DEEP // WIDE // LIGHT

It is not often in youth ministry that you see any kind of fruit. The students you love on are in the stage of life that is between childhood and adulthood. They are growing, whether they like it or not, in many ways. And sometimes you can't tell if their parents taught them something or if they learned it in youth group. You can see if that mature decision was because they are growing up or because they saw you do it. But there are rare moments when a kid tells you that your love actually made a difference. I'm sentimental by nature. I keep almost every single encouraging card ever mailed to me. I save text messages that make my day. I save emails that warm my heart. (And I read them on bad days.) The other day, a student told me that my unconditional listening and understanding was me being exactly like the Jesus I was claiming to follow. I was deeply honored (but I didn't cry! I swear!) Later, I worried that I hadn't said enough. After all, my Jesus lov...

So I did a study on prayer and fasting for our students.  I thought I'd share it further.  Here's the sheet we passed out. Prayer and Fasting: A Guide  There are a few guiding biblical passages that are important as you fast and pray.  2 Samuel 12:22-23 David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’  2 Chronicles 20:3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.  Esther 4:16 Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for the three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king.  Matthew 6: 16-18 [Jesus said,] “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the...

So we went on vacation suddenly and unexpectedly during Spring Break. We visited the town I was born in - Yukon, Oklahoma. I know, I know, I'm an Okie. I moved to Mississippi when I was six or seven, and I remember very little about my birthplace. The few memories I have are vague. My connection to this town has always been that I really wanted to see it and relive those childhood memories. I'm a bit sentimental like that. I've visited the sites of houses I used to live in here in Mississippi, and enjoyed reminiscing. I even have an empty bottle of root beer that I drank on the morning I turned sixteen, as I watched the sun rise over the Pearl River. When my parents asked if we wanted to go to Oklahoma, I jumped at the chance to see my birthplace. It was fascinating to have fuzzy things in the back of my brain become real in front of me. The fuzzy memory becomes sharply real. The house in which I lived, the elementary school where I went to kindergarten and first ...

One of the interesting things about Facebook is that it connects me to folks I haven't thought about in years. In recent months, I've connected with several old friends. As we play catch up, we find out each other's stories since we've seen each other last, and more often than not there is a sad story they tell. One such story was a marriage, children, job changes, divorce, and drugs. My response was one of empathy. As I reflect on the circumstances of others, I see myself. We are all needy. And not marginally so. I'm so screwed up, and I feel so unworthy to serve my loving God. A difference between those in the church and those without seems to be honesty. Can I talk about my struggles with those at church? What would happen if I did? Thankfully, there seems to be a movement in American Christianity towards a more honest kind of community of believers. Blogs and other technologies seem to be ways we put ourselves out there more publicly. Thank you, Lord...

Today I was put into history quite by accident.  I received an email from a friend who had told me that Zondervan Publishing Co. was going to be on the campus of Mississippi College today.  They are doing a special program called  Bible Across America , and making pit stops all over the nation. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the New International Version, they are compiling an edition that is completely handwritten.  I wrote 1 Kings 21:18 , and I felt this strange sense of something bigger.  There was a time, hundreds of years ago, when all copies of God's Word were handwritten.  There was no other way of reproducing them.  Scribes were honored for the opportunity to be a part of it.   In 586 B.C., Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians. The Temple was looted and then destroyed by fire. The Jews were exiled. About 70 years later, the Jewish captives returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. According to the Bible, Ezra recovered a copy of...

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, from June 25, (emphasis mine): You cannot find yourself through success , because you lose your head over pride . And you cannot find yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining . The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow . Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. In John 12:27-28, Jesus said, "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." We make a really big deal about troubles and sorrows. I know why -- they are troublesome and sad! But when we feel that way, we are in no position to question God's wisdom. During those times, our judgment is clouded with anger and/or pain. Clear h...

Today's Handbook For Solving Bible Difficulties, pp. 107-108 David E. O'Brien I can't help thinking of a scene in the seventh book of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. The Last Battle pictures Narnia wracked by the evil of the Beast and his prophet, a donkey dressed in lion skins, and a chattering ape. After what seemed to be the defeat of Narnia at the hands of the armies of the false god, King Tirian was thrust into the door of a stable that ushered him and his party into an Edenic world. It was a place where the fruit was so sweet that "all the nicest things in the world would taste like medicines after that." In that wonderful world, they found a band of dwards who had shouted the time-honored cry of sinners everywhere: "The dwarfs are for the dwarfs!" Thrust through the same door, into the same Eden, these sinful creatures sat huddled together, cursing the darkness and filth of the stable they believed they were in. Lucy, one of the queens o...