Monthly Archives: June 2011

(This post is re-blogged from my old page at tumblr.com).

At the risk of sounding cliché, I really do believe that Jesus Christ was the most perfect mentor.  The relationships that he had with his disciples are ones we should attempt to cultivate with each and every person we mentor.  So, the question begs to be asked: what made him such a great mentor?  While we obviously can’t emulate everything he did- he was the Son of God, after all- we can learn from his process and try to utilize some of the same methods in our own mentoring.  Let’s take a look at what we can learn from Jesus’ style of mentoring.

Sought Out Disciples:  In Matthew 4:18-22, we see the story of the first disciples that Jesus called (Peter and Andrew).  Jesus didn’t send an email asking if the young men would like to follow him, and he certainly didn’t give an open-ended challenge at the end of a sermon.  Instead, he went to the place where these two men were working, and asked them to follow him.  In the same way, we can’t expect our disciples to come to us and ask us to be their mentors.  It is our job as the mentor to find those people that need strong discipleship in their life, and then call them to discipleship.
Gave a Vision:  In the same passage from Matthew, Jesus gives Peter and Andrew a vision for what they will be doing by following this rabbi:  instead of remaining fishers for the rest of their life, they will become “fishers of men.”  Although they probably didn’t understand completely what he was talking about, the vision was still planned. As we begin a mentoring relationship, creating a vision at the start could be one of the most beneficial things we do for our disciples.
     Caring:  In Mark 1:29-34, Jesus takes time out of his day in Galilee to visit Peter’s mother-in-law, who is sick in bed with a fever.  The fact that he took the time to care for the needs of one of his disciples shows his attentiveness to their issues.  In much the same way, while we are in conversations with our disciples, if we realize there is a need that we can help meet, doing so can bring in a deeper level of trust.
     Experiential Learning:  There are many times the Gospels give us a long sermon of Jesus, in which he speaks to huge crowds of people.  Other times, he teaches his disciples by forcing them to learn-by-doing.  At the feeding of the five thousand, as recorded in John 6:1-13, the disciples tell Jesus that he should send all of the people home so they may eat.  Instead of lecturing on God’s providence, Jesus shows his providence by giving the disciples the task of collecting the bread.  Especially when mentoring somebody on a certain subject, we can do him or her a great service by doing activities with them, instead of simply discussing the subject.
     Takes Time to Refill:  Immediately after the feeding of the 5000, John 6:14-15 says that Jesus “withdrew again to a mountain by himself,” an action he repeated several times throughout his ministry, and one we should replicate as well.  Taking time in solitude to reconnect with God can make all the difference, especially since we are reliant on the Holy Spirit to mentor.
     Shared Meals:  Although the Last Supper isn’t the only meal that Jesus shares with his disciples, it does emphasize the importance of time spent together with our disciples.  Sharing a meal was a much more important custom in Jesus’ day, but it still holds significant relational weight, and should be regarded as such.  We should try to make it a regular occasion to share meals together with our disciple.
     Sends Them Out:  “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)  This passage is the statement he leaves the disciples with, and boy is it a powerful one!  He sends them out to continue discipling others like he discipled them.  Ultimately, any mentor we have had was simply following this passage, meaning that all spiritual mentors can be traced back to the Perfect Mentor himself.  In regards to our disciples, sending them out with a challenge like this is vitally important.  We shouldn’t let our mentoring relationships fizzle and die, but let them end with a bang, like sending them out to mentor somebody else!
Taken from the book “Local Church Education” by Patrick Fischl.  Used by permission. 

(This post is re-blogged from my old page at tumblr.com).

In my 21 years of existence, I have gone many of nights without sleeping.  Between homework, church lock-ins, and times with friends, I can say I have successfully learned how to stay up for an entire night, while continuing to be productive (or have a blast, depending on the occasion).  So, here’s my short list for living through an all-nighter:

1. An afternoon nap: Taking a nap the afternoon before you stay up all night is key.  You can trick your body into thinking it is rested enough, and it’s a pretty enjoyable trick to play.
2. Proper liquid fuel: I have experimented with several types of energy drinks, and have come to a few conclusions.  1) Monster tastes horrible.  2) Redbull is amazing for high amounts of energy, but not for studying.  Save your caffeine-in-a-can for lock ins with middle school students, not writing research papers.  3) 5-hour energy is amazing, but not labeled correctly.  It should be called “7 Hour Concentration.”  I can do hours of homework without a break when I’ve taken one of these, but they definitely last longer than 5 hours.  If you plan on sleeping at any point in time, I would caution against these.
3. Proper food:  It is a scientific fact that any food consumed between 2am and 6am does not count against your diet.  Therefore, eat away.  I prefer a mix between salty food (such as pretzels or chips) and sour foods (sour-patch kids are a guilty pleasure of mine).  Also, if you’re staying awake with several other people, consider getting some pizza.  Or, even better, some Chipotle.
4. Friends (take them or leave them):  In my experience, friends make all-nighters 173% more enjoyable.  They also make them 173% less productive.  So, if the goal of your all-night extravaganza is have a blast playing dodgeball or swapping stories, by all means bring as many friends as possible.  However, if your goal is to cram for an exam or write a paper, your best bet is to work by yourself.  That being said, I actually prefer to work with other peoplearound.  A library or coffee shop is great for this-there are other people around, but nobody who you’d want to talk to.
5. Take it easy in the beginning:  This piece of advice mainly applies to those who are about to do a lock-in for a church youth group.  Your body is about to take a huge beating, and “5am you” will thank “11pm you” for not participating in that one foursquare game.
6. Stay active:  This may seem a bit contrary to the previous point, but when your mind is working hard writing papers, it’s important to keep your body working hard as well.  I try to get up and walk around every half-hour or so just to keep the blood flowing.  Also, if you’ve done an all-nighter with me in the last couple of months, I probably forced you to do theInterlude Dance with me.  (Don’t know how to do the Interlude?  Watch this: http://goo.gl/Im9HW  you can thank me later).
7. The 3.5 hour power nap: Some time in the day after your all-nighter, plan to take a 3.5 hour nap.  No more, no less.  Believe it or not, I actually have scientific evidence to prove this point: about a month ago, a friend told me about the “Sleep” app for Android (http://goo.gl/HNq7o).  One of its many functions is to track your natural sleep cycle and tell you when you’re in the deepest sleep.  For me, I hit that deepest sleep somewhere between 3 and 3.5 hours.  If I sleep any shorter than that, I’ll wake up groggy.

What secrets do you have for staying awake all night?

(This post is re-bogged from my old blog at tumblr.com).

Never forget that.  No matter what you’ve done, you are not alone.

Last night, I went to a Good Friday service.  Part of the service involved writing the sins we have committed on a piece of paper and nailing that paper to a cross.  The tangible reminder of our forgiveness by the cross is an amazing way to participate in a service.  But for me, the best part came after I nailed my sin on the cross:

I walked back to my seat to partake in communion and simply sat there praying.  The lights were dimmed and the band was playing, creating a serene environment for personal prayer and reflection.  Then, the song ended.  The constant strumming and drumming drew to a close.  What did I hear?

Noise.  Lots of it.

Hammers driving nails into wood.  Other people nailing their sins to the cross.  Bang after bang, a sign of forgiveness and a sign that I’m not alone.

Amidst my personal prayer, God reminded me that there were hundreds of people surrounding me who were confessing their sins as well; I was not alone.

And neither are you.  You’re not the only person who has sinned the way you have sinned.  You’re not the only person who’s been through what you’ve been through.  You don’t have to fight through this on your own.

James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” Do that now.  Confess your sins openly with your strong Christian brothers and sisters so that they can help you.  They will be by your side.  You’re not alone.

(This post is re-blogged from my old page at tumblr.com)

Marion is heading towards a disaster of biblical proportions.  What I mean is Old Testament stuff- real wrath of God type stuff.  Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies.  Rivers and seas boiling.  40 years of darkness.  Earthquakes! Volcanoes!  The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice!! Dogs and cats living together!  MASS HYSTERIA!!

Just kidding… it’s only a thunder storm, not a scene from Ghostbusters.

I’m loving this thunderstorm for one thing it has reminded me of:

Rain is nature’s “self-cleaning cycle.”  When it rains, all the crap that has been collecting at the foot of trees is washed down the sewers.  It’s gone.  As the sun rises the next morning we see a renewed creation.  Sure, it may be wet-but that’s just a beautiful side effect of the cleansing a good rain can bring.

Isn’t that a beautiful analogy of what God’s grace is like in our lives?

There’s an old song by Todd Agnew that says “Hallelujah, grace like rain flows down on me.  Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away.”  God’s grace is like rain, washing away all of our sins.

Right now, there may be a huge storm outside.  It may seem scary and frightening.  But take a second to notice the beautiful metaphor God has provided us in a heavy spring shower:  His grace is like rain washing over us.  All our stains are washed away.

May God’s grace flood the empty canyons in your life.

(This post is re-blogged from my old page at tumblr.com).

For about the past… oh, I dunno… 2000 years, there has been music sung in church.  Even the New Testament Church sang hymns.  It’s a beautiful way to bring God praise.

But is it the only way?

No.

This has become a bit of a pet peeve of mine.  When people talk about church, they will say how much they love the teaching, how awesome the small groups are, and how much they love the worship.  They use this term to refer to the 3 or 4 songs sung before the sermon, and view that as the “worship time” in a Sunday morning service.

But shouldn’t worship be more than just music?  Aren’t there other ways to bring God praise?

Yes, music is wonderful.  I love singing songs to God.  It’s a very natural way for our generation to bring God praise.

But I feel like we are limiting the ways we connect with God if we think of worship as just music.  Isn’t partaking in Communion a form of worship?  What about reading Scripture as a community or reciting creeds?  What about painting a picture of a Bible story?  Couldn’t that be worship as well?  What about listening to a pastor give a sermon?  And can’t we also worship God through serving others?  What about simply sitting and thinking about God?  Isn’t that worship as well?

Let’s stop limiting ourselves when we worship God.  He deserves so much more than a couple of songs on a Sunday morning.