Let me start by saying that I’m not necessarily trying to make a case here. I’m simply opening up my skull and pouring out thoughts. It’s highly likely that in a short period of time, I very well may disagree with what I’m kicking around here. So, don’t hold me to anything just yet. Just hear me out and if you’d like to, post a comment.

Also, there are way more things in my head about this to come.  Stay tuned.

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I’m a full-time student ministry pastor.  Some people reading that might not be able to believe such a thing exists.  I receive full-time pay, including benefits, vacation time, sick days, etc. in exchange for loving, leading, and discipling middle school and high school students.  Some might think that’s barely more than pizza parties and dodgeball with the occasional “spiritual high” thrown in once in a while to keep things looking legit.  But let me assure you: it’s much, much more than that.

I’ve been in full-time student ministry for nearly 17 years now.  I began at the age of 21 and if you’ve done your math correctly, you know that I’m currently 27 years old.  Or so I feel.  Student Ministry is where I’m most useful to God, I believe.  Student Ministry isn’t an easy gig, but its the most rewarding thing I can think of to be doing with my life.  And I love it, love it, want s’more of it.

But therein lies a reality I’ve discovered.  I’m certainly not the first to discover it any more than Christopher Columbus discovered anything whatsoever.  But let me share with you my thoughts on full-time ministry because I’m pretty sure if you’re someone in full-time ministry like I am, you’re pretty ticked at the title of this blog post and you’re wanting me to hurry up and “‘splain myself.”  So here goes.

Being a pastor means I’m all about people.  But being a full-time pastor means most of my time is geared toward people who are already “Christians”.  This is the necessity I’ve found as it relates to my responsibilities as a pastor.  The bottom line is this: The lion’s share of my time is dedicated to keeping the ministry ball rolling, which by default keeps me out of the flow of culture, community, and evangelism.  I’ve been given a title, a job, and a long list of responsibilities.  None of them bad; all of them good, quite actually.  However, when there is an absence of intentional leeway given to a full-time pastor, then what you have here is what I fear is the reality for far too many full-time pastors: the Jesus bubble.  The Jesus bubble is that barrier that keeps me in here and the world out there.  While I complete my tasks and accomplish stuff, I am simultaneously not in a position of rubbing elbows with non-Christians.  Yes, I know about my neighbors, I know about the lady at the bank, I know about the other parents at my kids’ schools…and I love them all.  But I don’t spend 6-8 hours every day with any of them.

I kid you not; most of nearly every one of my days, I am surrounded entirely by people who love and follow Jesus.  While you may read that and find aspects (or all) of it euphoric, I want to assure you that leaning too far in either direction leads to you falling over.  You can either lean toward the Jesus bubble and enjoy your “Christian ghetto” as I’ve heard it referred to, or you can lean too far in the other direction and say, “Well, there shouldn’t be pastors at all because we need all the people we can out in the trenches, getting dirty, spreading the Word (as if what I do now doesn’t include any of those things).  Are pastors bad ideas?  What am I, crazy?  I’ve read the Bible and pastors are God’s idea!

I’m on staff at a larg(ish) sized church and enjoy being a part of a dynamic, sold-out, talented group of people.  I mean that.  I truly enjoy working with the people I’m surrounded by.  Every single one of them is stellar in what they do and I’m honored to link arms with them.  But I’ve got to admit that sometimes I talk with other people who follow Jesus and who work in a wide variety of workplaces from corporate to blue collar, and I wonder what would happen to my ministry as a pastor if half my time were spent in an orange Home Depot apron, or in marketing, or spraying down cars at the Car Pool.  What would become of my testimony? What would be the impact on my pastoring?  Would my fervor for the Lord be as loud and proud as it is from here behind my full-time desk? I’d certainly think so.  But when I talk to those who work in those places, I hear about the struggles of sharing the truth of Jesus with their co-workers.  By contrast, if you come to where I “work”, you’d think I was weird and not doing my job if I DIDN’T ram the Son of God down you’re throat.  (I’m overstating, but you get the idea.)

Some people might think that pastors are “paid to love Jesus” and while I get that, I hate it.  It’s not true at all.  I’m not loving Jesus for money (how freakishly twisted would that be?); I’ve simply been given the freedom to pastor students while knowing that my income is covered.  That’s the best way I can explain it.

I feel like I need to throw in a caveat; a disclaimer of sorts.  I LOVE that God has allowed me the opportunity to be where I am and do what I’m doing.  I’m not inviting my senior pastor to fire me.  And I’m not resigning or even quitting.  I just wonder what would happen to the ministry I lead if I were part-time here and part-time somewhere other than a place where little Jesus’s are literally around every corner.

I need to stop here, but count on a Part 2 and in the meantime, whatever your situation, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I got introduced to Jon Acuff recently.  And when I say “introduced” I mean I saw him on a stage from 50 yards away at a convention I attended recently.  I liked what he said and how he said it, so I bought his book “Quitter“.  I’m working my way through it and came across a wee-bit of wisdom for those of us who are trying to do stuff.  My “stuff” (among others) is writing and creating.  And in his book, Jon nailed me to the wall when he said:

“Whether you’re seventeen or forty-seven, there’s always the temptation to think that something has ‘passed us by.’  And now that we feel a little buzz to get things going, now that we feel a little momentum starting to build, it’s easy to get a touch of procrastinating perfectionism.  And that tends to cripple our ability to finish.”

He continues…

“The things you create and share will always out-perform the things that stay stuck in your head or your desk or your laptop. You might love the ideas you have inside you. You might be more proud of them than any other project you’ve ever put together. But if you don’t follow through with them they don’t do much good.”

I have honestly feared clicking that “Publish” button to the right of my blog screen because for me, that’s a HUGE commitment.  That’s a “shoving the baby bird from the nest” moment for me.  That’s a “Okay, world. Be good to my kid” moment.  It’s why I don’t publish more than I do.  Because if its not what I consider ready for its close-up, it never sees the light of day.

There’s a game app I downloaded to my phone a couple of months ago.  An app to increase my efficiency? An app to boost productivity?  An app to get more organized?  No.  None of those.  It was “Moto X Mayhem” and I love it.

It’s a free download game that puts me on the back of a dirt bike, navigating steep uphills, treacherous downhills, underground caves, thorny thistles, and death-defying cliff drops.  I’ve gotten pretty good at it because I repeat the same levels over and over.  I know each pebble on each course. I can see the drops before they appear on screen.  I know just the right angle to lean in order to land the jump just so.

I’ve gotten pretty good at daily life in just the same way.  When I approach the end of the on-ramp leading to the highway on my commute to work, I know there are 3 successive potholes toward the left of the lane.  I avoid them without even thinking about it.  After the 5th light, there’s a manhole cover that is recessed into the asphalt just a little bit that causes a bump when I drove over it.  I know that as I approach that light, I mindlessly veer right to avoid that manhole.

Safety is nice, isn’t it?  So is its first cousin, Predictability.  They’re best buds with Security who holds hands with Control. But whether you’re seeking a dream, chasing an ambition, starting a new venture, or even following Jesus, Safety and its posse aren’t who you want to hang around.  Instead, shake hands with Passion.  Say “How-dee-doo” to Wonder. They’ll introduce you to their BFF’s Aliveness and Danger.

And maybe you’ll stop wondering if what you’re doing is good enough and start knowing that the life you’re living is the best life you can live.

As I stood there last night, watching all that was going on around me, I couldn’t help but feel a swelling sense of gratitude for what was happening.  Our worship team (totally made up of middle and high school students) was leading children, teens and adults in authentic worship.  Those who came to our NOW (Night of Worship) gathering were genuinely encouraged, recharged, and blessed. Adults and students alike lined up to share what God was speaking to them and what He’s been up to in their lives recently.  One of our students, Tyler gave a passionate, Spirit-led, power-filled message from God and it didn’t matter who you were, you knew that was a supernatural thing unfolding in front of you.  And God allowed me a front row seat to watch it all.  It was more than I/we had envisioned, but it was precisely what God had in mind all along.

And here I am sitting in my office on “the morning after”, just replaying the evening in my mind.  One thing that really struck me last night was the power of intergenerational connections.  In a hilarious moment while Tyler was sharing last night, he inadvertently defined “old” as 60 and above; with a quick apology to everyone in that age range; including me.  (What in the world?!?)  But what blessed me was seeing adults being challenged by students and students blessing and thanking adults for their investment in them.  I saw teenagers testifying of God’s goodness shown in their parents, thanking God for their siblings, and even holding out hope for unsaved moms and dads who weren’t there.  All in all, it was a firestorm of rediscovering the call to simply “make disciples”.  (Matt. 28:19)

We literally had no idea who was going to show up for NOW, so when we saw such a beautiful mixture of faces it was the perfect setting for God to ignite and reignite passion for Him and for others.

So, here I sit as a youth pastor, a mere hours after the fact thinking about the new watermark that was created last night and how to see a “new normal” emerge from it.  Here are a few thoughts:

1.  I invited anyone who didn’t have a chance to share their testimony last night to send it to us via email. These can be used to encourage others.

2. I’ll connect with our student leaders and worship team who were all instrumentally used by God to encourage and challenge all those who came to NOW.  We’ll celebrate God and ask Him what’s next.  Then we’ll do it.

3. We will continue to shift the culture of our worship experiences/venues away from “come and watch worship” to “come and worship”.  Worship isn’t a “come and see” but rather a “Go & Be”.

So thankful to God for what I saw last night. And so humbled to be a part of it.

If you’re currently living under a rock, first off, how the heck did you get down there and what do you eat?  Next, you may not have noticed the sweeping link that is currently ravaging nearly every social media page you see: KONY 2012. In a nutshell, it’s an awareness campaign orchestrated by a group called Invisible Children.  The stated goal of the campaign is to see the arrest of Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) in Central Africa.  Kony is responsible for atrocious crimes against humanity and more specifically, children.  A man of evil action, to be sure.

But what I’d like to point out quickly are the implications for those who care about and lead teenagers and young adults, because that’s what I do.

First off, the teenage population in America (and most of the planet) has ALWAYS been causal.  This age group has always been and will likely always be the ones who display the most passion, are first to “sound the alarm” of injustice, and fly the banner of “I’m in!” when it comes to marching toward a better world.  (Coincidentally, they’re also the ones with the most time on their hands.)  In essence, its the teenage/young adult’s experience to be this for the rest of us; not in place of the rest of us but rather to continually remind us what it looks like to live a life of passion.  And I’m so glad they do.

Next, it should be pointed out that we’re all looking for something to be passionate about.  KONY 2012 would be the perfect example of someone sharing information with someone who shares it with someone who shares it with someone who shares it with someone, but it’s not.  Instead (due to technology) it’s the perfect example of an organization (Invisible Children) sharing information with a massive audience, who then shares it with a massive audience, who in turn shares it with a massive audience.  There are literally people who woke up this morning thinking KONY was Ben & Jerry’s latest flavor and by sundown will be completely immersed in and committed to the idea of bringing Joseph Kony to justice.  They’ll have signed the pledge, ordered the kit, and have already bought the war paint for their April 20th nighttime canvasing campaign.

Something we can glean from the KONY 2012 (among other things) is the reminder that young people are wired to move.  Unscrewing the top of their head and putting information in is futile unless it pours down to their legs and gets them moving.  Truth is learned when truth is lived.  As a youth pastor, it challenges me to continually put in front of my students the opportunity to act on truth.

But I’m careful and even suspicious when I see links like KONY 2012.  I’m not the kind of guy who gets his sense of superiority by NOT liking what everybody else does (I still say TOMS are hideous), but I do realize that while enthusiasm is great, educated enthusiasm is even better.  I wonder how many people watched the first 60 seconds of the half hour KONY 2012 video, decided that was enough, and “shared” it with their Facebook world.  Or maybe more likely, who didn’t even watch the video and just shared it because it seems to be the hip thing to do…..”Oh, you hate KONY?  Well, then me too!  I hate KONY!  Who’s with me?!?”

Finally, I want to share my conviction about something.  This might come off as a given, but I think it bears stating.  Social action and justice-driven activity is NOT the Gospel.  Those who receive salvation are not always those with the most banners flying.  Tons of people will climb aboard the Kony Express and never know the love of Jesus and the power of His forgiveness.  Likewise, tons of people will love and follow Jesus, and not participate in the KONY 2012 campaign.  I know that seems harsh and I’m not at all saying that social issues don’t matter or that Joseph Kony should be left alone.  Of course not.  But we need to understand that you can love Jesus, watch the KONY 2012 video and choose to not sign the petition.  You can know nothing of Joseph Kony and still be welcomed into the family of God, the forgiveness He offers, and the eternity He has prepared.  I’ve seen the enemy use campaigns exactly like this to drive wedges between Christians because some feel passionately about a particular issue while others don’t.

So, go check out KONY 2012.  Or don’t.  Go sign the petition.  Or don’t.  Get a nap on April 19th so you’re fired up and ready to vandalize your own community on April 20th.  Or don’t.

Quick take-aways for leaders of students:

1.  Harness the energy of your students passionate to do something.  Just make sure its the right something.

2. Keep in front of them opportunities to move.  And I’m not just talking about The Interlude.

3. Keep the Gospel central to any social justice activity you’re a part of.  Too often, the Gospel message becomes an “oh, by the way” addendum rather than a “this is why we’re here” passionate invitation.

It’s my first day on the job in my new position.  I’m pretty excited but also a wee bit apprehensive.  You see, the last guy (who quit Friday, and who was me) did things a certain way.  Much of it really, really quality stuff.  But I’m not him.  I’m the new guy.

The great news is that I just got back from the 2012 Simply Youth Ministry Conference in Louisville, KY.  In rapid-fire succession, I’d like to share with you some of the things I took away from a phenomenal weekend:

1. I’m a child of God.  I’m not called to youth ministry more than I’m called to simply be in love with Jesus.  In the past, I’ve gotten those two mixed up.  I polished my professional name-tag as if it were what God cared about; as if it were what He died to bring me.  I’m a child of God and student ministry is just the expression of my worship to God, based on how He has gifted me and allowed me to serve students.

2. Since its my first day on the job, I need to look at what the last guy did and ask a few questions like: What was his motivation? What was being accomplished in regards to disciple-making? What needs to be tweaked and what needs to be terminated?

3. I’ve been guilty of deciding for God what He can and can’t do.  How stupid is that?  Sorry, God. I’m done limiting You.  I am who You say I am.  You are who You say You are.  You can do what You say You can do.

4. Ministry takes a backseat to my wife and 4 children.  I will lead, love, and nurture them first. And pray for all parents to do the same.

5. I don’t care if you ever know me, anything I’ve done, written, or said.  If you know, love, and follow Jesus, that’s all I care about.

Waaay more to digest, dissect, and discover after such a great conference experience and you’ll undoubtedly see things peppered throughout subsequent blog posts in the near future. 

I woke up this morning 4 hours after falling asleep knowing that today would be a great day.  Have you ever gone to bed at night knowing (or thinking you knew) what tomorrow would hold, and being excited for that?  Before I even get into a recap of my day’s events, I need to hang out right there for a second or two…with the idea that I live my life often times devoid of the God-supplied fervor of what the next day holds.  A prayer I’ve prayed on many mornings is:

“God, I woke up on earth. That means you’ve got something in mind for me here today.  Let’s do it!”

Here’s a thought: It’s impossible to whisper a prayer to yourself.

I knew/suspected that today would be a great day because of my very first agenda item.  I made plans with a former professor of mine and long-time friend Dr. Len Kageler to meet for breakfast.  And because it was with Len, I didn’t even mind paying the exorbitantly outrageous price for the swanky breakfast buffet that awaited us.  The food was unending, the coffee flowed freely, and the conversation and rekindling of our friendship was a sweet gift from God to start my day off.  And since it was a buffet, I obviously ate way too much.  On purpose.

After saying goodbye to Len, I caught the last half of a workshop by Jon Acuff (someone I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post) called “Creativity With Purpose: 3 Essential Steps of Successful Ideas”.  Now, you might know that I have a pretty constant flow of ideas. But as a writer, creator, and developer, I’ve always had an underlying ache to do better with the thoughts that cross my mind.  It’s pretty often that I’ll be somewhere–anywhere; from the shower to the bread aisle at Walmart when a thought hits me that I know I should capture.  But before I do, its fallen victim to my steel trap memory…the one that’s apparently rusted open.

Acuff gave some great tips on how to better develop creative thoughts.  Most of these are self-explanatory and need no elaboration.  Some I’ll just want to elaborate on because this is my blog and I’ll do whatever I please.  Jon shared 6 tips/principles for developing creativity and nurturing brainchildren.  (Just came up with that…not bad.)

1. Make war against distractions.  Okay, confession time.  This conference has gotten me pretty tweetified.  Even more than I was before, which was a lot.  The nature of the surroundings here definitely lend themselves to tweeting.  There’s constantly freebies and contests being announced at all hours via Twitter, there are connections to make, things learned that you want to share, and even tweets being scrolled on the big screen in the main session area before each worship service.  During that half hour or so, tweeting anything and including the hashtag “#symc” resulted in it being displayed on HUGE screens onstage.  And c’mon–how cool is that?!?

Anyway, I’m definitely one that has pretty much worn through my left jeans pocket lining from all the sliding in and out of there that my phone does.  Between Twitter, text messaging, and yes, even email, I’m pretty well hooked on an ongoing distraction that’s always readily available.  But maybe your phone is not your focused attention’s nemesis.  Maybe its something else.  I know I have other distractions, but no matter what they are, I’ve GOT to wage war on them if I have any hope of my brain being able to settle in on one task.

2. Create a place to execute.  This one got my blood pumping.  I like places.  I like things.  I like places for things.  I remember taking a tour of a friend’s workplace where welding and fabrication took place, and I remember seeing the tools each worker used put in its place with a painted outline of the shape of each tool shadowing it; showing what tool went where and clearly showing when a tool was NOT in its place.  Just like that I’ve got to designate a few different places that are dedicated to executing a plan/project/purpose.  For Acuff, one place was the local library.  Being an author and making a living at writing, he has trained his brain to know when his body was in its proper place for getting some writing done.  I’m interested to delve into this because right now, I don’t have much of a clue as to where that place would be for me.

3.  Draw clear distinctions for yourself.  (Boy, that sounds good and I wish I had written more notes under that one.  Apparently I sat there in that workshop nodding my head instead of moving my pen.)

4.  Create fake deadlines.  Acuff made a good observation.  When you’re going to go away on vacation, it typically happens that your last day or two in the office or at work are among your most productive.  You want to tie up loose ends, you want to cover all bases during your absence, and you want to leave your workplace tidy so that you don’t return to a mess.  You fire on all cylinders to make sure you knock out those to-do’s before you head out on vacation.  The principle here is that we benefit when we create for ourselves a bit of pressure.  I noticed that this very blog site sets goals for me.  For example, when I published my 300th post, it congratulated me and set my next goal for 305.  When I reached that, it set the goal at 310.  Along that same concept, I could also set dates for things to be accomplished by.  Had a done that a year ago, the book I am now completing would have likely been done 6 months ago.

5.  Build a bowl for the idea to go in.  This one was something akin to the fact that a captive alligator (like at a zoo) won’t outgrow the area it is contained in.  So, we must make some space for our ideas to expand, wiggle, and grow as they need.  (Again, less nodding and more note taking would have been good here.)

6.  Focus on the right beach.  He kind of lost me here, so I won’t try and not lose you.  You probably already are.  Oh well.

As the workshop came to a close, Jon entertained some questions from the crowd.  It was a sizable room and since Mr. Acuff is quite popular, the room was fairly full.  I had slithered in late as I stated earlier, so I was “the guy in the back”.  I had the chance to ask a question and here’s what I said:

“When I’m working on a project I will sometimes go for a walk in order to get some clarity, some fresh air, and some help in thinking things through.  However, after the walk I usually feel like I’ve completely wasted my time. Should I stop taking walks or should I approach the walk differently?”

For the record, Jon Acuff said, “That’s a good question.”

After the workshop, I met up with a former intern of mine, Chris Coakley.  Chris was my intern for 2 1/2 of my 7 years at Simpson Memorial Church in Nyack, NY.  He’s now a full-time youth pastor in York, PA and founder/president of an amazing relief organization called Grain of Hope, which is providing food, water, and mercy to the impoverished.  Am I proud of him?  You know it.  While Chris and I waited in line for our lunch, I bumped into Andy Blanks and Les Bradford, two guys I really admire from Youthministry360.  YM360 is doing incredible things to resource and encourage youth leaders everywhere with practical help, useful tools, and straight-shot support from those who are doing it.  It was great to reconnect with these guys and Andy again invited me to be a contributor to their substantial arsenal of resources.  Pretty sweet.

After lunch with Chris, where we solved every ministry problem ever, I went to another seminar that I knew I’d have to cut out of early.  It was called “As For Me and My (Crazy) House: Defending Your Heart, Marriage, and Family Against the Demands of Ministry”.  Quite a title, eh? But I’d be dishonest if I told you I didn’t need to hear someone speak reminders to me and throw me a line when it comes to making sure my wife and kids get my best and not whatever is leftover after ministry has had its fill (which never happens).  I enjoyed what I heard and was sad to leave early, so I went straightaway to the SYM bookstore and bought the book of the same title.  Really excited about diving into it.

The reason I had to leave early from that seminar was because I had planned to get together with Andy Brazelton, one of Group Publishing’s main dudes.  Andy and I had never met in person before today.  Our interactions have been confined to a tweet or two, flung back and forth across the cyberspace between VA and CO where he and his family live.  I’ve written so much and have such a desire to do something more with it than I currently know to do, I’d have been a fool to miss a chance to chat with Andy.  And man, as it turned out I’m so very glad I did.

I sat down with Andy and my suspicion is he’s just such an incredibly nice guy that he probably treats every man, woman, and puppy this way, but I immediately felt like I was sitting down with a longtime friend.  He was genuinely interested in me, my background, my interests, and the stuff of my life; let alone anything I’ve written or any possible collaborative between us.  Man, what a refreshing spirit he had and I was so impressed by him.  We also sat and talked about the things that our student ministry has produced over the years; resources that are all but set to go into the hands of those who could potentially use them.  I was excited by what we discussed and when we got up from those chairs, I’d dare say we were mutually encouraged.

Well, what a day its been.  Full, busy, and rich with God doing what God does.

It began with a powerful message from Rick Lawrence. The outcome of that message was the still voice of God reminding me that I am His child, not my own, and not anyone else’s. HIS.  And that I am loved as I am, where I am, what I am, and who I am.  I was also reminded that while there are times that I’m tempted to think that God is done with me, “God is NEVER done.”  If I’m willing, He’s working. 

Then I attended a seminar led by Fuller Institute’s Kara Powell.  The seminar was called “Sticky Faith” and the thrust of it was based out of research and study the Institute had done.  One unsurprising fact reported was that parents of teens still remain the #1 influencers in their kids lives.  What did surprise me was that “youth leaders” rank #4.  Good thing I’m a parent before I’m a youth leader.

This evening we heard a powerful message from Jon Acuff from www.jonacuff.com.  What an incredible message.  I really couldn’t have cared less if anyone else was in the room but me because as far as I was concerned, it was just for me.  Jon talked about the voices that we hear, and more importantly, the voices that we listen to and give room in our hearts and lives to have a say in who we are and what we do.  As leaders especially, we all struggle to one extent or another to four voices that speak to us.

The voice of criticism.  I can tell you exactly where I was standing and exactly what I was doing for any instance someone gave me a criticism.  Those moments sear themselves in my memory.  And unfairly too, because the words of affirmation, the countless letters, cards, and words spoken to me far outweigh the relatively few times someone has had a harsh word of criticism.  But I give far too much weight and power to the negative words people have spoken.

The voice of fame.  As Jon pointed out, “Celebrity is the biggest drug among Church leaders today.”  In subtle ways and sometimes in blatant ways, we secretly and quietly yearn for fame; to be known, to be renowned, to be recognized.  Jon reminded us that “The Alpha and Omega, the Creator of the universe knows your name, and cares deeply about your life. You ARE famous!”  Why would we strive for the approval and applause of people when we already have the approval and affection of the Creator of all those people we’re trying to impress?

The voice that says, “If anyone knew who you are–who you really are, they’d run in the other direction and you’d be finished.”  You want to know something?  I still find myself standing on the schoolyard playground while teams are being picked for kickball.  In my mind’s eye, I’m still that kid who watches classmate after classmate get chosen until no one is left unpicked but me and the kid with the lazy eye.  I’m not kidding.  More often than I talk about, I’m that kid, feeling that way about myself.

The voice of comparison.  This one is so common, but when we compare ourselves to others, we rarely do it fairly.  We typically compare ourselves to someone who is in a different place, with different gifts, with an entirely different situation than ours and we wonder why we’re not on the same level as they are.  I’ve said before that when I compare myself to others, I’m left with one of two outcomes: pride or pity.  Pride thinks I’m better than they are.  Pity thinks I’m not as good as they are. Neither of those come from God.

Then Jon turned a corner and asked if we had ever been through times when God didn’t seem to speak to us.  As Christians, we usually equate that to something gone wrong, or God being distant, or God for whatever reason withholding His voice as some type of punishment.  In Christian circles, we call these “dry” times in our spiritual lives.  I’ve been there.  But Jon pointed out something that quite honestly I’d never directly thought about.  It’s a reality in what is probably my favorite story in all of Scripture, so you know I’ve read it, studied it, dissected it, taught it, and preached on it.  How this fact missed my attention is confounding to say the least.  The story is that of “the prodigal son”.  Maybe you know the story.  Read the story whether you’ve read it before or not, and notice something: the father (representing God) is never recorded as saying even one thing to the son.  Yet this story, perhaps more than any other in the Bible, exemplifies the love of God for all of His creation.  It displays His steadfast passionate desire for a full restoration and reunion with His beloved children.  Has God seemed silent to you lately? No matter what you don’t think you hear, know beyond any doubt that God the Father is embracing you, honoring you, clothing you, hugging you, and partying over you for no other reason than His love for you.

I believe that for me, today was a day of simply being still so that I could hear the still voice of God.  I clearly heard the still Gospel: the Good News that God made me, God knows me, God loves me, God liberates me, and God defends me.