Journey Of The Known and Newly Discovered

This past Wednesday we started a journey within our high school ministry that I am so excited about. We are diving into the story of God like we never have before. Instead of me teaching a topical series each week we are staying the whole year with what God does throughout the Bible. We are connecting the pieces and allowing the living word of God to speak. I don't think we often do this. In fact I think we often look at the Bible as a book that others need to often interpret for us. Although I understand that to a degree, I have also seen what it does to us and our interaction with the Word. See the Bible is living and active and yet we don't see it that way. Due to that we are going to see its power this year. My friend Michael Novelli reminded me of this last Sunday when I was with him. Check him out at www.echothestory.com
We started the time with the story of Creation. After taking time to hear the story and then retell it as a group we broke into our small groups to interact more with the story. Within that group we dealt with a really insane thought that we so often pass over quickly when we read Genesis. The statement is that "humans were created in God's image." That means we are in the image of God and yet what does that mean? We asked the question "how are we like God?" At first that sounds very irreverent, but if the Bible says that we are formed in the image of God then we must explore this thought. One of my students then observed that through out the story we see love coming from God and because God is love and we have the capacity to love, then that reveals us being in His image. We are to love and when we do we reflect God. That is how we are like Him. I'm aware of this and yet it hit me hard to hear the thought come from a high school guy.
This thought reminded me that I am to live as a reflection of the image I was created in. So as I write this I want to ask the question, how are you and I living like God today as HIs special creation? If we don't wrestle with this we then can't live the way we were designed to live. You are an image of the divine. You are an imprint of the sacred. You show the touch of the one who formed man from dirt. If we the church remember this image we reflect, then shouldn't we expect to change the world the way the church did all the way back in Acts? I think its time to look in the mirror and remember who the blueprint of us was.

Posted by Phil at 2:28 PM | 1 comments    

As I move through life I realize more and more the strength of fears. I talked this past weekend to a student trying to make a major decision on college and one of the things that hindered her from feeling good about this decision was the fear of making the wrong decision. Today I took my son to his first day of first grade. Gavin has attended preschools and kindergarten, but this day was different than many. The more I understand about Asberger’s the more I realize that I have fears for my son. As he walked into the gym this morning I saw a boy who was really talkative just moments earlier, become quiet and unsure. It was honestly hard for me to watch. I wanted to run in and hold him because of the look on his face, but also because I didn’t in that moment know how to handle my own fears.
Fears dominate us and often hold us back from the very thing we are called to do. As I read from the book of Jeremiah this morning I saw a man who had to fear things throughout his life. Honestly, who wouldn’t fear at times when you have to tell a nation that you are evil and you will be flicked away by the finger of God? Fear could have dominated this prophet, yet I think what he got was that his view was on God’s voice being spoken and His plan always winning. It was a reminder for me that my fear for my son is small and fragile when it comes to the care and plan of God. I’m reminded this morning that the love, concern, and care of God for Gavin is much bigger than my fear and anything I can offer this little first grader.
My strength and fears must be placed in the hands of God because if I don’t I will be dominated and frozen unable to act. I got the phone call from my student on the school she chose and heard a sense of relief and confidence that God had led and taken the fear away. I write feeling a sense of relief that God has my fear right now and he will deal with it. Fears will continue to come, and that is exactly what Satan wants, but if the people of God would release fears to God imagine what the church would be. May we as followers of Jesus release our fears daily so we may truly become the bold movement of the church. Jesus lead.
“Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and wondrous things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

Posted by Phil at 10:46 AM | 1 comments    

I have not written here for some time. It seems like I have gone in spurts because of life or the feeling of not saying much. Yet today I write because of a realization. I was reading a book titled “The Vision And The Vow.” It is by Pete Greig, and he wrote another book that I was challenged by. In the chapter I was reading this morning I read about Judas. Many questions flowed through my mind on the this Apostle who betrayed my savior. As I read through the pages of this one chapter about this man I came to the realization, that I feel like we all must come to at different times of our lives, that I or we have so much in common with Judas. It hurts to say that to some degree, but it is the truth.
I don’t say that we need to understand we are very much like him to bring us to some point of tremendous guilt that buries us, but because of what God is like. As I read through the pages I don’t know that I agree with everything Greig writes about, but one statement stood out. “There is more grace in God than sin in you.” I think sometimes we can weigh ourselves down with how awful our sin is and the thought that God could never love us fully, but yet this statement is a reminder that the grace of God is so big that it conquers the guilt and the sin we live with.
I walk today feeling overwhelmed with the love and grace of my Savior and His love on the cross. If only Judas would have made it through the weekend before killing himself. If only he would have realized that, even how awful his sin was, the cross conquers everything including the traitor of a savior. He didn’t give it enough time to see how amazing our savior was. His sin hung him, literally, and the story of Jesus was never complete within his life. My savior is a savior of grace and for that I am blessed and live with new breath. Reflect on the grace of God and how much bigger it is than your sin today. Confess and see the saving of the blood of Jesus.

Posted by Phil at 11:21 AM | 0 comments    

Parents I need to let you know some vital information for your student and home. Yesterday at kids club we found 13 of the children that we have been ministering to had lice. This was out of our control, but now we need to inform you. We have been taking all the precautions we possible can for the rest of the trip. We are spraying down vans and are using shampoo on all the heads. We will continue this until we return home. The next step will be in your hands. Please be checking your student for the next week. They have been exposed and could end up with it. This is not what we desired, but in the end things turned out beautiful. Once the students knew about it, they did not stop loving on those kids. The children were removed from club and were crying and felt segregated. Due to that the heart of Jesus came out in them and they figured they had already been exposed and these children can't feel unloved while there. So they continued to minister. I love your student and the impact they make. Please check your student in the next week and we will let you know personally if your student ends up with any signs. Thanks.

Posted by Phil at 7:23 AM | 2 comments    

Yesterday we switched places of ministry. All that means is that some of the students went from work projects to kids club and vice versa. This can be a difficult thing and sometimes a relief depending on how things were. As far as I know the only hard part was that our kids club students for the first two days were a little disappointed to not see the children again. The day went well for us. The work crew I was on spent the day scraping and starting to paint a house that is a home that should be destroyed and yet people still live in it. The first two days Sheri Myers group cleaned the entire area and it was something unlike anything they had ever seen before. This is a horrible living situation and a place with no running water and a seven month old living there. The baby has not had a bath yet! This is such a sad thing that someone chooses to live like this. My first thought was, “why are we helping someone that could change their situation?” Some of you might read that and hear a selfishness in me, but that is not what it is. It is hard to not judge people in places like that and yet yesterday I worked there wondering what the whole story was. I also realized that we often walk through our own lives never changing some of the horrible sinful ways of ourselves and yet our God still loves us. Shouldn’t we live our lives in His ways and desire to love others that same way? Our groups have cleaned in tough places, set railing posts for the elderly, visited a nursing home, worked for an elderly woman that can’t do the work anymore, and worked with kids who have not bathed. The stories are piling up in their minds and for that I am grateful. I ask that you pray that each of these students would grasp the extent of God’s love for them, and that in turn, they would pour that out on the people down here as well as each other. Things are good here and the day will begin again soon.

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Yesterday we started our first day of serving down here in the bayou. We had a good day of coming together as teams and serving in different areas of the community. Three of our groups worked in kids club and all of them had different places of leadership. I loved watching them do skits, tell Bible stories, and lead games. The kids here instantly connected with our students and clung to them for love and affection. It's interesting to see the two worlds come together. As I drove through the neighborhood I was hit again by the conditions of things down here, but also of the economical effects this place has on people. It's hard, because some people could do something to change their conditions and choose not to, while others can't do anything about what has taken place in their life. So what do we do in these situations? This became a question for our work groups who were cleaning in some extremely bad conditions. One group is dealing with a family who needs help, and genuinely cannot do the work themselves. The other group is dealing with a family who is entirely capable of doing the work, and simply doesn't do it. How are we called to react to this? See, it's not that we are better than these people, even though that thought can cross our mind, but that we are the same. They are creations of God just like us. It got me thinking that we are exactly like these people. We live in situations that are full of mistakes, full of trash and unwanted clutter. We make decisions that have consequences on our lives, and the way we are viewed by others. So how are we called to react to this? The same way God reacts to us. We are to love unconditionally, and serve the seemingly undeserving....and do it first and foremost with a heart that seeks love. Continue to pray for our students, not only that they would grasp what this concept means for their time in Alabama, but also what it means for their communities at home. Tonight we got to enjoy God, in his creation. It was an awesome opportunity to be able to sit with students as they worshiped their creator on the beach at sunset. For some, this was the very first time they had seen the beach. We know our God, we know He is alive, and moving. We listen to stories every night of what he is doing in lives as students share what they are experiencing. Pray also that this would continue, that students would be truly encountering Christ in a personal way.

Posted by Phil at 11:02 PM | 0 comments    

We have arrived in Bayou La Batre and are in the process of unpacking. The trip so far has been a good one. Yesterday we drove most of the trip in the rain, but it didn't hinder anything. Once in Birmingham, we spent time in the pool and enjoyed each other's company in the rooms. Last night we talked about what it means for us to love each other the way we are supposed to as a community of believers. We also discussed that Satan will want to divide us and tear us apart. We are praying against that, and believing that God wants to do something in us, as well as in those we serve. Now we are here, and many thoughts have passed through my mind. For example, why do students walk barefoot into gas station bathrooms? I think that is totally disgusting, but I'm now wondering if things have changed. How many pop tarts can actually be stuck to a windshield? Can you truly eat fast food for two days straight and feel healthy? Why do people view students as people who can't think deeply? When I travel with them I learn so much from them and often see God in new biblical ways. More questions will probably come to my head later, but that is something that went through my head the past couple of days. Please pray for us as tomorrow morning we begin our time of serving. Pray for us to be united. Pray for our group to dig deep into God and come back ready to serve the rest of our group who couldn't come with us. Pray that we will hear God speak, and respond to Him.

Posted by Phil at 5:15 PM | 1 comments    

I have been back from Ecuador for several weeks and in just 9 days I will leave again to head to the Gulf of Mexico to be a part of more missions. What took place in Ecuador was very impressive. As I look at the pictures and reflect on what happened there, I can honestly say it looks impressive. As I prepare to take another group next week somewhere else we will return and that trip might seem impressive. We can easily walk through our life and do things that are really good things and have that small prideful thought in the back of our heads thinking that what we just were a part of was something that looks very good to ourselves, others, and possibly God. We might even try to live to impress others with our faith, or what is even more ridiculous is that we do things to impress God. Now I’m a major proponent for our faith to be lived out in action. I think that is the way the kingdom life should be expressed, because kingdom living can never be fully developed here on earth and we will always have the opportunity for our faith to be expanded through action. Yet when we start to think of impressing others or God with trying to live the “nice Christian life”, we have to realize that we are running down the wrong path. In Psalms 147:10-11 it says, “He is not impressed by the strength of a horse; He does not value the power of a man. The Lord values those who fear Him, those who put their hope in His faithful love.”
I think we have become a culture of wanting to impress, when in the end we can’t impress God. To be impressed means that something unexpected happened that changed our opinion of someone or something. What can be unexpected to God? Nothing. Our focus has to change from "impressing" to "value" and specifically to what God values. What does God value in us and what will that do to our faith? God values those that fear Him. I’m not saying that we live scared of God, but that we put God on His rightful throne and because he sits there we give a rightful fear to His authority, power, headship, and kingship. If you read through the Bible you will find many things to fear God on, and yet still want to be present with Him. We must become what these verses say, and in so doing the church and the followers of Jesus will begin to live out a faith that isn’t about impressing, but one directed by God and nothing else. See when we live to move by the values of God we then bring the values of the kingdom to earth. When followers of Christ humbly pursue that then our lives have more meaning and bring glory to the One on the throne.

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