Live A Revolution... Every Day

Sweet Creme Crap and Trying New Things with Students

What you're looking at is a mixture of hot water, Italian Sweet Creme creamer, and orange pekoe & pekoe black tea.

I thought it would be good... kind of like Starbuck's Tazo Chai Tea Latte 

That's what I thought.

In actuality... it sucked. I will never make this concoction again...

ever. 

It's got the smell of vanilla protein weight gainer.

And it tastes like watered down, vanilla crap. I don't know what crap tastes like, but i'm sure that crap mixed with water and vanilla would taste exactly like this.

It sounded like a great idea. I thought it would be a taste of awesomeness. 

But it wasn't, and it didn't. 

The thing is... if I wouldn't have tried it out, I would have never known. 

And I'm sure I'll try a different mixture later on. This bafoonery won't stop me from trying to make something else.

And whether we're talking about parenting, or student ministering, or youth working... we need to try new things.

Different things. 

Some may be great, like Starbuck's Chai Tea Latte.

Some things will be utter colossal failures, like my mixture of hot water, Italian Sweet Creme creamer, and orange pekoe & pekoe black tea.

But we have to try. AND, we have to keep trying after we fail.

So what's worked and what's failed?

I'm curious. 

One Thing You Need to Make a Difference

If you want to make a difference...

Have More Conversation.

If you want to better your marriage...

Have More Conversation.

If you want to be a better parent...

Have More Conversation.

If you want to be a better friend...

Have More Conversation.

I think I need to...

Have More Conversation.

You?

 

Why I Work with Families - A Story of Hope

Click to read about A story of hope

The story above is why I work with students... with families... to walk down the road of hope. 

Sometimes it's ugly.

Sometimes it's pretty.

Sometimes it's covered in crap.

But it's always there...

Hope is always there. It's always here.

We just have to be willing to see it.

To get our hands dirty. 

To get messy with others.

So that we find hope.

Cause it's always there. It's always here.

And this story illustrates just one reason why I work with students and families. It's a story of hope.

Why do you do what you do?

Click to read about A story of hope 

Drowning in the Pool of Excuses

I love the story of Moses and the burning bush.

After God gets Moses' attention, Go tells Moses that He's seen the suffering of His people and is going to rescue them.

At this point, Moses has got to like, "Ya. You go God. Whip the Egyptians!"

But God's got a different idea. He tells Moses that He's going to send HIM to Pharaoh.

Moses is like, "Ummm, what you talkin 'bout God?"

And he runs through every possible excuse he could come up with.

I don't know about you, but I've been where Moses has been. And I still find myself wading through the pool of excuses.

The pool of excuses is powerful - powerful enough to drown the very person God wants to use... because here's what the pool of excuses cause people to do:

1. Doubt yourself: Exodus 3:11, 4:10 - This is one of the biggest battles I face.
2. Doubt others: Exodus 4:1 - Moses started wondering if he Egytians would even listen to him. Ever been there? I have.
3. Doubt God: Exodus 4:13 - even after all the help God said He would provide, Moses still doubted and in essence said, "I don't believe You".

The pool of excuses sucks. If Moses gave in, it would have drown the very thing God called him to do.

But Moses didn't give in. Despite all of the excuses he came up with, despite all of the doubts, he obeyed God and followed the calling on his life.

I think that why I love this story so much... Moses eventually sucked it up and followed God's voice and pulls himself out of the pool o excuses.

Moses did. You can do it. And so can I.

Romans 8:15 (The Message)
2Timothy 1:7

Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. My Top Ten Excuses.

 
We've all made'em. And we've got'em for everything... diets, workouts, studying, chores. And for me, there's one more category: getting things done for Revolve. So here they are, my top ten excuses I make when it comes to Revolve:

10. I'm tired, beat, spent.
9. I'll get to it later.
8. I don't feel like it.
7. I don't have time right now.
6. I don't have the resources.
5. I'm not good enough.
4. I forgot.
3. I'm just not sure.
2. There's not as many students coming as I would like.
1. I'm frustrated.

Each of these excuses have run through my head more than I would like to admit. But the key is to not stay there. In my next post, I'll talk about how I pull through each one.

Until then, what are some excuses you battle with?

The $500 Lesson - Ouch!

So...

Last night, at Revolve, my Xbox 360 was ripped off. Locked the doors, thought we had a good head count. But one dude was able to slip away and took off with the console, three games and two controllers.

What is that, about $500 bones worth of stuff. And to top it off, it's "my" stuff that we used for ministry purposes.

Not gonna lie, I was pissed... on the inside... and prolly a little on the outside as well. Still am. And, I'm sad to say, I even prayed at one point that my Xbox would get the Red Ring of Death as he was playing UFC.

And what sucks even more, we were teaching James 2:1-13. Here's what verse 10 says, "For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws." Nooooo. I wanted to be sooooo angry at this kid. He's guilty. I am justified with being angry at him, at thinking negative thoughts about him - at thinking he's just as grimey as the nasty cat pictured below. There's just one problem, I'm guilty too. Just as he's broken God's law, I have too... making me

just

like

him.

And then to top it off, verse 13 says, "There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you." When someone hurts me, I get angry, like Incredible Hulk angry. Only without the muscles or turning green. But it doesn't have to be like that. In fact, it shouldn't.

So I had a choice last night, as I do today and tomorrow - to live in my anger, or extend mercy. I wish it was a natural, easy choice for me. But it's something I'm still working on.

But here's the bottom line - things are just things. If I place more value on things than relationships, then I'm just as bad off as the thief. And, even though it hurts, this is the exact type of kid we're trying to reach.

It just sucks that it took $500 to teach me a lesson.

From Cookies to Pizza - Waiting On God

Last night at Revolve, we had a student duck away from our activities and get to the kitchen. At first, we thought he had gotten away with one of our basketballs. Which, isn't cool. But tells me we are reaching the right students. Instead, I found the basketball on the kitchen floor, and most of our hue-mungo pile of cookies missing along with a two-liter of root beer. 

All I could do was laugh.

Had he waited another 45 minutes, he would have been able to take part in demolishing five to six pizzas. Had he waited, he would have gotten so much more than some cookies and pop. He would have gotten a whole meal. 

He was too concerned with the immediate present, that he couldn't focus on what was in store for him in the not-too-distant future!

And then I'm reminded that,

I'm

Just

Like 

Him.

There are many times where I settle for the cookies instead of waiting for the bigger, better meal in the future.

I get too concerned with the immediate present, and lose focus on what God's got for me in the future.

Ministry

Family

Friendships

Leadership

I want to move from cookies to pizza in every area of my life.

Sometimes God calls us to wait. And I want to be focused enough on Him to do just that.

"My Secret Plan": Sunday, March 29 @ Revolve

• This past Sunday we finished our series called, Secrets, with My Secret Plan.    
• We tackled Genesis 22v1-19.
• Wow, this story is still one of the most shocking to me.  
• While I don't believe God kept his plan for Abraham secret, I do believe we keep God's plan for our lives a secret from ourselves. 
• Do you hear me? I believe that, if we feel like God is keeping his plan for our lives a secret, a lot of times it's because of us.

With that said, the following are some Cadbury Creme Eggs I talked about this past Sunday. (If you're wondering why in the heck I used Cadbury Creme Eggs instead of nuggets, it's because they're the greatest candy on the face of the earth!) 

• When God calls us, we need to answer Him -- (Verse 1)
• Question: What is God asking you to give up (sacrifice)? -- (Verse 2)
• Question: Where are you unwilling to go for God? -- (Verses 3, 4)
• Sometimes God asks us to have faith when we don't know where or when He'll come through. -- (Verses 7-10) 

If we are faithful, God will let us in on His "Secret Plan" for our lives.

Next series starts April 19, 2009. More info on that later.

Suck-cess

Success, I'm always attempting to put the the puzzle together - to find what it means to be successful. What does it look like to be a successful husband, father, friend, ministry partner, employee, follower of Jesus? 

There are times where success lines up and I know it.

Then there are times where it feels more like "Suck-cess".

"Suck-cess" is when you're running hard. You're working. You're putting in time and effort. And in the end, you feel more like you've failed then you've succeeded.

I've experienced this a lot in the areas above - especially in the areas as a husband, follower of Jesus and parent.

But, I've also experienced this a lot in student ministry. In fact, I'm feeling that way right now.

But I also know, that even though I'm feeling this way now, I need to push through - remaining confident in God's calling. Because, in the arena of student ministry, I may never know which kid will hear something I say, or remember something we do which changes their life. 

Working with students is tough. If you're in the "Suck-cess" period of ministry or life, push through. Don't give up. Stay with it and the puzzle that is success will work itself together.

Just remain faithful. 

Hooping It Up to Help Students Hope Up

   

One of the things Matt and I have wanted to do is to use sports as an experience to help students get back to Jesus. It's an important connecting point for a lot of students here in the Elkhart area. Because of this, we are beginning a mini-basketball league Sunday nights. We're in the process of finishing up the structure and are looking for a point person to take this over. I'm excited about this addition and the possibility of reaching new students.

I can't wait!