Sunday Thanks: Arms Wide Open

I don't know if it was fear or professionalism that nearly killed me.

It doesn't matter.

For three years and some I have attended this church I love, worked with their youth, and served alongside some of the most wonderful people I could imagine. God has moved in this place, and in me. He has moved me through the youth--their events, but more so their heart and spirit. The service I have joined in has changed me dramatically. My views of poverty, need, love, work, humanity (and many other things) have been altered as I've invested in God's service through this community of faith.

I held myself back. Even with all the greatness of God flowing around this church, I held back in one area. It is an area of passion, an area that fills fire in my bones and can come over me like a the rushing of a waterfall drenching my self with God.

I had become a silent worshipper. Oh, I sang--many in the church do. My body was silent.

You see, from the time I was little, I couldn't sit still. I have always used my whole self to express my heart--voice, arms, body, legs, emotions, tears. Everything. But here, no. I had become stone still.

Fear, conformity, or professionalism--I don't have a clue.

But something in my spirit broke down the chains the past couple weeks. As the music rose, so did I to God in worship--not just a voice, but me. Expressing to Him my joy in my own ackward, uncomfortable, whole self way.

Standing tall, shouting out, tears streaming, and arms wide open.

Other Thanks for this week:

1. The raw reality of life bringing deep questions: One in the life of a youth at LCOC, the other from a great blog post.
2. Finding common ground.
3. Realizing the implication of the resurrection of Jesus.
4. Counting how long I can stay underwater (just like when I was six!)
5. Pool parties with pizza
6. Singing the wrong words to Disney songs
7. The power of God to create a living Word for us.

Sunday Thanks: Blindness

I couldn't imagine what it must be like to live in the dark.

However, we have an older gentlemen at our church whose tent of life is darkened until the glory of resurrection renews us. He can see next to nothing. He can read using a fancy machine. He has to use a walking stick to navigate through the church.

His eyes are only the beginning of his decrepitude. Liver problems, heart problems, diabetes all plague his old frame. His body makes him useless, at least that is what many may believe.

This old man teaches weekly, an AA type meeting with a Christian flare, sharing with others how to overcome the mistakes of his life. One of those great plagues of secret sin, drunken chains, are exposed with his grace and love.

In fact, a blind man may be the perfect person to work with those ashamed of the sins of their past.

And so as I pass the communion tray, and I hand an individual piece of bread and cup to him, I do not think of him as useless, but essential to the family God is forming all around me.

This week, I am thankful for:
1. Floating in a pool, holding hands with my wife.
2. Plot outlines that may or may not be bestseller material, but are absolutely filled with my heart and soul.
3. Teaching kids to rap the Bible
4. Secrets
5. High school students helping elementary students.
6. Flashes of lightening--marvelous display this week!

Sunday Thanks

It was a quick moment. A teenage boy with a clear Mexican Heritage, a quiet demeanor, and a lot of trust issues approaches my mother-in-law. She had worked as the cook for camp, and he had been a camper. She looked at him, and he said one line:

"What are you fixing me for breakfast?"

A pause, then a grin breaks across his normally serious face. It is in this moment that I realized the truth.

He belongs.

After so many weeks of saying nothing, trying to sit alone (only to be encouraged to join the group), and only showing interest by showing up, something finally changed. He realized the church cared for him. He realized that people wanted him around. He realized he was a part of this church, not just a kid to be entertained.

And so he joked.

This weeks thankful list:

1. Having a minister who practices what he preaches.
2. The excitement of camp.
3. A downpour while the sun was shining (note: I was told that southerners call this "the devil beating his wife," which I find very odd indeed!
4. Sharing thoughts with bloggers from throughout the world.
5. Starting to put dreams into action.
6. Great youth with great hearts.
7. Cuddling with Ky.
8. Allowing freedom in Christ to embolden me to speak the truth.
9. Watching teens express reality with faith.
   

Sunday Thanks: the Empty Church

My church was empty this morning. I mean, we had some people there, about 1/3 of our usual attendance. Some elders were missing. Most deacons too. It was in many respects the best day our church has had since I've been here.

Because they were serving. We had several "microbursts" and a couple tornadoes come through our town Saturday. Not anything as serious as Joplin. Very few houses destroyed, but lots of damage nonetheless.

An elder spent the day chopping wood. Several deacons were helping clean up their neighbors yards. Others in the church were cleaning up their homes and others. We didn't just claim ourselves as the church, we lived it. Those of us confined to the church in the morning spent the afternoon and evening with church members. We put together plans for cleanup, cooked meals, and just calmed nerves. I actually have a teenager at our house watching Harry Potter with my wife and I as we speak. She came over to do dishes with us at our house while the power was out at hers.

This is the church, and for that I am thankful.

The rest of my thankful list this week:

• My wonderful wife
• The smoke of a gas grill.
• The calm before the storm.
• The cool after the storm.
• Finding bloggers who inspire me.
• The gasp of air after jumping into a swimming pool.
• The God who never gave up on me.
  

Prayer Overflowing with Thanksgiving

Last week, during our Brown Bag Bible Study the youth and I looked at Colossians 1:3, which says this:

"We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you."

What fascinates me is how this verse points to Thanksgiving being a (if not the) central aspect of Paul's prayer life. As he began to pray for others, it would overflow with thanksgiving to God for what God was doing in their lives.

This is quite the opposite of my prayer life.

I pray in moments of panic for others (as I should)

I pray when I see the life of a Christian falling apart (as I should)

I pray when I feel the defeat of sin in the lives of those around me (as I should)

But,

I neglect praying when a Christian takes a leap of faith (as I should)

I neglect praying for a Christian who has been faithfully serving for years (as I should)

I neglect any and nearly all prayer that is excited for the good going on in my life or the life of those around me...

My prayer life shows something twisted in my heart: I pray for God to work, but never acknowledge him when he does.

I am a forgetful prayer...

This week I have been trying to watchfully look for God's working in the lives of people, and I have a list of thanksgivings going on this week:

• I thank God for giving Zane the courage to speak casually and friendly with new faces in the youth group.
• I thank God for the prayers prayed by Taylor Obermeyer and Kelly Murphy at Fusion--prayers that show they are listening and wanting to apply the Word of God to their lives!
• I thank God for Samm being willing to step up and ask a question in a new environment--that takes guts, and it shows God is wanting to work on your heart!
• I thank God for my wife for her great moral compass that helps guide me to more maturity in Christ.
• I thank God for my parents, who diligently placed Christ in front of our eyes, and continue to do so to young people in their community.
• I thank God for my brother Nate, whose study of the word makes me strive to do so better myself. (Thanks for making me reread a great passage Nate! I'm am pondering and reading it again!)
• I thank God for other youth ministers like Josh Rutledge and Brandon Foulke, who work with great perseverance to captivate hearts for Christ.
• I thank God for the faith of those who have went before me, people who have written down their words to help me see faith more clearly.
• I thank God for Chuck, our senior minister, who not only works hard at his job, but does the little jobs that nobody notices to serve the body of Christ, the church.
• I thank God for little Ben Harris, and his wonderful joy for life that brings a joy to the office (and occassionaly a mess).
• I thank God Jack White, whose text message this week refreshed my heart.
• I thank God Tyler Munjas, and his willingness to step up and serve--he is developing a heart like Jesus Christ!

Let's keep a list of thanksgiving that we can lift up to God in our prayers--looking for God showing up in the lives of those around us.

That is my list of thanksgiving this week, what are you thankful for?