A Prelude to Brokenness

This note is only a prelude to a blog that I will be writing later but I don’t think I have ever thought so hard about a blog or been so concerned about how what I typed would come across. I guess the reason I am so concerned is because I think the topic is very important to everyone who calls themselves a Christian. This topic calls for a lifestyle change for many and even more, it calls for a mindset change. This topic calls for us to allow God to take all of us. As you look through scripture you don’t find many people saying, “God just take this part of me” and those who were lukewarm and didn’t come to Christ whole heartedly were scolded. In order to say that we are fully sold out to God we must allow God to test us because scripture says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:12-13 ESV) I had a professor who said that in scripture all means all and that’s all that all means. Paul is clear that all who want to follow Christ will be persecuted, not some, not a few, not the dads, it clearly says ALL.

This all leads me to the statement that church goers everywhere have said and it goes like this, “Don’t pray for patience because God might just give it to you.” When you pray for a loved one to be healed from sickness do you want God to answer that prayer request? When you pray or have prayed that God would bring that special someone into your life did you want God to answer that prayer request? When you pray that God will lay out his will in your life do you want God to answer that prayer request? You may be thinking duh why would I be praying if I didn’t want God to answer the prayer requests but therein lies the problem. We want God to give us all the good things in life but we won’t dare pray that God would test us. We don’t want to pay a price for all that he gives us and we, “Mistake our happiness for blessing” as Caedmon’s Call would put it. As long as we are living a good life and getting good things then we are happy with God, but Scripture NEVER says that the Christian walk will be all butterflies and rainbows. Actually, scripture promises the exact opposite. 2nd Timothy says that we will be persecuted. James 1 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2-3 ESV)

So this leads me to another question why aren’t we praying for patience? Why aren’t we praying that God would test us? We should be begging God to give us trials so that we can prove ourselves worthy of the calling to which he has called us. This comes down to more than just the issue of patience but the whole mentality of praying that God gives us all the good without the bad. If we look at the early Christians they rejoiced in their sufferings because in their weakness God’s name was made known. Paul had a “thorn in the flesh” and prayed that God would remove it three times but in the end God said, “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong...” (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV) Wow and hello scripture (that was even a wakeup call for me at 12:28AM), when was the last time I was thinking about how God was made strong when I am at my worst? Isn’t it all about me? That is at least what our culture wants us to think. I heard a pastor by the name of Walt Barnes say, this summer that the reason the church of Laodicea in Revelation is lukewarm is because they put their focus on themselves and not on God. “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Revelation 3:17) The people of Laodicea had lost sight of what the main thing was. Look at all the I’s in this passage. Good gracious people, where is their focus? Where is our focus?

I say all this to say that this summer I went into camp very full of myself. I looked at my personality, my abilities, my experience, and I had no reason to doubt that I was going to be a good camp staffer. I knew that I could very easily go about camp this past summer and in the flesh do just about everything that was required of me. I could be the outgoing staffer, I could be the knowledgeable Bible Study Leader, and I could be the organized Track Time Leader because I was gifted at those things. However, at the beginning of the summer I prayed that God would use this experience and make it all about Him and not about me. Now I said at the very beginning of this blog that this was a prelude to a future blog and the future blog will be about learning brokenness before God because the summer was all about Him. When you pray for God to test you He will do it, but the beauty of it all is that in our weakness God is made strong. In our weakness we have nothing to boast about but God himself. The reason we need to change our mindset from that of how much can we get to what can I endure for Christ is because His name is made evident. So, I want to end this blog with a few questions. Where is your focus? Are you so busy seeking God’s hands that you are missing his face? and do you trust God enough to pray that he will be glorified in your weakness?

Campanigans 10!

Well people I am sincerely sorry because I haven't blogged once since camp started.  Wow I can't believe it was that long ago but here I am sitting in the office on a Mac typing up a campanigans in my few minutes of spare time.  Honestly there is not enough space or time to tell you guys just how much God has done in the past 3 weeks but I can just tell you that it has been awesome.  It's crazy right now because a ton of people on our team are sick and they are taking mucinex and antibiotics to fight off this nasty cold.  Fortunately I am on the back side of my cold and the medicine has done its job.  So here I am pretty awake considering how late it is and just how tired I normally am at this time in the evening. 

So the first week was pretty awesome and I had a Bible study of just 8 people.  That just seems pretty much unreal to me now as I consider it.  The first week only had about 200 students and while that may seem somewhat large, it's not even close.  It was pretty cool the first week because I felt like I knew every student at camp and so it was neat to go around and know everyone.  I honestly can't say that that will happen again this summer considering how many students we are having week to week.  My week one group was pretty excited to be at camp and it was cool to see the relationships formed in our group in just that very short time.  That first week I did not get to teach my Guy's Track or apologetics tracks because no one signed up for them but it was cool because the first week I got to help with Basketball and Handball, which is pretty much amazing.  Handball is like a mix between ultimate frisbee, soccer, and a bunch of other sports.  Anyway, week one ended successfully and I shipped those students off with a tear.

The second week was equally awesome except for the fact that the second week is when I began to come down with that nasty cold.  My group second week was very enthusiastic and I had 15 college students from the same church.  It was crazy because I went from 8 students to 36 students in my Bible Study!  I could not believe the difference but it helped to have a group that was very excited and self motivated because I just did not have the energy to do it on my own.  After I started to take the Mucinex I began to feel better and by the end of the week I got to be excited and loud with my students.  The second week I ended up having 40 students in my apologetics class and 17 in my Guy's Track.  The apologetics classes went extremely well and it was cool because at the end of the week the guys track met with the girls track and asked them questions.  Week two was interesting but the thing that stinks is that I didn't feel like I knew nearly as many people.

Week three has just begun and it's cool because I can say that I know every one of my students' names.  My Bible study is really cool and I am looking forward to getting to know these students better but it's hard to keep myself from getting tired of the same repetitive Bible lessons and track outlines.  It is cool because I have been getting things revealed to me on a weekly basis.  I have been super encouraged in reading the book of Galatians.  Galatians is by far my favorite book and I have an awesome verse to share with all of my devoted readers.

In Galatians 4:9 which says, "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?"  I found this passage quite cool because it talks about how we have come to be known by God.  God knows who each and every one of us is by name.  We have come to know God but even more to be know by God our creator.  This verse stood out to me in a new way that I had never experienced before and I wanted to share that with ya'll.  Please pray for the team and their sickness and thanks for reading once again.  I am sorry if this seemed rushed or all over the place but here ya go!  I don't know when the next one will come but happy readings and happy trails.