Hey all. Just letting you know to keep us all in your prayers! We are moving into our new building and finishing a TON of stuff this whole week so that we can be in on Sunday! It's soooooooo extremely exciting to see all this come together. There is so much to tell and so much I want to show you. Maybe I'll make a video to show you guys what it looks like soon. We are having a dedication service this Saturday night and our kick off Sunday is this Sunday. The most beautiful thing is that this Sunday land DIRECTLY on the date we began the church 6 years ago! We began November 7, 2004. This Sunday is November 7, 2010. There is SO much that still needs to be done in the next 24 hours. Will you please pray for everything to go well and for plenty of hard-working volunteers to make it happen. The building is so impressive and God is just shining through it all. I'm so excited and I wish you guys could be here to see it all come together. Truly an incredible sight!
Thank you!
Phil
Friday, November 5, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Peace is Found in the Completion
As one who speaks on a regular basis at my church, I was thinking today while preparing for what I was going to talk about tonight. I was thinking that there is only so much that I can do. There is only so much that any of us can do. As I write out my talk and condense it into a one-page outline, there is not enough room. Ever.
I have so much to say. God has so much to say. There is so much application that needs to be done in our lives and in the lives of our youth. I realize I can only do so much. The world is huge and the stats are alarming. And time is running out.
My pastor has visualized it to me by explaining it like a garage door closing slowly and we need to get them through. Time is running out and we need to get them all through. Time is running out every single day and many are missing their chance. Many are being left behind and I realize that I can only do so much.
But what I do is so much! What we all do here on Earth is so much.
What I do -- all that I can do -- is do what my God is pulling on my heart to do. I can only get his message out as much as my limited human life will allow and then at some point He comes in and completes it. He makes it worth it and redeems what wasn't enough. What was not portrayed correctly or what was not portrayed completely, we must trust Him that He will be faithful to complete it.
So all I'm going to do until I die is portray Him the best I know how, giving and screaming and showing and loving Him and His message. I may mess up on something somewhere, and I'm sure I have at some point. But that's how I am to do it. He is bigger and more in charge than I can ever be. He's in control and He'll make all things right.
These are the things that scare me. They disturb me at the core and I don't know that I will ever be at peace about these things:
91% of youths in Costa Rica say they do not believe they will go to heaven despite claiming to have accepted Jesus Christ. In Spain, 74% of the youth say they do not want to be a virgin when they marry. In Russia, 42% of the youth report having tried to commit suicide. In America there is a 720% increase in agnosticism and a 200% increase in atheism.
But what keeps me in it is knowing that all shall be made right when all is said and done. For He is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. And He is right.
Philippians 1:6 - "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it."
Amen.
I have so much to say. God has so much to say. There is so much application that needs to be done in our lives and in the lives of our youth. I realize I can only do so much. The world is huge and the stats are alarming. And time is running out.
My pastor has visualized it to me by explaining it like a garage door closing slowly and we need to get them through. Time is running out and we need to get them all through. Time is running out every single day and many are missing their chance. Many are being left behind and I realize that I can only do so much.
But what I do is so much! What we all do here on Earth is so much.
What I do -- all that I can do -- is do what my God is pulling on my heart to do. I can only get his message out as much as my limited human life will allow and then at some point He comes in and completes it. He makes it worth it and redeems what wasn't enough. What was not portrayed correctly or what was not portrayed completely, we must trust Him that He will be faithful to complete it.
So all I'm going to do until I die is portray Him the best I know how, giving and screaming and showing and loving Him and His message. I may mess up on something somewhere, and I'm sure I have at some point. But that's how I am to do it. He is bigger and more in charge than I can ever be. He's in control and He'll make all things right.
These are the things that scare me. They disturb me at the core and I don't know that I will ever be at peace about these things:
91% of youths in Costa Rica say they do not believe they will go to heaven despite claiming to have accepted Jesus Christ. In Spain, 74% of the youth say they do not want to be a virgin when they marry. In Russia, 42% of the youth report having tried to commit suicide. In America there is a 720% increase in agnosticism and a 200% increase in atheism.
But what keeps me in it is knowing that all shall be made right when all is said and done. For He is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. And He is right.
Philippians 1:6 - "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it."
Amen.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
This month's newsletter
Hey supporters! A couple things about this month's newsletter,
It got out a couple of days later than usual. Don't be alarmed, it's coming.
More importantly, we realized today (after I had already ran them to the post office) that we stamped about 20 of them with 28 cent stamps. DUMB! So if you still haven't gotten your letter after a few days, that is probably the reason for the delay. Sorry for our silliness. Won't happen again. Thank you all! We love you.
Phil and Kylee
Thursday, August 12, 2010
A Personal Account of The Miracles Surrounding My Nana's Death
This is Phil Larson writing about my experiences going home to celebrate my Nana's life and the grace God mercifully left behind. Her name was Maxine Sanders. She was awesome.
My Nana had her 83rd birthday a week before she died. I got to have an incredible 13 minutes of phone conversation with, which I will cherish for the rest of my life. That was the last time I heard her say my name. No one said my name like my Nana.
My Nana had her 83rd birthday a week before she died. I got to have an incredible 13 minutes of phone conversation with, which I will cherish for the rest of my life. That was the last time I heard her say my name. No one said my name like my Nana.
A couple days after the news of her death, just before we left to return home to MN for her funeral, I wrote a song. The song opened with a line and closed with the same line. The line: "Dear God who gives and takes away, please don't take away without leaving some grace." I drive, my wife in the passenger seat and my other set of grandparents in the back seats. The ride was contemplative and relatively quiet. My wife, reading a book, reads me this excerpt concerning prayer:
Let your soul speak for itself. Some souls hold conversation with God in music, and some in the sowing of seed, and others in the smell of sawed wood, and still others in the affectionate understanding of their friends. All souls are not alike. Utter your own prayer, in the language of your own joy.
Music is the language of my joy. My soul uttered its prayer in song. My God heard.
Arriving home for a funeral is a bittersweet experience, as most understand. My mom greeted me at the door, followed by my grandpa. A moment of hugging and crying with that man followed and will be forever engrained in my mind. My brother arrived and the family was all there. A full rainbow appeared over our house shortly following, similar to the one that appeared to Kylee's mom and her siblings after Kylee's grandpa's death.
(Click to enlarge)
As the next 24 hours ensued (which felt like a week), I heard the following stories which I will tell in the order that I feel most effective.
Eight weeks before her death, she had another trip to the hospital. On that trip, she claims that she "saw the light seven times." The first two were faint but the last five were strong and as she started to walk toward the light, it got bigger. So she deicides, 'I want to go to the light!' As she does, she feels a light grab to the back of her neck and hears a voice say, "You're not finished yet."
The next few weeks consisted of some pretty pivotal conversations with a lot of her family and friends, with the help of her birthday lending to a lot of phone calls. One in particular was with her sister Tiny, whom she was especially close to. Tiny's health was also not very good and their conversation was one of a realization that they probably didn't have a whole lot of time left. They told each other how they loved one another and, in a way beyond their understanding, said their goodbyes.
My Nana fell in the kitchen, hitting her head rather hard. She had emergency surgery, from which she seemed to recover from at first. Even joking saying, "What are we going to do with me!?" Oxygen levels dropped and the next day, she wasn't very responsive. The doctors said this was normal at her age with that kind of blow after surgery. The following day she was in a coma. She would take what seemed to be her last breath and my grandpa would say, "She's gone..." and then 20-30 seconds later, she would take another, followed by my grandpa, "There, She's gone..." It happened again. I've never been around someone who was dying. I guess this is what happens.
My mom recalled the week before she died, Nana saying, "Oh, I know how my funeral is going to happen. It's all planned out in the green folder." "Okay, yeah sure..." says my mom, kind of blowing off her mom's seemingly silly and random remarks. Upon her death, my mom, remembering that statement about the folder, wanted to respect her mom's wishes. She decides to search all of Nana's files. She kept lots of files: addresses, letters, quotes, verses, stories. Anything and everything that ever meant anything from or about anyone she ever cared about...ever. The folders she kept them in? All green. My mom searched through them all. Twice. She found incredible little sayings scribbled on pieces of paper, a story written by my oldest cousin when he was young, and an incredible and humorous poem written by Tiny about what would be written on Maxine's gravestone, which was shared at Nana's "viewing"/memory-sharing time.
My mom, getting frustrated that she couldn't find Nana's funeral plans, starts praying and pleading with God. Just then, my mom experiences God's still small voice, saying, "Green Bible." "But no, God, she said green folder..." "Green Bible," came the voice again. Not completely understanding because they already flipped through all the bibles, my mom goes for the first bible she sees. The next thing she knows, it hits here like a slap to the forehead, "Green Bible." She picks up the green bible. Opens it up. Written in it reads a very simply programmed funeral for my Nana by my Nana. In it, reads, "read poem - poem found in bible." Sure enough, the poem was in there. Here it is:
I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white
sails to the morning breeze and starts
for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length
she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come
to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says;
"There, she is gone!"
"Gone where?"
Gone from my sight. That is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull
and spar as she was when she left my side
and she is just as able to bear her
load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment when someone
at my side says, "There, she is gone!"
There are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout;
"Here she comes!"
And this is life.
Whoa.
The service was incredible. Some funny little things that happened were the preacher quoting and talking about Michael Faraday, a person the tv show LOST based one of their characters off of. Us Larson kids love us some LOST. Nana's best friend's phone went off in the middle of the funeral. She didn't turn it off because, she says, "No one ever calls me!" She saw that it was from a friend who she hadn't talk to in a long time and called them back asking why they called her. This friend said that she didn't call her. Some of these little things were silly, but some people found encouragement in them. If someone can find encouragement in them, is that not God? Why couldn't it be?
In the funeral all five of us grandkids told Nana's life. We all took a page and read aloud the different parts of her life. My page read about how Nana met Grandpa and the things going on in her life during the time of them meeting. One of the things was a job that she had. She held a job for Trailways Bus Company. Small detail I just read over, right? Nothing profound about a bus company.
The same day as the funeral, my brother had a flight at 4 pm. He couldn't find anyone to take him. I offered that if no one could take him, I would as a last resort. No one could. And he tried. Still, no one. I drop him off at the airport. On my way home, I find myself listening to some kind-of corny worship cd my parents had in their car... but I was really enjoying it. Just really felt the presence of God there. And it happened like a movie... Some bus in front of the car in front of me in the left lane. The car moves over to the right lane and I speed up to make sure I was seeing it right. Something I would have just thought nothing of had I not read about it earlier that day at her funeral... Have you ever seen a Trailways Bus? Not me. Not until...
(Click to enlarge)
...I did that day. And as I roll back into Maple Grove, MN, I feel an amazing sense of peace, as if some supernatural force took some time to take a ride in my car. I felt my shoulders being massaged. I felt someone saying, "I see you, Philip. I see all of you."
The rest of the day was a joyous time of reminiscing on Nana's life as we looked through 4 full volumes of Nana's (well done) scrap books covering all the way from her and Grandpa's birth through the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Volume 5 was her current project that my mom will have to finish. This was an incredible 4 days and I got to meet some incredible people from Nana's life. They were so encouraging.
And so... the sweet outdid the bitter, for death is overcome and God is present in our pain. Victory in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And what sweet eternal life Nana is tasting! Some grace was indeed left behind. Thanks be to God!
I praise God for her life! ...and her many reading glasses...
(Click to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)
Glad I got to reconnect with my cousin Ben (middle)
who I hadn't seen in a few years now. He won't be
living far away from us soon...
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
From Kylee About The Vermont Missions Trip
We just got back EARLY this morning from a week long missions trip with our youth kids in Rutland, Vermont. It was an amazing experience. There were two other youth ministries there, one from Wisconsin and one from Illinois. We were split into five teams with our kids, and we each had a little bit different schedule. Phil and his students spent the week at Camp Thorp, a camp for people with disabilities and special needs. My students and I spent the first half of the week making trails in the woods at a park, and the second half visiting nursing homes and running a afternoon children's program.
Things learned/observed:
1. Avoid vans full of middle school boys at almost any cost. They smell. And after 17 hours, they REALLY smell.
2. Make sure your refrigerator is functioning before you leave your house for a week. If it isn't, it smells when you get home. It REALLY smells.
3. Really, almost anything can be fun if you are willing to make it fun. My favorite part of the week was shoveling out a large pit in the middle of the woods. All day. For two days. Our kids are hilarious!
4. I have also learned the words to almost every pop/dance song that exists. Plus some sweet car-dance moves to accompany them.
5. Phil is amazing with kids. I guess I already knew this, but it was a beautiful reminding. I mean, he is REALLY great.
6. Every person, EVERY PERSON, wants to love and be loved.
This was the strongest lesson for me. The last day, my students and I went to a nursing home's dementia/Alzheimer's wing in the morning and to the Kids Club in the afternoon. There was a lady at the nursing home named Anna, who alternated between pretty funny and pretty angry. At one point, the nurse handed her a baby doll. And this woman held it so naturally, she'd probably held a hundred babies in her life, and she just put her face down really close and whispered to her baby and rocked it. I lost it. She had probably loved and taken care of people her whole life, and now, even with her grip on reality slipping, she just wanted to love still. And she did it how she could.
We then went and played with a bunch of kids. I'd been pretty stressed the day before at the Kids Club because I was trying to keep track of all of my teenagers as well as all these little guys and worry about the programming at the same time. I decided to relax the next day, and I found a little boy who was playing with rocks in the parking lot. So, we played with rocks. We threw them at airplanes, we skipped them, we buried them, we unburied them... and he was laughing and smiling and loving it (Oh yes, so was I!)... but God really showed me that as simple as it was, that's all that little guy really wanted: to play with rocks and be loved.
Things learned/observed:
1. Avoid vans full of middle school boys at almost any cost. They smell. And after 17 hours, they REALLY smell.
2. Make sure your refrigerator is functioning before you leave your house for a week. If it isn't, it smells when you get home. It REALLY smells.
3. Really, almost anything can be fun if you are willing to make it fun. My favorite part of the week was shoveling out a large pit in the middle of the woods. All day. For two days. Our kids are hilarious!
4. I have also learned the words to almost every pop/dance song that exists. Plus some sweet car-dance moves to accompany them.
5. Phil is amazing with kids. I guess I already knew this, but it was a beautiful reminding. I mean, he is REALLY great.
6. Every person, EVERY PERSON, wants to love and be loved.
This was the strongest lesson for me. The last day, my students and I went to a nursing home's dementia/Alzheimer's wing in the morning and to the Kids Club in the afternoon. There was a lady at the nursing home named Anna, who alternated between pretty funny and pretty angry. At one point, the nurse handed her a baby doll. And this woman held it so naturally, she'd probably held a hundred babies in her life, and she just put her face down really close and whispered to her baby and rocked it. I lost it. She had probably loved and taken care of people her whole life, and now, even with her grip on reality slipping, she just wanted to love still. And she did it how she could.
We then went and played with a bunch of kids. I'd been pretty stressed the day before at the Kids Club because I was trying to keep track of all of my teenagers as well as all these little guys and worry about the programming at the same time. I decided to relax the next day, and I found a little boy who was playing with rocks in the parking lot. So, we played with rocks. We threw them at airplanes, we skipped them, we buried them, we unburied them... and he was laughing and smiling and loving it (Oh yes, so was I!)... but God really showed me that as simple as it was, that's all that little guy really wanted: to play with rocks and be loved.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Supporters!
Greetings. It has been a while since this blog has been updated. I'm incredibly sorry for that. Over the last year, I've been trying to direct you to http://www.LarsonSupportTeam.com. However, the service that provides this ability to host your own social network is no longer offering free sites. Silly, silly... SO, we are going back to this blog being the main avenue to relay updates between monthly newsletters. The social network didn't really work as I wanted it to anyway. What you guys need is an easy way to be updated, not interaction on a social network...you guys are busy enough as it is, right?
ANYWAY, what's new? I'm glad you asked. The Anderson school systems are in a mediocre uproar due to all the changes this coming school year. I say mediocre because it has died down and I don't believe it is going to be a drastic as some people choose to believe it is. After a last ditch effort failed to keep highland a high school, I think people are coming to grips with Anderson High School being the only high school. I tell you what though, I'm pumped for one main Anderson high school. Most of the kids in one place makes my job a little easier and, I think, a little more effective. Highland will turn into the town of Anderson's only middle school. So one day will consist of me hanging out at the middle school lunch periods and another will be the high school's. I will basically be able to hit up almost every student in the town of Anderson over the course of 2 days a week. I really see this a being an effective start to a more unified Anderson (which, if you live here then you understand, we REALLY need). Our corrupt former school board was replaced by a much more decent one, including a long time friend of the family and my doctor, Dr. Scott Green! Like I said, I'm pumped for this next school year.
The summer is a little more chill, but it's really the silence before the storm. This Saturday, we leave for a week in the Green Mountains of Vermont to take 22 students on a missions trip. It's going to be SAWEEEEET! After we get back, Kylee and I have a week of normalcy before heading off to ANOTHER week long high school camp. AHHH!!! I'm going to be pulling my hair out by the end... but I'm super excited to see what God is going to do. It has been an incredible ride of seeing God work and making it possible for some of this kids to go! I'm....(you guessed it)... pumped!
Thanks for all you do and I'll try to update this blog more regularly.
love,
Phil
ANYWAY, what's new? I'm glad you asked. The Anderson school systems are in a mediocre uproar due to all the changes this coming school year. I say mediocre because it has died down and I don't believe it is going to be a drastic as some people choose to believe it is. After a last ditch effort failed to keep highland a high school, I think people are coming to grips with Anderson High School being the only high school. I tell you what though, I'm pumped for one main Anderson high school. Most of the kids in one place makes my job a little easier and, I think, a little more effective. Highland will turn into the town of Anderson's only middle school. So one day will consist of me hanging out at the middle school lunch periods and another will be the high school's. I will basically be able to hit up almost every student in the town of Anderson over the course of 2 days a week. I really see this a being an effective start to a more unified Anderson (which, if you live here then you understand, we REALLY need). Our corrupt former school board was replaced by a much more decent one, including a long time friend of the family and my doctor, Dr. Scott Green! Like I said, I'm pumped for this next school year.
The summer is a little more chill, but it's really the silence before the storm. This Saturday, we leave for a week in the Green Mountains of Vermont to take 22 students on a missions trip. It's going to be SAWEEEEET! After we get back, Kylee and I have a week of normalcy before heading off to ANOTHER week long high school camp. AHHH!!! I'm going to be pulling my hair out by the end... but I'm super excited to see what God is going to do. It has been an incredible ride of seeing God work and making it possible for some of this kids to go! I'm....(you guessed it)... pumped!
Thanks for all you do and I'll try to update this blog more regularly.
love,
Phil
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Loving Others Into A Loving God
Are you ever in the minority on an issue. No matter what you say, you can not "win" because you are surrounded by a majority that can't see you side of things. What do you do when you are in that situation? Our default is to get offended, to let your flags fly and your words flow with little to no thought. Some of us shut down. The way I've handled things in the past varies. Normally I would begin by shutting down. However, if the right thing was said, it will jab me in the right way and I'll fly off the handle. I'm beginning to see this is not healthy. I'm beginning to see why the church can be an unsafe place, why some leave because they feel attacked.
The following is an experience from today and then a beautiful revealing of Christ that came shortly after my conversation. Keep reading, God showed me some beautiful things this morning.
I met with some youth pastors today and was met with a different point of view, a different theology and could have easily made myself believe I was being attacked. I was tempted to give in to that default of mine, but what would that have accomplished in the end? The moment we begin to embrace the questioning of others and the differing ways of believing the same God is the moment we become a safe environment to discuss. This is the moment we become the church as it was intended to be. I was not attacked but could have easily made myself believe that. We discussed and then departed knowing the bigger picture at stake is that we share in a brotherly love united as one in Christ.
All that to say, this conversation was good for lots of reasons, but I can only help you really see so much from some measly words on some measly website. The rest is for you to wrestle with. And God loves to wrestle.
I was met with a turn-or-burn theology today with good intention. Where I come from and the college I attended, good intention in that theology seems hard to understand. Where these guys came from, it was their custom, their church's understanding and, for some, wrapped up in their denomination. I may be portraying them wrongly but don't mean to.
(The next part is my theology, agree or disagree. I welcome both.) When it comes down to it, this theology gives no room for failure and portrays a divine love not powerful enough to save a life beyond the sin itself. One belief is that for someone practicing homosexuality, they're destined for hell. It is not until they are fully repentant and turn from that lifestyle entirely that they will receive the gift of eternal life in heaven. BUT if they were to slip up again, back on their way to hell they go. It is not until they get to the point of no more struggles in any of those areas that they will make it into heaven.
I guess we're all going to hell! Has anyone ever be an alcoholic? Those who were and have been sober for years know that all it'll take is for them to think they have it made, 'I'm recovered', to get to the point where they rely on self before the church only to fall right back into it. It is a daily process, a daily acceptance into the church that allows us to lean on each other. The turn-or-burn philosophy and a constant begging for forgiveness and repentance (...and hoping to God it works this time!) doesn't represent a God who is love, a God who truly forgives and forgets. They are telling me that philosophy can and should be done in love and I truly believe they are trying.
If any one of us (all of us?) is honest with ourselves, we are all recovering addicts of something. Some are more noticeable than others (such as homosexuality or alcoholism as opposed to performance addiction or looking at porn when you're alone at home), but they carry the same weight. Sin. Is. Sin. Wouldn't a God who is love, die for all sin for those who choose him. One man, one sacrifice, saves one time all things when we declare with our mouth that we believe he has the power to do so and we want to experience it. We don't need to keep convincing him of that. Why would a God who SO DESIRES for us to experience a relationship with him require perfection, when all he needs is a willing heart.
I shared with them a couple in our church who are homosexuals and have been burned by the church over and over again to point that when my pastor wanted to meet with them for coffee, they just knew he was going to ask them to change their ways or leave (turn...or burn). All he wanted to do was get to know them better. This is showing love, this divine love that goes beyond all circumstance and misunderstanding to bring about his ultimate desire for reconciliation with a world so far gone. Sure the Bible says a lot of things are a sin, but we are not defined by our sinful nature, as Paul writes in Romans. It is the sin within us, which is separate from who we are in Christ, that makes us feel like crap sometimes...but by no means trumps salvation.
Some of the discussion revolved around the fact that if they are not at least trying to rid themselves of this sin, then they weren't truly repentant in the first place. If you are like me, many times my sin is not evident until I've stood under love of God long enough that it begins to transform me...all on its own. I don't think that transformation happens right at the words, "Jesus, I accept what you did on the cross." There's a quote by C.S. Lewis, "Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done." Transformation is a daily action of renewing of your mind, understanding that you are in need of a being and a body beyond you, and placing yourself around the church or around those you see as filled with the love of God. Slowly and surely, the truth with reveal itself.
It may take minutes to days for some, it may take years for others. The fact of the matter is that everyone is different in their process of coming into relationships with anyone. So why would this be the same in developing a relationship with our God? And we should enjoy the process, the questions, the wrestling. God loves to wrestle because he loves that we are seeking, that we are asking questions. If someone in a particular sin where it is their lifestyle wants to keep coming to church to experience the body, let him seek. But make sure you surround him with God's love. The love will bring to light their struggles through the process. And, again, the process may take a long time but they know it will be out of love.
Exiting the coffee shop and climbing into my car, I sat and sighed. Looking into my rear-view mirror, I let out an, "Oh my..." of complete awe since I was out in a little town next door to my hometown. I was overcome with emotion (I think it was...love?), rolled down my window to bid good day to one of the homosexual women that these guys were saying was hell-bound just minutes before. I drove one block and had to park because I began to weep. My heart longed for her and felt the hurt of every Christian speaking this message of death into her life. I longed for her to feel loved, to feel accepted into the body of Christ, for her to understand that she is important. Then I longed for every Christian out there to see her the way I saw her right then and there. That she is your sister. Despite the hurt, she has kept seeking out a church where she can be used for the greater good of spreading this divine love instead of becoming a spectacle and outcast. I want every Christian to know the Jesus that took his disciples to Caesarea Philippi and said to them, "upon this rock (upon these failures and perverts and not-good-enoughs, these people in front of you that you see performing sexual acts with goats), I will build my church."
I drove a block to a park. It was perfect weather for a walk and came across a guy with a camera. He greeted me and I asked what he was doing. "For the past year I've been taking pictures of this blue heron. He lets lots of people come up close to it but I feel like it is different with me. It's like I have a relationship with this bird. It knows me and it is like it is saying, 'Yep, I'm beautiful. Take pictures of me!'"
Man, like this bird, people are delicate. The moment we are reckless and come at them swinging, they are going to fly away. Relationships take time. Showing people who we are called to be in Christ takes time. Bringing people to a true understanding of God's love and a self-revealing of a righteous way of living takes time. This guy has been working on this bird for the last year. It knows him well now and it knows what he is all about. It knows the purpose for him being there and it is not intimidated. It is willing to give this man a moment of its time, to share in the beauty of God's creation. God is the same way. He works in the process and takes his time in crafting his children to become who they were originally intended to be. All we are meant to do is help that process along as people slide in and out of our life. All you can do to help that process along is love and pray that they see Christ in that love. Since the scriptures say that God is love, they will see it.
That's all Christ wants and he is willing to hang around until you're ready to pop your head out of the tree line and give him a chance to get close to you. He thinks you're beautiful and wants to show you off to the world!
The following is an experience from today and then a beautiful revealing of Christ that came shortly after my conversation. Keep reading, God showed me some beautiful things this morning.
I met with some youth pastors today and was met with a different point of view, a different theology and could have easily made myself believe I was being attacked. I was tempted to give in to that default of mine, but what would that have accomplished in the end? The moment we begin to embrace the questioning of others and the differing ways of believing the same God is the moment we become a safe environment to discuss. This is the moment we become the church as it was intended to be. I was not attacked but could have easily made myself believe that. We discussed and then departed knowing the bigger picture at stake is that we share in a brotherly love united as one in Christ.
All that to say, this conversation was good for lots of reasons, but I can only help you really see so much from some measly words on some measly website. The rest is for you to wrestle with. And God loves to wrestle.
I was met with a turn-or-burn theology today with good intention. Where I come from and the college I attended, good intention in that theology seems hard to understand. Where these guys came from, it was their custom, their church's understanding and, for some, wrapped up in their denomination. I may be portraying them wrongly but don't mean to.
(The next part is my theology, agree or disagree. I welcome both.) When it comes down to it, this theology gives no room for failure and portrays a divine love not powerful enough to save a life beyond the sin itself. One belief is that for someone practicing homosexuality, they're destined for hell. It is not until they are fully repentant and turn from that lifestyle entirely that they will receive the gift of eternal life in heaven. BUT if they were to slip up again, back on their way to hell they go. It is not until they get to the point of no more struggles in any of those areas that they will make it into heaven.
I guess we're all going to hell! Has anyone ever be an alcoholic? Those who were and have been sober for years know that all it'll take is for them to think they have it made, 'I'm recovered', to get to the point where they rely on self before the church only to fall right back into it. It is a daily process, a daily acceptance into the church that allows us to lean on each other. The turn-or-burn philosophy and a constant begging for forgiveness and repentance (...and hoping to God it works this time!) doesn't represent a God who is love, a God who truly forgives and forgets. They are telling me that philosophy can and should be done in love and I truly believe they are trying.
If any one of us (all of us?) is honest with ourselves, we are all recovering addicts of something. Some are more noticeable than others (such as homosexuality or alcoholism as opposed to performance addiction or looking at porn when you're alone at home), but they carry the same weight. Sin. Is. Sin. Wouldn't a God who is love, die for all sin for those who choose him. One man, one sacrifice, saves one time all things when we declare with our mouth that we believe he has the power to do so and we want to experience it. We don't need to keep convincing him of that. Why would a God who SO DESIRES for us to experience a relationship with him require perfection, when all he needs is a willing heart.
I shared with them a couple in our church who are homosexuals and have been burned by the church over and over again to point that when my pastor wanted to meet with them for coffee, they just knew he was going to ask them to change their ways or leave (turn...or burn). All he wanted to do was get to know them better. This is showing love, this divine love that goes beyond all circumstance and misunderstanding to bring about his ultimate desire for reconciliation with a world so far gone. Sure the Bible says a lot of things are a sin, but we are not defined by our sinful nature, as Paul writes in Romans. It is the sin within us, which is separate from who we are in Christ, that makes us feel like crap sometimes...but by no means trumps salvation.
Some of the discussion revolved around the fact that if they are not at least trying to rid themselves of this sin, then they weren't truly repentant in the first place. If you are like me, many times my sin is not evident until I've stood under love of God long enough that it begins to transform me...all on its own. I don't think that transformation happens right at the words, "Jesus, I accept what you did on the cross." There's a quote by C.S. Lewis, "Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done." Transformation is a daily action of renewing of your mind, understanding that you are in need of a being and a body beyond you, and placing yourself around the church or around those you see as filled with the love of God. Slowly and surely, the truth with reveal itself.
It may take minutes to days for some, it may take years for others. The fact of the matter is that everyone is different in their process of coming into relationships with anyone. So why would this be the same in developing a relationship with our God? And we should enjoy the process, the questions, the wrestling. God loves to wrestle because he loves that we are seeking, that we are asking questions. If someone in a particular sin where it is their lifestyle wants to keep coming to church to experience the body, let him seek. But make sure you surround him with God's love. The love will bring to light their struggles through the process. And, again, the process may take a long time but they know it will be out of love.
Exiting the coffee shop and climbing into my car, I sat and sighed. Looking into my rear-view mirror, I let out an, "Oh my..." of complete awe since I was out in a little town next door to my hometown. I was overcome with emotion (I think it was...love?), rolled down my window to bid good day to one of the homosexual women that these guys were saying was hell-bound just minutes before. I drove one block and had to park because I began to weep. My heart longed for her and felt the hurt of every Christian speaking this message of death into her life. I longed for her to feel loved, to feel accepted into the body of Christ, for her to understand that she is important. Then I longed for every Christian out there to see her the way I saw her right then and there. That she is your sister. Despite the hurt, she has kept seeking out a church where she can be used for the greater good of spreading this divine love instead of becoming a spectacle and outcast. I want every Christian to know the Jesus that took his disciples to Caesarea Philippi and said to them, "upon this rock (upon these failures and perverts and not-good-enoughs, these people in front of you that you see performing sexual acts with goats), I will build my church."
I drove a block to a park. It was perfect weather for a walk and came across a guy with a camera. He greeted me and I asked what he was doing. "For the past year I've been taking pictures of this blue heron. He lets lots of people come up close to it but I feel like it is different with me. It's like I have a relationship with this bird. It knows me and it is like it is saying, 'Yep, I'm beautiful. Take pictures of me!'"
Man, like this bird, people are delicate. The moment we are reckless and come at them swinging, they are going to fly away. Relationships take time. Showing people who we are called to be in Christ takes time. Bringing people to a true understanding of God's love and a self-revealing of a righteous way of living takes time. This guy has been working on this bird for the last year. It knows him well now and it knows what he is all about. It knows the purpose for him being there and it is not intimidated. It is willing to give this man a moment of its time, to share in the beauty of God's creation. God is the same way. He works in the process and takes his time in crafting his children to become who they were originally intended to be. All we are meant to do is help that process along as people slide in and out of our life. All you can do to help that process along is love and pray that they see Christ in that love. Since the scriptures say that God is love, they will see it.
That's all Christ wants and he is willing to hang around until you're ready to pop your head out of the tree line and give him a chance to get close to you. He thinks you're beautiful and wants to show you off to the world!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
He'll Take Care Of It
He will, because He does. He really does. He takes care of it.
To me, tonight was no different than every other Thursday. I did the majority of my prepping the day before, like usual. Then, after staff meeting and sending out our church's e-news, I usually take a gander over to the mall and find a quiet little table at the coffee shop to finish some of the preparing for my talk, the games, and my adult leaders meeting. I'm thinking 'great I got time, I'm on track.' Then, I hear... "Phil!"...
Every Thursday I have highschool lunch with my students and meet some of their friends. I got hooked into a table where after the first lunch with them, their 'leader' guy said, "Phil, you are the first Christian that I don't want to shoot in the face." This helps you to understand this guy a little. A complete jokester. The guy is hilarious, truly has a good heart, but has had some bad representation when it comes to the Christian faith. This guy cusses a lot and the guys that hang around him drop the F-bomb with every other word. Many of the jokes come straight from the gutter, especially sexually. A lot of uncomfortable moments and many opportunities to steer the conversation. This guy has a girlfriend. He loves her, you can tell. But at the lunch table, a good amount of the jokes come at her expense. She nervously rolls her eyes and chuckles. He dominates the conversation. She hardly has room to speak...so she doesn't.
..."Phil!" It's his girlfriend. She found me at the mall. I'm working on the programming of tonight's Aftershock when she comes to my table and starts talking! I've never witnessed so much talking out of her and I loved it. She was finally free to be herself...and she kept talking. I started to wonder if I would get finished with what I needed to, but God said, "Listen to her, this is good. This is a divine appointment. I brought her here." We talk about her boyfriend, what it means for him to respect her. She spoke so highly of him and I believed it. She says he's not like this when he's not around those guys at lunch. He's trying to show off. I let her know that I think it is good for her to demand a little respect. She talks about how they are really beginning to communicate about that. A new semester started and now they sit at a different table and it's getting better. I got to connect and really begin to understand her. Her own self, her own person...and it was awesome.
This month's series at Aftershock is called "Uncensored." We are dealing with relationships and this week dealt with relationships with our peers. These relationships are healthy when we are working together, as a team, collaborating and leaning on each other for help. The relationships become unhealthy when we begin comparing ourselves to our peers. We become jealous of certain things they own or traits they possess. We plot ways to turn things to our favor. Sometimes we use others for self gain or to elevate our status. This is when we begin to measure certain things about someone or ourselves as more important than other things. We begin to measure what is actually unable to be measured. How can these outwardly visible things, like beauty, athleticism, humor, popularity, truly be measured? They are simply opinions. To say the way that one person is is better than the way that another person is, is putting people in inequality. It is raising someone to a higher, more praise-worthy position than someone else, or pushing that someone else to a lower, not-as-important status. When we don't see our peers in equality, our relationships will become unhealthy.
We then broke off into small groups where we explored it further into dating relationships. When a guy is pressuring his girlfriend to have sex though she doesn't feel right about it, he are putting himself at a higher level than her, thinking he knows what is best for the relationship. A dating relationship needs to work at a level of equality, of understanding and shared visions and shared goals. Never is it a healthy relationship when we use someone for self gain, as bragging rights to our buddies, to elevate us to a certain status, or even trying to make someone change at the cost of losing ourselves. Scales get knocked off-balanced, equality is no more. What could have been a healthy relationship is now left in ruins.
For real, the games did not work tonight from a programming standpoint. The kids truly seemed to have fun though. I failed to account for some things with the games, and it could have been an absolute bomb. Part of it was that I felt rushed before-hand. I ran out of time due to my conversation at the mall. I was a little unprepared...from the programming standpoint. Turns out, though, God takes care of it. The mall conversation was important, worth the games not being polished. And the conversations I had later were also very much worth it.
Afterward, a kid came up to me. He mentioned some things were going on with him and his girlfriend. The message that I gave (in my mind thinking: God gave. I'm nothing. I was unprepared.) went straight to the heart of the issue and really helped him through some things he was dealing with. From what I understand about him is that this guy grew up in a church where God was very distant, not very personal. I feel privileged to be a part of introducing him to this God who is more than a list of do's and don't's. All I could think to say was "Keep coming back, man. Keep coming back."
Still after that, another kid, who I can't wait to hone his leadership skills, comes to me and asks me to pray for him. He is in a new relationship with a girl and wants to take it slow and remain on equal levels with her. She is going through some things with her family. He asked if I could pray about them together and about her as she's working through these things with her family. How incredibly honored I feel that God has placed me in this position where kids see me as their spiritually leader and desire me to pray for them.
But, as we all know, I am nothing. I am only a vessel. God flows through this vessel, even with all of its cracks and kinks. These holes are the very places he fills with his strengths...and He takes care of it. That's all I could think of on the way home, 'He took care of it.' And He'll take care of it again.
To me, tonight was no different than every other Thursday. I did the majority of my prepping the day before, like usual. Then, after staff meeting and sending out our church's e-news, I usually take a gander over to the mall and find a quiet little table at the coffee shop to finish some of the preparing for my talk, the games, and my adult leaders meeting. I'm thinking 'great I got time, I'm on track.' Then, I hear... "Phil!"...
Every Thursday I have highschool lunch with my students and meet some of their friends. I got hooked into a table where after the first lunch with them, their 'leader' guy said, "Phil, you are the first Christian that I don't want to shoot in the face." This helps you to understand this guy a little. A complete jokester. The guy is hilarious, truly has a good heart, but has had some bad representation when it comes to the Christian faith. This guy cusses a lot and the guys that hang around him drop the F-bomb with every other word. Many of the jokes come straight from the gutter, especially sexually. A lot of uncomfortable moments and many opportunities to steer the conversation. This guy has a girlfriend. He loves her, you can tell. But at the lunch table, a good amount of the jokes come at her expense. She nervously rolls her eyes and chuckles. He dominates the conversation. She hardly has room to speak...so she doesn't.
..."Phil!" It's his girlfriend. She found me at the mall. I'm working on the programming of tonight's Aftershock when she comes to my table and starts talking! I've never witnessed so much talking out of her and I loved it. She was finally free to be herself...and she kept talking. I started to wonder if I would get finished with what I needed to, but God said, "Listen to her, this is good. This is a divine appointment. I brought her here." We talk about her boyfriend, what it means for him to respect her. She spoke so highly of him and I believed it. She says he's not like this when he's not around those guys at lunch. He's trying to show off. I let her know that I think it is good for her to demand a little respect. She talks about how they are really beginning to communicate about that. A new semester started and now they sit at a different table and it's getting better. I got to connect and really begin to understand her. Her own self, her own person...and it was awesome.
This month's series at Aftershock is called "Uncensored." We are dealing with relationships and this week dealt with relationships with our peers. These relationships are healthy when we are working together, as a team, collaborating and leaning on each other for help. The relationships become unhealthy when we begin comparing ourselves to our peers. We become jealous of certain things they own or traits they possess. We plot ways to turn things to our favor. Sometimes we use others for self gain or to elevate our status. This is when we begin to measure certain things about someone or ourselves as more important than other things. We begin to measure what is actually unable to be measured. How can these outwardly visible things, like beauty, athleticism, humor, popularity, truly be measured? They are simply opinions. To say the way that one person is is better than the way that another person is, is putting people in inequality. It is raising someone to a higher, more praise-worthy position than someone else, or pushing that someone else to a lower, not-as-important status. When we don't see our peers in equality, our relationships will become unhealthy.
We then broke off into small groups where we explored it further into dating relationships. When a guy is pressuring his girlfriend to have sex though she doesn't feel right about it, he are putting himself at a higher level than her, thinking he knows what is best for the relationship. A dating relationship needs to work at a level of equality, of understanding and shared visions and shared goals. Never is it a healthy relationship when we use someone for self gain, as bragging rights to our buddies, to elevate us to a certain status, or even trying to make someone change at the cost of losing ourselves. Scales get knocked off-balanced, equality is no more. What could have been a healthy relationship is now left in ruins.
For real, the games did not work tonight from a programming standpoint. The kids truly seemed to have fun though. I failed to account for some things with the games, and it could have been an absolute bomb. Part of it was that I felt rushed before-hand. I ran out of time due to my conversation at the mall. I was a little unprepared...from the programming standpoint. Turns out, though, God takes care of it. The mall conversation was important, worth the games not being polished. And the conversations I had later were also very much worth it.
Afterward, a kid came up to me. He mentioned some things were going on with him and his girlfriend. The message that I gave (in my mind thinking: God gave. I'm nothing. I was unprepared.) went straight to the heart of the issue and really helped him through some things he was dealing with. From what I understand about him is that this guy grew up in a church where God was very distant, not very personal. I feel privileged to be a part of introducing him to this God who is more than a list of do's and don't's. All I could think to say was "Keep coming back, man. Keep coming back."
Still after that, another kid, who I can't wait to hone his leadership skills, comes to me and asks me to pray for him. He is in a new relationship with a girl and wants to take it slow and remain on equal levels with her. She is going through some things with her family. He asked if I could pray about them together and about her as she's working through these things with her family. How incredibly honored I feel that God has placed me in this position where kids see me as their spiritually leader and desire me to pray for them.
But, as we all know, I am nothing. I am only a vessel. God flows through this vessel, even with all of its cracks and kinks. These holes are the very places he fills with his strengths...and He takes care of it. That's all I could think of on the way home, 'He took care of it.' And He'll take care of it again.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Effective Ministry: Finding Your Core
I took a moment this morning to write out a list of what I call my core. I think we can take something from the fact that Jesus had 12 guys that he primarily focused on. Sure, Jesus' message was for the whole world...but after he left? He left everything up to those 12 that he focused the majority of his energy on to actually take it to the world, starting the wildfire that Christianity is. Jesus' life was a model. I think it's important to focus on a handful of people, let them become your disciples. God has given us the ability to do this. He has given us authority. Make a list of your core. Who are the students or peers that love you to the point of heeding your every word, taking what you say as gold (which is why everything you say needs to be thought out and purposeful and done with care. You have the ability to create a lot of hurt as well.) This is your core. These are your disciples. These are the people you need to seriously equip to the the point of them being able to reciprocate this disciple-making ability. They themselves are going to gather up a core. They are to equip their core to do the same. It's the ripple effect.
Blog posts and more about our ministry at: LarsonSupportTeam.com
I also made a core-potential list. These are students that I see as having the ability to step up and lead if I only spend some time hanging out with them and speak some truth into their lives. Maybe this is where you're at. Maybe you need to make a core-potential list and brainstorm ways you can get involved in their lives.
These lists will change over time, which I think is important. People slide in and out of your lives and on into other people's lives. That's why the moment you do have with them is so incredibly important.
...Or, maybe you're not to this point yet. Maybe you have someone you are looking up to now and seeking out the wisdom of. Whatever the case, it is important to be in one of two situations: putting together/leading your core or being equipped by someone you view as a leader, being a part of their core, in order to one day lead your own core.
Being viewed as a leader is a very scary thing. You have the ability to totally empower someone or completely destroy a life. That's why it is always important, no matter how many people or who views you as a leader, that you are constantly seeking wisdom outside of yourself. I am in the process of learning this. It is taking me out of my introverted box of comfort to seek out others that I know will speak love, truth, and life into my own life. We all need that in order to give life. Reading is a huge thing too, and a extra hard choice for me. I find, though, that once I force myself to sit down and read, I NEVER regret it.
Today I got a text from a student that I had on my core list. We were talking about a year and a half ago and he voiced to me that he was thinking about dropping out of school. I advised against it and we both shared our reasons. He voiced to me what he observed about his situation from his point of view and I voiced to him what I observed about his situation from my point of view. Thankfully, lot of changes happened in this student's life over the last year and a half to change his mind. He was behind a little in school but was working really hard to catch up. My text from him today read, "I just finished talking to Poyer and laying out my schedule and when we were done, he congratulated me and said I was officially set and good to graduate on time." How fortunate do you think I felt that this student thought to text me so that we could celebrate this together? Having and leading a core is an incredibly humbling and rewarding experience.
Cores are effective ways to change this world modeled by Jesus himself. When the time came for Jesus to leave this earth, he had equipped and empowered his core enough to do the same work he did. They found their core and lead and empowered them to do the same and so on. This is how the world changes, through small and simple but effective communities as these.
Blog posts and more about our ministry at: LarsonSupportTeam.com
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