Ash Wednesday

Last night for youth group I had the students create masks because masks are what we use to hide our true selves.  We hide our sin.  We hide our shortcoming.  Basically, we hide anything that we do not want others to see.  That takes care of the inside, but what about the outside?  That is where our masks really come in handy.  With our masks on, we can pick and choose exactly what we want others to see.  This led to the following instructions for the students; on the outside they put words representing how others see them.  On the inside they put their fears, doubts and shortcomings.  When they finished, they put their masks aside and we discussed Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness using a video from your tube based on “40” by Si Smith with the song “How He Loves” by John Mark McMillan.

Today’s New Testament prayer mentions how we are still “sometimes paralyzed in fear.”  That is when we put the masks on.  We want to hide our pain from everyone, even God, but God does not want that for us.  He wants us to be honest with ourselves and with Him.  God wants us to share those fears, shortcomings and doubts.

God know we struggle and face temptations.  Jesus struggled and faced temptations in the desert when the devil tempted Him.  Jesus showed us that we can get past those struggles and temptations by relying on God.  We ended youth group by turning off the lights, the room lit by a single candle.  In silent prayer each student came forward and placed their masks with all the fears, doubts and shortcomings at the foot of the Cross.  They placed it in God’s hands.  Won’t you?

Father, I pray that we can truly “rise up” and “follow You fearlessly.”  Go not let us fall prey to ways of the world, but instead help us to get up and not be afraid.

Amen.

Terry Van Wyk

Journaling Life - March 25, 2010

Joshua 21-22 / Psalm 47 / 1 Corinthians 10

Wow, today’s readings had a lot to say.  From the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to the house of Israel as stated in Joshua 21:45 to the whole of chapter 22 which in a nutshell is an example that before we go in to a fight we first need to confront the other party, there may just be a misunderstanding as there was with the Eastern Tribes.  This was also an example of holding one another accountable to doing what the Lord would have us do.

Paul continues in 1 Corinthians by warning us to stay true to God using the history of Israel.  He goes on to tell us that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear and that when we are tempted that He provides us an out – a way to stand up to the temptation.  Finally Paul tells us to do everything for the glory of God; just as it turned out that the Eastern Tribes had done by building the altar when the returned to the land that Moses had given them.

In all things, do them for God by leading by your example.

Too often we are afraid to confront one another when we are not being true to God or for any reason for that matter.  What is your reason?  Mine has been that I don’t want to make anyone mad.  The leaders of Israel that went to confront the Eastern Tribes and found out that what they had perceived was wrong.  How many times have I perceived something incorrectly and caused even more trouble.  Probably more than I’ll ever know.  That is not leading by example and is not God honoring.  Time to man up and do it God’s way and not my own.

Father, help me to do things your way, not my own.  Provide for me opportunities to resolve conflicts and misunderstandings to that in all things I can bring glory and honor to you.  Amen!

Journaling Life - March 24, 2010

Today’s reading is from Joshua 18-20 and 1 Corinthians 9.

In the passage from Joshua we read that 7 of the tribes have not received their land yet. Joshua doesn’t get it, why are they taking so long. It doesn’t say why there hadn’t claimed the land, but it does tell that Joshua gives instructions on how those 7 tribes need to figure out what land they want and then report back. By the end of chapter 19 all the tribes had their land and Joshua had his land. The only group that did not receive land was the Levites for their work was to serve the Lord.

Jumping to the New Testament reading we read Paul’s thoughts on earning a wage for doing the Lord’s work. We already know that the Levites in our Old Testament passage were taken care of for doing the Lord’s work and because of that they did not own any land. I remember as I was growing up the pastor at my church, First United Methodist Church in Clarion, Iowa, lived in the parsonage. It was the home that the church owned and provided for the pastor and his family to live in. When I started going to my wife’s church, Hus Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I heard someone mention the manse and I wondered what that was so I asked and found out it is the same thing as a parsonage. Both are homes provided by the church for the current pastor and his/her family. I am not sure about the church I grew up in, but Hus has since sold the manse.

Paul reminds us that it is our responsibility to take care of the men and women who are doing the Lord’s work. Just as the Levites received what they needed for the work they did, so should those in ministry today.

I am truly blessed by the congregation that I serve as the director of youth ministries. But with that blessing comes a responsibility not just to the congregation, but to our community and ultimately to God. It is not something to take lightly. I am also blessed to a mentor that holds me accountable as I seek to be a servant of God.

Thank you Lord for the blessings that you have given me. I pray that I am doing your work while constantly improving. Help me to plant the seeds of faith, nurture those you have placed in my care and to be a servant to all. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Journaling Life - March 23, 2010

Yesterday's devotional readings were from Joshua 15-17 and 1 Corinthians 8. As I read the passage from 1 Corinthians 8 I stopped to really think about how what we do as followers of Jesus affects everyone we come into contact with, especially those who do not hold the same beliefs or are new to the faith.

In this passage Paul is talking about food that was offered to idols. He begins the passage by defining what an idol is. He tells us that there are many idols that are known as both god and lord both in heaven and on earth. But for us as Christians there is only one God, our Father and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ. He further goes on to explain that not everyone knows this. This is where I not only thought about those who were new Christians, but also to those people that have heard, but still do not believe. Part of that unbelief is that so many Christians do not live their faith that the non-believers just shake their heads and chalk up it up to all Christians being hypocrites.

Can it be that Paul's message was so much more than being about eating meat that was sacrificed to idols? I'd have to say yes. When we do things that would make anyone question what we believe, then we are taking away the opportunity to fulfill Christ's words just before he ascended to heaven:

"All power in heaven and on earth is given to me. ¹⁹So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age."

If we are to reach our friends, families, neighbors, communities and beyond we have to live a life that will "not cause any of them to sin."

How? That can be the hard part. Many times we all, myself included, have found it easier to not do the right thing. When we do that we are saying we don't want to stand out, we want to be comfortable. Two brothers who were tired of being comfortable decided enough was enough and a few years ago wrote "Do Hard Things" because they were tired of low expectations. Since then Alex & Brett Harris have written another book, "Start Here" in which they talk to their readers about doing hard things from right where they are at. They decided they didn't want to be comfortable, they didn't want to let the culture dictate what they should do.

What about you, are you ready to "do hard things" or will you remain complacent and comfortable? I'm tired of being comfortable and complacent, but doing hard things can be, well hard. It is something that I know I will always struggle with, but I refuse to let that be an excuse. It means thinking before speaking or doing. It means letting God be my guide, not the world.

Hey God, its me again. I know I struggle with a lot of things, especially with things of the world. Please help to me overcome those things and that when I do mess up that I don't just learn from it, but that I do not make the same mistake again. In Jesus name I pray ... AMEN!

A Father's Love

From myfoxphilly.com:

The dad in this video handles what happens with love. Click the link above to read the whole story. Hope you are blessed by it.

Living Outrageously for Christ ~ Terry

What Would We Know?

“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching” (Acts 2:42a). This was the Scripture for Pastor Mel’s teaching titled “Being Fully Devoted to the Apostles’ Teaching” this past Sunday. When he reminded us that when the New Testament church came into being they did not have the part of the Bible we call the New Testament. All they had was the Torah. At that point, all I could think of was the Downhere song “Cathedral Made of People” from the album “Ending Is Beginning”:

If they shut down the churches
Where would you go?
If they melted all the stained-glass windows
Replaced every sanctuary with a condo
Where would you go?
Where would you go?

We are a cathedral made of people
In a kingdom that the eye can't see
We're a house, we are the bride
Where God's Spirit lives inside
And nothing ever could stand against her

If they burned every Bible
What would you know?

If they tore your marked-up pages
How would you grow?
And declared your devotion to be criminal
What would you know?
What would you know?

When they throw you in prison
What will you do?
When they hate you for the things
That you know are true
They can tear down this temple
But they can't touch you

We are a cathedral made of people
In a kingdom that the eye can't see
We're a house, we are the bride
Where God's Spirit lives inside
And nothing ever could stand against her

Pastor Mel’s sermon certainly got me to thinking. Could you and I survive without the church building? How would we learn? Who would teach us? I know we could survive without the building. But without a Bible? That would be a lot harder. What some of you may not know is that before any of the books of the Bible were written more than 3,000 years ago, the stories and songs were passed from one generation to another by word of mouth. It makes me wonder if we would be more devoted followers if we had to learn God’s Word by memorizing it. All of it. All 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament. How can we become better students of God’s Word?

A few weeks ago, Pastor Mel introduced our congregation to “Life Journals”. The reading plan that is introduced will take us through the entire Bible once a year. We have an opportunity to become more intimately acquainted with God’s Word by journaling using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer). We could then answer the questions in Downhere’s song:

What would you know? We would know the Scriptures because we studied them intimately.

How would you grow? What will you do? The same thing Marcia did when she was having her MRI done. Singing the songs of worship and going over the Scriptures because they would be written on our hearts from our time in the Word. “We are a cathedral made of people in a kingdom that the eye can't see. We're a house, we are the bride where God's Spirit lives inside and nothing ever could stand against her.” Nothing can stand against God’s Word. My challenge to you … join us in journaling our lives.

Living Outrageously for Christ ~ Terry