be honest, it was kind of refreshing. so i drove the entire way with no music on.

i really got to reflect on last night at CCV during SHIFTstudents, how amazing it really was. Jeremiah Mullins lead in worship and filmed a live DVD that night. we had so many students and supporters of Jeremiah there, it was the biggest attendance we have had on a Wednesday night. the energy was amazing. Jeff Snodgrass preached about the overwhelming power of the cross, and a student and his mom were baptized during the service! that's amazing! we had so many people come forward for decisions and counseling. God was definitely moving in the room last night.

i never would have realized to the full extent if i didn't just stop and listen and reflect.

Psalm 46:10 says "Be still and know that I am God." i think we forget to do that most of the time!

during that time in silence in the car, i realized how busy we get, and feel that we think that we NEED to be busy in order to show others, and ourselves, that we are being productive in our lives. BUSY = BETTER. i think spiritually, we HAVE to step back and realize who it is that we are serving, who it is that is loving us to the point of death, and who it is that has done everything for you. i really think that we forget that sometimes because our lives are so jam packed with activities. (if we make bunk beds, there will be so much more room for activities...Step-Brothers anyone?).

even Jesus did this. he withdrew from everyone and went to a solitary place to spend time with His Father (Luke 4:42) also again in Luke 22:41 when he goes out to pray before he gets arrested. if Jesus does this, we need to do this. if it's important to Jesus, it's important to me. ill be the first to admit, I'm really bad at it right now, but its something i want to work on.

Random fact: The space above & between your eyebrows is called the Glabella

the do's and don'ts of going into a place of eating

ok, i know this is a little off topic from what i usually right about. but going off the fact that i just had my last day working at Islands (hopefully forever) i thought it would be appropriate to list all the things i wish i could have said to the customers or i wish i could have informed them.

this should be fun:

• when you walk in the door, let the hosts say whatever they need to say before you tell them how many in your party. they are supposed to say a little line and its rude when you cut them off.
• sit down wherever the host guides you to sit. they are putting you there for a reason. do not ask to sit by "the window" because the view is of the building next door. there is no view so therefore, not important.
• they are probably sitting you there because thats where a server is stationed to work and you asking for another seat is going to throw off the whole rotation. (yes there is a rotation, they do not randomly seat people)
• when the hosts seat you, they are not your server. their job is just to seat you. i promise you can wait 2 minutes until the server comes over to order your diet coke.
• same as the hosts, the servers have a little thing they say to get started, and usually want to see how your day is going and introduce themselves. DO NOT cut them off by placing your drink order, again your diet coke can wait 30 more seconds.
• if your on your cell phone, we wont come over (at least i wont). ill wait until you are done so you can focus on ordering.
• when you are placing an order, pay attention to the server. they have 5 other tables and they want to get your order in ASAP. dont be talking to everyone because it really just leaves the server standing there feeling really awkward.
• when you order, go in order from left to right. thats how servers will put it in the computer so the food comes out that way.
• when the first round of drinks come, dont drink it up cause youre "super thirsty" and then ask for a refill before the server even leaves the table. i promise you the refill wont come for a while.
• when you do want a refill, dont hold up the glass and shake it at the server as they come in the view. thats rude.
• dont grab any person working there if you need something. they are ALL not your server. wait till your server gets there, i promise you dont need your ranch dressing that bad.
• dont get up and get your own napkins. thats rude. we will grab them for you.
• if something is wrong with your order, calm down. it wont take that long to fix it.
• also, usually its not even the servers fault. there is nothing they could do. they dont know if the burger is "really pink" inside, they were told it was the right burger so they took it out.
• if the place closes at 10 o clock, walking in at 9:55 is not cool. ya, they are "open" but the place is really closed. if you do do that, then dont stay forever. the server cant leave until you do. that just sucks.
• in all honesty, no one wants to make you your dessert. we HAVE to ask you if you want it.
• DO NOT DOUBLE THE TAX FOR THE TIP! ITS A MYTH!
• according to inflation, an average server needs to make 18% tip of each bill to keep up with inflation.
• if the bill is $17.29, do not leave a 20 and think thats a good tip. FALSE.
• dont leave a mess at the table. someone has to clean that up.

honestly there is more. soooo many more. but that's good for now. follow these rules and i promise you your dining experience will be a better one.

Weary and Burdened

What follows is not completely thought out. It’s something that I am still trying to wrestle with and figure out. So don't take it as complete truth, just some thoughts:

In class yesterday, we talked about this instance where some people were looking for places to stay in a church in Chile, and they were turned away. That got the class started on this discussion about how the church should perform and live out the Eucharist (the sacraments of communion, the bread and the wine) to people in need.

I thought of a conversation I had with a friend, where I was visiting the church he worked for and we were about to leave and I asked him, "hey aren’t you going to lock up the doors?" he says to me, "why would I do that?" I said, "Well, what if someone goes in there and stays the night in there all night or something." My friend said,” Well, good then, they had a place to stay out of the cold."

That really took me by surprise. Never thought of it like that. Something that I have always done is do a lock up before we leave, to make sure no one can get in and take anything that belongs to the church. And to be honest, that is a legit and practical reason to do so. That’s why I agree with why we do that. But, I was just blown away by the different way of thinking. In class we started asking the questions, why would we care if someone came in and stole something or spent the night there? Well, because it is the churches stuff and we use the guitars, video stuff, and all the things inside the church to reach people for God. Again, a legit reason. But I guess what I am proposing is that we have a view on things like that.

If someone came in and stole a guitar, and you saw them with it later somewhere on the street or something, instead of saying, "hey! That’s my guitar! Give it back!" What if instead we said, "oh man I absolutely loved that guitar, it sounds so good, I would love to borrow it sometime to play like old times." The fact is we are so worried about people taking OUR stuff. The fact is they are possessions. The church building is a thing. That’s just the way we think today, this is OUR stuff.

I am not saying we should not NOT lock up our church doors at night. I would like to think of it as; we are locking up our doors to keep a person from being accused as a thief. I'm just wondering what it would look like if we had a switch in mentality.

With all that said, if we are to take Matthew 11:28-30 seriously, what does that look like? I don't know. Maybe a new way of thinking? A new understanding of what is means to take in the burdened and weary?