Missio Dei

Yesterday the church I am working at started a new series titled Missio Dei. The phrase means, "The Mission of God" and it is going to be awesome! The Mission to give up our lives and comforts for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of advancing Christ's Kingdom into this world. For as John said, He must increase and I must decrease! Pray that this wouldn't be some fad that the church is going through, but a complete change in church culture! A passionate determination to follow Christ regardless of the cost, to whatever lengths for the sake of the gospel and His Kingdom.

 

My Starbucks friend, Chris and I are going a small group that meets on Monday night during the Missio Dei series. I personally am very excited about the chance to connect with more people who are going after God's mission. The group meets for eight weeks, during which we will have a work book that we are going through and hopefully different projects to get involved with. I know at the very least that there is going to be conversations that take place during the next few weeks that will change my life and people that I will meet that will have great influence in my spiritual walk.

Another big event that is taking place over the next week is Men's Retreat. Friday afternoon into Saturday evening a bunch of men from our church are going out to a camp ground to learn about God and mentoring others to grow in their relationship to Christ. Older men to younger men, peer to peer relationship, even younger to older. It is going to be a relational weekend that will challenge me and push me in my own spiritual growth as well as train me to push others in their relationship.

Rachel is doing well last I talked to her. She got to help with flood relief on Thursday in north east PA where they got hit by Hurricane Irene. The whole school shut down for the day to help the community, incredible.

Then of course there was when she came out to visit me last weekend. The Cleveland orchestra was incredible as well and I can hardly wait to see her again - probably toward the middle of October.

One thing that I learning right now is this: Be content. With where I am, what I am doing and the job God has given me. Not spiritually, but positionally. It is very easy for my to start complaining about being in Ohio as an intern at this successful church that is doing very well. When I have more spiritual conversations with people from the city, that seems like the place to be, but God has me here for some reason. It wasn't until last night that I had any idea why.

In the midst of a conversation about Missio Dei I said that being a Christian is more than just being saved or even bring other people to salvation. Christianity is a continuing process. It is about bringing people closer to Christ whether they are saved or not. That is what I believe am doing here, helping believers people grow to a closer relationship with Christ in the context of a Christian community I call church. This might seem like common sense or even obvious fact, but it came as a surprise to me. I have felt confused about what I am doing here the last couple of weeks, but now I at least have an idea. My job would be to make followers of Christ into passionate followers of Christ, to move people to a deeper relationship with Christ from wherever they are. To quote the phrase at the top of this page, to enjoy bringing others along on the journey.

Blessings from a pilgrim

Later

Working on my bike

Working on my bike and watching the clouds go by.

Class Has Began!

This past Thursday the interns out here (Jim and I) finally got our objectives for the school year. I have in hand three pages of goals for the next 9 months that should give me some sense of direction. That is not to say I didn't have direction before, but in terms of class work. Before I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to be doing, if anything at all. Not I have expectations that I get to meet, or better yet, surpass. Most all of them relate to organizational leadership, such things as team development, group learning, administration, and things of that sort. There is 43 different objective statements that I get to work on and be challenged by over the next 9 months, I don't think that I will get to bored. On top of that, I have to write about each one and how I tried to achieve said objective, that means a lot of blog post.

I went to Youth For Christ training last night to support one of last years interns and might begin working alongside them during the Friday afternoon club. Basically I will help run the Middle School portion of club and build relationships with the students and start bring them to the church so they can be connected to fellowship with a larger body of mature believers. Yet, in my mind something more important took place at this training session.

The facilitator of the training began to talk about reaching schools, students and getting the rough and tumble kids and showing them the love of Christ, as this point my mind began to spin. I realized at this point that this is more than just a job that I do or an organization that I get to promote, this is my life. I don't have to wait around to get job descriptions and task before I can do something. Yes I work for the church as an Intern, but I work for Christ first. We all do. We have all been given the Ministry of Reconciliation from Christ, it should not have to be handed to me from some church or organization. To say it in one phrase, I realized that this ministry is mine and I have to go after it not wait around for it to be handed to me.

Rachel came out to Ohio over the weekend to visit me - and to listen to Beethoven's 9th symphony. I am still always surprised at how much a relationship can change when the person is with you. Anyways, it was a good time to hang out, catch up and just be with her in person for a change. It was also really good to see other people from school and has a sense of community again. For people that don't have it, find it! it is well worth the time spent maintaining it. For those that have it, work to maintain it, life is not the same without it.

On the topic of community and fellowship, you know that I have been asking for a friend. I think Chris H has become that for me. Before we talked at Starbucks because that is what we did, but now we talk whenever we get the chance and we talk for a long time. Sunday we talked for almost an hour and a half and then I saw him again Monday and talked for a while. Now I can hardly wait to see him Wednesday for our weekly conversations about what God is doing in our lives and where he is leading us.

I watched a TV show last night, which is not normal for me. The show was called Cyberbully. I didn't catch the whole thing because I needed to get to bed, but what I saw was enough. The aim of the movie was to reveal the world of Cyberbullying that exist on social networks of students and how drastically that effects their daily lives. Students commit suicide over a commitment left on the web, or a video that isn't truthful. Students might have it all together on the surface but are hurting deeply behind the mask. I wanted nothing much than to love and care for those students. But I am only one person in one location... There is much work to do done, pray for workers!

Blessings
Later

At the bloom

Listening to beethoven 9th symphony with @rachel at the bloom music center.

Pass the Baton

It has been cloudy and cold for three days now. Raining on and off with temperatures changing quickly. It feels like late October, being cold enough to make my nose red and nearly see my breath in the morning. Soon the leaves are going to be changing, I'll be another year older, and the year will have came and went. What do I have to show for it?

This weekend Pastor Chad talked about passing the baton. He says, when we were born we were all given a baton to carry. Some of us got good ones, others of us not the case. But we all carry something. A series or characteristics, attributes, abilities, traits, something. Some good, some bad. Ideally, we would have all been handed a Baton of Godliness and we would all hand off a Baton of Godliness, but I know for a least me that isn't true. I was handed a Baton of selfishness and greed, with characteristics like workaholic, never satisfied, legalist, independence and so many other. As the Bible says, we (myself included) have been born children of wrath and are due to be objects of God's wrath. But God doesn't stop there.

God gives us an option to pass off our Baton and pick up a new and better Baton. Isaiah the prophet wrote: 

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

 Through Jesus Christ God has given us the chance to pass off the Baton we have and receive the Baton that Christ is carrying. A Baton of Righteousness and dependency on God. A Baton that guarantees victory and life in abundance. But just like in a relay race, the time we have to make the switch is limited and passing quickly (our own life). And for those that have already made that pass, it is our job to pass it on to the next generation, to leave a legacy of Godliness for generations to come.

---------------

 I'll be completely honest, there are days that I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. I don't know where I am going, or even who I am at times. Life overwhelms me and I am lost again. I want to cry like the kid I used to be. When I get here I just sit and have no idea what to do next... what can I do. I don't even know where I am in this massive thing called life. I know that I am not alone in this, other people surely experience this, at least once in their life. As I sit here typing, I have two options that I can take. First, I could try and push myself through it and "look on the bright-side" the self-help approach. Option two, realize that I am lost, acknowledge my childlike state, stop pretending and wake up to reality that I really do have no idea what is going on. Cry out to God who is the author of what is going on. Depend on Him for life and direction, because I feel dead and lost.

Like a child though, I don't want to! But that is probably the one thing that I need to do.

Blessings from a pilgrim
Later

Find of the day.

Find of the day. elf house.

Here is the kicker.

Something seemingly insignificant happened to me yesterday. To most people it would probably seem like the most normal thing ever, but to me it was a very strange thing. I am still not so sure that I even enjoyed the event. My supervisor rode his bike into work yesterday - whether it was because I do all the time or not, I do not know - and I drove him home after work. On the way home, him and I got to talking about my family and growing up. Once I was nearly finished talking he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "I'm sorry all that happened to you growing up."

At this point I can imagine you are wondering what is the insignificant event that just took place. If you guessed him putting his hand on my shoulder, you guessed correctly. Physical touch is something of immense valued to me. Physical touch from a father figure, or in a caring way is something I don't know how to explain. It is just... Valuable to me, and I crave it often. Yet it was, and still is something that I receive very infrequently if at all. This is not to say that I enjoy any male touch, I would describe it more as fatherly affection. There have been lots of people that I have come across that are touchy that I just simply do not enjoy even being around. But there is something about a fatherly affection that I crave dearly.

Believe it or not, I don't wish for a different life, nor to a remorse over my past. My past is what it is so that my present could be what it is today. I would not wish for anything to be different, removed or even lighted in the least. If life was any more pleasant or enjoyable, I would not have fled out of the house at the first chance I had. Church. If I could stand being at home, if my relationship with my parents was something even bearable, or if I didn't hate the place I call home with the intensity that I did then I would not have found Christ. I would not have found my true home and family within the Body of Christ, the Church - other people who have found Christ. If any of the above was true I would not have realized the matchless value of knowing Christ who rescued me from all of it. And here is the kicker, I would do it again. If that is what it takes to know Christ, I would do it again.

What absolutely blows my mind is that I have a Heavenly Father who is perfect in love, and wants nothing more that to show his unrelenting affection on his children. Oh, how I wait for that day when I will feel His great embrace! I know that the Bible says that there will be no more crying or wiping in heaven, but if that were not the case, I would cry. I would cry for a very long time as my heavenly father held me in his sweet embrace. I cannot comprehend, nor can I explain how much I am looking forward to this.

Blessings from a pilgrim
Later