Love

Love:  an intense feeling of deep affection

Whether we admit it or not, we all want to be loved.  We want to be loved by family, we want to be loved by friends, we want to be loved by the other gender, and we want to be loved continually.

In my Bible study last night with my daughters we where discussing love.  We came to the part of 1 John where love is defined.

"...God is Love" 1 John 4:8

not only does John say it once, but he repeats it:

"...God is Love..." 1 John 4:16

It's hard to be a Christian and NOT bring God into the equation when we define love, because love is His essence, its His nature, and its who He is. 

We can try to define love in so many ways, and usually we fall so short of what love is...

found this definition online:

Love: feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to

Notice the word "or".... here is the issue we replace the word "lust" with "love" and call it the same thing.  Its not.

With love we can (and usually do) feel a deep romantic attachment to, but the definition adds the "or", love in the marital relationship has to have both.

We want love, we need love, we crave love.

I want, need, and crave love.  I want it from my wife, from my friends, and from my family.  We need all three to function emotionally as a complete person.

God is "Agape", God is unconditional love.  He loves me unconditionally.  He loves me not because of who I am, but because of who He is.  He loves me not because He has to, but because He wants to.  He loves me not for who I am, but for who He actually sees.  He loves me in spite of my shortcomings, my impatience, my inabilities, my faults, my failures, my instability, my mistakes, my lack of faith, my doubt, my fears, my personality, my hesitations, my lack of obedience, my past, my present, my future, and whatever else gets in the way.

WhY?  Because He wants to, He HAS to, its who He is..... God is love.

I came to a harsh reality last night, as I thought about love and me.

It's hard to love me, but thank you God that you do. 

"Help those that I love to know that I love them, even when I don't act like it"

Chris

Miley, say it aint so....

Unless you have had your head in the sand the last couple of days, you know about Miley's "performance" at the VMA awards.  Needless to say, I didn't see it and don't want to see it.  However, thanks to news media, I have seen clips and pictures of it.

So the question is how do you go from this girl

to what we saw the other night.

I wonder how her parents felt?  As a father I more so wondered how Billy Ray felt.  After all, Miley is not just a singer or actress, she is someone's daughter.

A couple of years ago, her manager wanted to change her image from the "sweet girl" to a "bad girl", you know to boost sales.  Maybe that is all this was, maybe it was just "business".

As a parent of four daughters (three of whom do not know who she is), I worry of the impact this has on young ladies now.  I try to teach my daughters to be appreciated for their mind and character, and feel like I am fighting this battle against society with the way they dress and act.  Miley, this doesn't help you or anyone else for that matter.  This is not the way to be remembered or to make a name for yourself.  Her image is definitely changed.

More than anything, my heart aches for her now.  Put in a position to now be viewed as a sexual object.  Struggling with Hollywood and who she wants to be.  Being thrown under the bus by news and social media.  A bad decision made worse by all the coverage.

Miley is just human, she makes mistakes, just like we all do.  Mine and yours just don't get smeared all over the news.

Most of the people who will read this blog will never be or have ever been in the position this young lady is in.  So young, so much pressure, and every eye watching everything you do.  In the lime light everyone expects you to be perfect.  Be the perfect role model and always to the right thing.  Don't misunderstand me, I'm not making excuses for her nor am I trying to justify her actions.  All I am saying is under pressure we are all prone to making foolish mistakes.

My advice to Miley is, "it's never too late to do the right thing."  God loves you, stand strong, and say No.  You can repair what has been done.

Prayers for Miley and her family....

Chris

Protect them...

So as many of you this week, I sent my kids back to school.  School, a place where when I was a kid it seemed, well, safe.  In light of the event at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the recent one at the Elementary school in Georgia, I find myself wondering are they really?

At the same time, I refuse to live in fear.  If I live in fear, then these "unstable" people win.  I recently caught wind that our local sheriff is wanting an SRO (Student Resource Officer) at every school. 

Though that makes me feel better, it's not the answer.

As a father and as a minister of students I find myself praying often for my children and my students that God would protect them.

"I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.  Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name - the name you gave me - so that they may be one as we are one."  John 17:10, NIV

Jesus was about to leave the disciples (his students) and go back to heaven.  He was sending his students into the world to make a difference.  At the same time their world was, well, angry at them for being followers of Jesus.  His students had done nothing wrong, and yet their lives where in danger.

Just as Jesus sent his students out, so are we.  In a world that doesn't like them for the fact that they are followers of Jesus.  Jesus prayed, "Protect them".

As I sit in the mornings waiting on the school bus, I often think that everyone of the parents of either the Sandy Hook school or those in Georgia.  How they put their kids on the bus or dropped them off at school thinking they are safe and that its just another ordinary day in suburbia.  Then in an instant everything changed. 

Then I wonder, "Did my parents have these same fears when I was in school?" 

It's heart wrenching as a parent and a student minister to think of what these parents felt and are still feeling.  Elementary school students who have really done nothing more wrong than pull a piggy tail, talk when they weren't supposed to, or ran in the hallway.  Students who have become victims.  Families lives that have been tragically changed forever.

"Father, protect them, in their world.....the world of schools"

The world of public schools has changed so much since I was there (or you).  Elementary school students dealing with what I did in middle school, those in middle school dealing with stuff I did in high school, and those in high school dealing with stuff I did in college.  Drugs, alcohol, self-mutilation, bullying, sex, and the list could go on and on....

"Father, protect them, in their world.....the world of schools"

I also have friends that are teachers, administration, and staff in the public education system,  I wonder how they would feel if something happened in their school, or their classroom...

"Father, protect them, in their world.....the world of schools"

I still believe in the public education system, I am a result of the public education system, and I will send my children through the public education system.  I will not live in fear, so therefore I pray:

"Father, protect them....."

Will you join me in praying this?  Chris

Determination

Determination:  the act of deciding definitely and firmly; also : the result of such an act of decision (Webster's)

I have been reminded of who I am, now we make a determination (a decision) that I will not slow down, back up, lose sight, give up, and throw in the towel on what God is trying to do.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps" (Proverbs 16:9)

Determination is like running a race.  You must begin strong and stay strong.  You must push through the difficulties in understanding the difficulties only last for a moment.  The fog lifts and sunshine forces its way through.  So it is with life.  So it is with our calling.  So it is with everything.

I despise a lot of cliché's, like:

when life gives you lemon's make lemonade
in storms of life learn to dance in the rain,
etc.

Doesn't that just make you want to say, "really?!?!" (especially if your having a bad day, bad month, or even a bad year); that is exactly the LAST thing you want to hear.

So how do we keep our determination?

It's all about surrounding yourself with people that will be the encourager's, those that will give you the words you need (and not the ones to make you role your eyes).  Those that will if nothing else just sit with you.  Those that will understand what you are going through.  They may not fully understand, but they make a good attempt to at least try to.

As always the most important thing you and I can do to help keep our determination is to make working on our relationship with God the most important thing.  If no one else on earth understands you, realize that God does.  He created you (psalm 139).  If He created you, then He knows you.  He knows everything about you.  If He knows everything about you, then He knows what it will take to keep your determination where it needs to be.  Communicate with Him, Spend time in prayer, spend time reading His word to you, and Spend time with Him.

Determination takes effort.
Determination takes work.
Determination takes time.

But Determination is worth every moment of effort, work, and time.

Have a great weekend, Chris

Remind me of who I am

Honest moment, for a little while I've been questioning my effectiveness.  Am I really reaching students for Christ, are lives being changed, am I really making a difference?  If I am making an impact, is it in a positive or negative way?  What am I doing that is so wrong, or what am I doing right? Why are students not excited to come to worship?  Why ARE students excited to come to worship?  What can I do to balance the two more effectively?  Is the problem me?

Have you ever been here?  Self-doubt.  It's a real downer.  All it takes is one moment, one thought, someone saying something, and the next thing you know, here I am, here you are drowning in the sea of self-doubt.  Questioning yourself, losing confidence, and quickly sliding down the slippery slope losing self confidence.  How do I stop, How do I make it slow down?  How do I slam on the brakes?  Is there anyone to help?  Will no one grab my hand and pull me off this downward spiral? 

You try to convince yourself that it's ok, You try to put on a smile, and you try to pick yourself up and keep moving forward.  You try and remember how things where, how good you where doing, remember the pats on the back, and remember the encouraging word that student or parent said.  Unfortunately, It doesn't seem to be working.

Then you realize this is not me..... and you ask yourself, "what's going on????"

I need to be reminded of who I am

1. I am loved, "I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with unfailing kindness" - Jeremiah 31:3
2. I am a Child of God, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!" - 1 John 3:1
3. God delights in me, "The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.  He will take great delight in you, in His love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing."  Zephaniah 3:17
4. I am Forgiven, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness, by His wounds you have been healed."  - 1 Peter 2:24
5. I am Free, "it is for freedom that  Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." - Galatians 5:1
6. I am New, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation:  The old has gone, the new has come!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17
7. I am set apart, "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession." - 1 Peter 2:9
8. I am partnered with God, "For we are co-workers in God's service, you are God's field, God's building" - 1 Corinthians 3:9
9. I am a Masterpiece, "For we are God's masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."  - Ephesians 2:10
10. God has a future for me, "For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" - Jeremiah 29:11

These truths remind me of who I am.  These truths give me the confidence to know that regardless of what I see, regardless of current circumstances, and regardless of what others say that I am who I am.  I am a child of the Most High God.  I love what I do, I love working with Students.  I can't see myself doing anything else.  I don't want to do anything else.  I WANT to see students lives changed, I WANT students to be excited to come to worship, I WANT to make a difference,  and I WANT to see God do unbelievable things through the students.

God, help me to remain strong and be who YOU have called me to be... and "remind me of who I am"

 

 

Chris

its all about the ride

So for five years I have been going and taking my youth to ride the Virginia Creeper trail in Virginia.  Its a beautiful wonderful scenic bike ride that stretches 17 miles from White Top mountain to Damascus VA.  Along this trail you experience getting away from everything and just ride for awhile.   For five years we have had really good weather, until this year.

The ride started fine.  When we got to White Top it was sunny and partly cloudy; however five miles down the trail the weather changed drastically.  It went from sunny to hard rain, the trail turned into a wet, muddy mess.  Decision time:  do I allow the current circumstances to ruin my day?

I decided to not let it.  I felt like a kid again.  Mud puddles, sticky mud, and rain.  Oh yeah, had a blast.

Life is a lot like our ride yesterday.  It can change in a hurry.  You can go from having a wonderful relaxing day to a horrible stress filled day.  Circumstances can often dictate our mood if we allow them to.  Don't allow the circumstances of an "off" day or two dictate who you are.

Just enjoy this ride that we call "life".

Psalm 40:
"He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and the mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God."  (2,3)

Have a great day!!

Chris.