Over the past couple of months, I have been thinking a whole lot about how we always tend to think that we have certain entitlements in life. Whether we're talking about money, gifts, food, or even how people treat us, we tend to think that we deserve something. When it comes to Christmas, there have been times where I think I deserve the gifts that I receive and if I don't get enough, then I believe that I should have gotten more. Or when I have been in relationships in the past, I think that there is a certain way that a girl needs to treat me if she wants the relationship to continue. I know...that sounds absolutely horrible, and a lot of you are thinking, "Poor Ali!" but I assure you, I think I have gotten a lot better as of late.
But think of it this way. What would be your thought if your parents didn't get you a birthday present this year? How would you feel if your boyfriend or girlfriend didn't get you anything for Valentine's Day this year? I think it's easy to get drawn into the mentality of, "Hey, I deserve something here!" However, the more I read through the Bible, it becomes more evident to me that we really aren't all that deserving of that much of anything. In fact, the general idea in the Bible is that when good things happen to us, it's pretty much only by the grace of God.
What this means is that we need a change in perspective, one in which we understand that there is a lot more out there than our wants and desires. Don't hear me say that we should never have desires, I don't believe that at all. But I do believe that none of us are really entitled to anything in this world. Instead of thinking about what we deserve, whether it's with our friends, family, significant others or even strangers, let's begin to think about how we can better serve and give ourselves to others instead. I think this is the attitude that Christ had and it's one that we should adopt in our own lives. Think of what our youth group would look like if we decided to serve others with everything that we have!
-Ernie
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Sometimes even a big fish doesn't help
We have been looking at the story of Jonah over the last four weeks at Hype. We have been sharing with the students the same challenges that Jonah himself faced. We talked to them about how hard it is at times to show people God's love when you do not like them. To truly love your enemies as Jesus had commanded us (Matthew 5:44). We showed them how we truly need to continue to be in prayer with God, not just when things go bad, like we see with Jonah in chapter 2. We talked about how important it is to have repentance over our sins as the people of Ninevah. I think about most of our lives and i imagine there are many times we see ourselves very much like Jonah.
The hardest part about the story of Jonah is after he corrected himself before God and goes to preach to his enemies. They are repentant and God spares them from their judgment, yet Jonah is displeased. Here is a moment where he was used by God to change forever the people of Ninevah and yet Jonah hated that they received God's grace. These are the words out of his own mouth, "I knew that you are a graciious and compassionate God, solow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" and he goes on to say, "Now O LORD take away my life for it is better forme to die than to live.
He would much rather be dead than to see God giving the same love and Grace he had just shown Jonah to people that Jonah hated. How many times are we this way? We love to say we are Christians. We love to boast how long we have followed Christ. We love knowing that God has saved us and has forgiven us, yet we never share this with anybody. We are more concerned about our interest when we go to church or a youth gathering. We are more interested in seeing what God has in store for us instead of how he can use us to change his world.
The Hype does not want to see that from our students. We have designed this ministry so that in the long run as our students come into this ministry and grow through this ministry they understand fully what God has asked them to do, Love Him and Love people (Mark 12) and to tell the World (Matt. 28) so they can make a difference in God's kingdom.
The hardest part about the story of Jonah is after he corrected himself before God and goes to preach to his enemies. They are repentant and God spares them from their judgment, yet Jonah is displeased. Here is a moment where he was used by God to change forever the people of Ninevah and yet Jonah hated that they received God's grace. These are the words out of his own mouth, "I knew that you are a graciious and compassionate God, solow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" and he goes on to say, "Now O LORD take away my life for it is better forme to die than to live.
He would much rather be dead than to see God giving the same love and Grace he had just shown Jonah to people that Jonah hated. How many times are we this way? We love to say we are Christians. We love to boast how long we have followed Christ. We love knowing that God has saved us and has forgiven us, yet we never share this with anybody. We are more concerned about our interest when we go to church or a youth gathering. We are more interested in seeing what God has in store for us instead of how he can use us to change his world.
The Hype does not want to see that from our students. We have designed this ministry so that in the long run as our students come into this ministry and grow through this ministry they understand fully what God has asked them to do, Love Him and Love people (Mark 12) and to tell the World (Matt. 28) so they can make a difference in God's kingdom.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Rain or Shine
"For it is God's love that warms me in the sun and God's love that sends the cold rain. It is God's love that feeds me in the bread I eat and God that feeds me also by hunger and fasting. It is the love of God that sends the winter days when I am cold and sick, and the hot summer when I labor and my clothes are full of sweat: but it is God who breathes on me with the light winds off the river and in the breezes out of the wood...It is God's love that speaks to me in the birds and streams; but also behind the clamor of the city God speaks to me in His Judgments, and all these things are seeds sent to me from His will." -New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton
Sometimes I find that it's really difficult to find God working in our lives when everything seems to be going wrong. Yet on the other end of the spectrum, we tend not to find God working in our lives when everything seems to be going right either. When we are facing hardships, we think to ourselves, "How can God really be present in my life, allowing all of this to happen to me?" Yet when things are going well, we think to ourselves, "Look at how well everything is going for me, I sure am doing a great job!" So it seems that the times when we really look to praise and worship God is only when everything is going exactly as planned, routine, not better or worse.
However, our entire lives should be fixed on God's glory. This means that we praise Him when life is better than we could have ever expected and we praise Him when nothing seems to be going the way we'd like. We must always be aware that God is in control of everything in our lives, whether it is the rain or the shine. Worship God with your life no matter where you are, what you're doing, or who you are with.
-Ernie
"Even when the rain falls,
Even when the flood starts rising,
Even when the storm comes,
I am washed by the water."
-Washed by the Water by Needtobreathe
Sometimes I find that it's really difficult to find God working in our lives when everything seems to be going wrong. Yet on the other end of the spectrum, we tend not to find God working in our lives when everything seems to be going right either. When we are facing hardships, we think to ourselves, "How can God really be present in my life, allowing all of this to happen to me?" Yet when things are going well, we think to ourselves, "Look at how well everything is going for me, I sure am doing a great job!" So it seems that the times when we really look to praise and worship God is only when everything is going exactly as planned, routine, not better or worse.
However, our entire lives should be fixed on God's glory. This means that we praise Him when life is better than we could have ever expected and we praise Him when nothing seems to be going the way we'd like. We must always be aware that God is in control of everything in our lives, whether it is the rain or the shine. Worship God with your life no matter where you are, what you're doing, or who you are with.
-Ernie
"Even when the rain falls,
Even when the flood starts rising,
Even when the storm comes,
I am washed by the water."
-Washed by the Water by Needtobreathe
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Welcome
Hey everyone,
Rory and Ernie here. Just wanted to let you know that we have this new blog up and running. This is an opportunity for us to share some of the thoughts that we are having throughout the week as well as update you about upcoming events. We hope that this will be a resource for you as well as your parents to come and see what is going on inside our heads as well as inside of our ministry. We hope to update this blog at least once a week and that you will feel free to post comments and questions. Let us know what you're thinking as you read through our posts. Thanks for visiting and we will see all of you soon!
-Rory and Ernie
Rory and Ernie here. Just wanted to let you know that we have this new blog up and running. This is an opportunity for us to share some of the thoughts that we are having throughout the week as well as update you about upcoming events. We hope that this will be a resource for you as well as your parents to come and see what is going on inside our heads as well as inside of our ministry. We hope to update this blog at least once a week and that you will feel free to post comments and questions. Let us know what you're thinking as you read through our posts. Thanks for visiting and we will see all of you soon!
-Rory and Ernie
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