Whatever Takes Us Away

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. 1 Thes. 5:16-22 (NIV)

We have reasons to be joyful and to give thanks, however, we sometimes forget to acknowledge the Giver of our gifts. We tend to cling to what we know and are comfortable with, holding on to those evil things we've grow so accustomed to. But, if we look at this brief passage from 1 Thessalonians we see something pretty clearly. We are : to be joyful, to pray continually, and to give thanks - this is God's will for us that are in Christ Jesus. When we accept Jesus as our Savior we will receive the Holy Spirit - who can help us in all circumstances. Now, if we continue to look at this passage we see a loop: if we give thanks in all circumstances, pray continually and do not put out the Spirit's fire we will be joyful always.

Watch out for those things that will drive you and pull you away from God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Test everything to see if it from God or from man. "For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." Acts 5:38-39 (NIV) Test everything and everyone you come in contact with, see what the origins are; God will let you know if it is good or evil.

Example: I have a friend whose blog I read frequently, and from time to time will post a comment. I recently commented on a really good post (as did many others) and when I went back to read his comment back to me I was surprised to see there were even more comments posted, yet many of them lacked something. Big words were thrown around, fingers were pointed, but no solution was presented. Some of the comments posted really got to me, people spoke like intelligent people (worldly intelligence and wisdom), but lacked true wisdom from God, they lacked Biblical principle, they spoke as infants in faith. I'm not judging here, and I am certainly not the authority on all things, but when you speak, when you read, use the Holy Spirit to guide your decisions, your words, your actions and you will be in a good position in your life.

Regardless of your circumstances, good, bad or ugly, think of who you belong to and be joyful always. Jesus came from the Father and Author of Life for each one of us - not so we would be weak, boring, lazy, or complacent; but so that we may have life and have it abundantly and with joy in our hearts. Be joyful to those around you and be joyful in all you do today.

What an exciting weekend! However, there is a downside to it, recovering from the trip and the lack of sleep. All things considered, everything went very well and I am proud of those that went with us on this trip.

Where to begin?
Prior to the trip, we had a few moments of Wii time - notice the little girl (number 2, Madison), beating one of the teens at Wii Sports. Pizza, games, packing and repacking the van. Oh, and a short note to some of the girls that went with us - next time, don't bring like 4 bags, it was an overnight not a week long.

The trip, well, that's a whole other story. Things didn't go as expected from the beginning. We got a little bit of a late start, hit traffic, and as you can imagine, Mapquest doesn't always make things easy. Arrival time: 7:45 pm (close approximation). We missed out on a couple things; opening worship time, drama, first part of Ron Luce's message. We did make it though, after finally going to the right gate; video project in the works to help show that.

However, I think everything went well. We learned a lot from the speakers, and there is an enemy out there that wants to destroy this generation of teens, he wants to "brand" them as his; striping them of anything that might be who they really are. God created each and every person to be different, individual, and set apart for His plan, the enemy has been using corporations, with the lure of money, to take our individuality and our beliefs.

The music was good, some of it a bit too loud (even for me). Red put on a good show, and their CD is awesome. Everyone in our group agreed that Unhindered was awesome as well and the teens wanted to share some of their music with the congregation yesterday during the service. Worship times with Unhindered brought people into a closer feeling and understanding of God and from my point of view, helped make the Spirit of our God a tangible thing.

I was concerned the other day, prior to leaving, that the enemy didn't want me to take someone on this trip. And, while I can't pinpoint any one I am still sure he didn't want someone, or anyone to go. I know he isn't happy about this and he will try to make things difficult on those that went, be on your guard!

That'll about wrap it up for now, I know I will have more to say in the days to come, come back and read again when you have the chance. Take time this week to allow yourselves to recover, reflect on what you experienced, and think of how you can make an impact on those you come in contact with each day.

If you have been reading this blog lately, you'll know that we have a group going to Muncie, Indiana tomorrow (Friday). And you may have noticed that there have been some things going on surrounding the whole trip. More.

So, there's this enemy out there, lurking, hiding in dark places, seizing any and every opportunity to make our lives chaotic - especially if you are trying to do the work of God. It never ceases to amaze me how this enemy will stop at nothing to try and throw a ship off course if it is going the direction God has put it in. For instance, you ask?

Cases in point: NHUMC's Youth trip to ATF. Accommodations made, check. Okay, uncheck that box, the enemy has asked a handsome fee. Money set aside for the trip, check. Uncheck that box as well, the bank made a mistake and somehow misplaced all of our money. Vehicles lined up, check. That one too? Uncheck, Tina's van is having steering problems. Baby sitters for our FOUR kids, check. Okay, it can't be that bad, can it? Uncheck partially. This one sets our departure time back about an hour.

However, this enemy is powerless in comparision to what we have on our side. This dark side enemy, Satan, has been, from the beginning, beaten. The final battle has been decided and he is NOT the victor. God, whom I hold on to dearly, is on our side and wants us to go on this trip. How can I say this?

Cases in point: Accommodations re-made, CHECK! (thanks Riverside UMC) Wednesday our youth bank account was $-400 + because of a bank error, the money was deposited into the wrong church account, money back to us. Vehicles lined up, CHECK! (Thanks McKinney Auto) The problem with the van wasn't as bad as was first thought and has been taken care of. Baby sitters for our kids (4 of them), well there's still a small glitch with that one and I am sure the good Lord will have that taken care of by Friday mid-morning! He wants everyone one of us to go on this trip! And, by His grace and provisions (which are more sufficient than anything any man could provide) we will go on this trip.

I have a feeling that this dark side doesn't want some one, or anyone of us going to this conference. However, we leave Friday afternoon and we'll delivery a blow to the enemy he doesn't want. These chance encounters with the dark side are real, but so is our God.

So, here we are, a few days away from our trip to Muncie for ATF - and, some stumbling blocks aside, we have a rug to call our own for an evening. Stumbling blocks, what stumbling blocks? Well, I'll try to be as polite as I can be with this one folks, bear with me.

Jesus talked, people listened. He often spoke in parables, or riddles, to get his point across to certain people who would or could figure out what they meant. In Matthew 25 he tells of when the sheep will be separated from the goats, and, starting in verse 37, "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'" Te passage goes on to say that the King would reply that whatever they had done for even the least of those above mentioned things, was done for and by the sake of Jesus.

Only a few weeks ago I spoke with someone at a church in Muncie about having a place to stay while we were there. At that time I was told that each group staying would be asked to leave a small donation ($15 - $20), and that seemed a pretty good deal to me. A packet would be sent out to us with all the details about the location, how to get there and how to get to the event site. Nice! So, a couple days ago we received said packet - quite to our dismay.

"Because of the cost of summer church camp rising, we are using this event as a camp scholarship fundraiser. Therefore, we cannot extend our services for free of charge, but for a deal!" This is quoted from the packet we received, and here's the deal we got: $15 per person. Now, we looked at local hotels ranging from $47 to $75 a night and even at the higher range we would still be spending the same amount, but having a pool, bathrooms with showers, all the modern ammenities we'd require - but it defeats the purpose of having to spend money to stay overnight. Here's what we'd get for the $15: walking distance to the event, a floor to sleep on, free parking. Total cost for our group? $150.

So, time to take another look at the local churches in Muncie - maybe someone will open the door to a small group of people that aren't millionaires (I know I'm not one, if you are one, please, share your wealth). Tina called around, left messages, no returned phone calls. I called, left messages, so far no returned phone calls. And then at last, a real person to talk to. I explained the situation, describing the above costs, "Well, that seems to be against why you're looking at staying at a church doesn't it?" An opened door and an answer to prayer! Thankfully, there are those that are sympathetic to our situation.

Back to our brothers and sisters at the aforementioned church . . . there will be approximately 100 - 150 people staying at this church. 125 people X $15 = $1,875.00 That's a nice chunk of money garnered from a bunch of teens wanting to know more about God - a godly sum to ask from many that don't have much to begin with. Says a lot for Christians, especially to those who are not yet a part of the family of God.

I would encourage those reading this to question themselves next time they are asked to help. If you consider yourself a follower of Christ, help, but do not do it looking for profit here. You will gather profit for sure, but not stored up in jars of clay, but as an eternal profit - credited to your account in heaven. If you decide to help, help out of the goodness in your heart and out of love, love with out end. The Lord gives and he takes away.

So, if I haven't enlightened you lately here it is . . . I have four children. The youngest, it scares me to say, just turned two years old this past weekend, I'm still wrestling with that one. And anyway, we went to the circus, were amazed by some of the acts and spent way too much on "plastic junk" for the kids. Sunday was the small get-together birthday party for her. Well, there was the usual cake, ice cream, presents, and the like. Then I noticed that my friend Tim was no longer present - where did he go?

At about the same time my older three, two friends, nephew and my dad were playing games on the Wii. They'd take turns (some got more turns than others) playing this game or that, stopping only for cake, ice cream, bathroom, and the like.

Tim returns from a quick round trip to his house and back. Marshmellow Guns? I'd heard of such a thing and even saw one on TV just last week, but now I got to check one out for myself. Quite simple design and rather inexpensive (a future investment for NHUMC's Youth Group). The kids came flooding out of the house, wondering what in the world these plastic pipes were, and how, just how they were shooting little bits of yummy white sugary bliss up to 60 feet or more. Two and a half bags later they were all out of ammo - they scrounged around the yard, back porch, driveway and even chased the dog away from some of their precious confectionary projectiles. My yard still looks like snow has fallen, in spite of the near 70 degree weather.

Thanks Tim! Loads of fun and a future for our youth group - I promise we'll keep it out of the sanctuary! Stop by again and bring some more good ideas/gadgets. Exit Tim and family. . .

Start the clean up process. Wrapping paper, plates, food, cups, messes here and there - the relentless leftovers of a successful party. Everyone to the living room, there's still time for a round of golf, a couple games of bowling and heck, if we try hard enough even a round robin baseball tourney! My mom sat and watched as my dad and I played nine holes of golf on the Wii. She watched the kids do a few things and then her eyes were opened. I was bowling and went to some of the "training" just to show her what all this thing does. She was hooked (mom, I know you'll read this), and before we all knew it, we had her bowling. It was fun. I hadn't ever thought to see if my mom would want, or even enjoy, playing video games with us. It was nice.

Earlier we sat on the back porch talking about the Bible, witnessing to people in different places in their journeys, expressing concerns about how some take a sentence from the Bible, rather than the rest of the passage around that sentence . . . and then, there we were, playing video games in our living room - it made a great end to a really good day.

Birthday party turned to a gun fight, turned to a grandma playing video games; a full, fun and exciting day.