So, I just got back from a second week at Bambi Lake camp. This time it was a bunch of 4th-6th graders, and I wasn't actually a group leader: I was just the worship leader. I still got a lot of time to hang out with the kids, though, and it was another sweet group. Lots of games of mafia, silly waiting-in-line camp games...this one reminded me a lot of how camp goes at Center Lake, which is probably why I liked it so much. All of my free time may have also had something to do with it, haha.
For most of the week, I was pretty free every day until about 3:00pm. On a couple of days, I went for walks on the camp trails...and went hiking off-camp. I found an ORV trail and a gravel road, both of which I followed for quite a while on different days. I thought I found bear tracks on the road, but after looking up some animal tracks, I don't think they were...but they were pretty big. Also found a red-bellied snake, one of two species in northern Michigan which don't get very big and are generally really easy to handle (the other is the brown snake). A raven, my favorite bird, was around one of the days, and it looked like a turkey had been following my tracks for a while when I returned.
This turned out to be another week where I got to know some people from the Southern Baptist Convention and Bambi Lake better, which is good. Now I've already been asked to help lead worship for a college-age retreat around New Year. I suppose getting in the convention's good graces is a plus. Even some local church leaders now are apparently watching me a little closer...in a good way, that is.
With some of these things going around in my head, I can't help but also think of a Scripture passage I just read recently:
"How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" ~Jesus, John chapter 5
Sounds like Jesus is saying you can't really believe if you're seeking honour from men instead of God. If I'm trying to look good and get my name out there, then somewhere along the way I've lost the point of what I'm doing. I won't be worshiping God, and I won't be leading others in worship. Tough thoughts.
Peace.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Over-spiritualising
So, I was just listening to Francis Chan this morning. Dangerous, I know. He mentioned how a certain passage of Scripture has always bothered him:
"He (Jesus) said also to the man who had invited him, 'When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.' " Luke 14
Well...shoot. I can see why that would bother Francis, because now it's bothering me. Jesus straight up told this guy who invited him into his home for dinner, "Hey, when you throw a party, you shouldn't actually invite your friends or family...you should go get the people from the homeless shelter, the people living on the street, and the people who can't do anything for themselves and don't have any help. Bring those people for the very purpose of not getting anything in return from them. Then you'll have a reward in heaven."
That should be pretty hard to hear, even for people who can't throw full-on banquets. However, I've heard plenty of Jesus' hard words get molded into spiritual metaphors in order to make them more "do-able." Just recently, for example, I heard a sermon on Mark 7:31-37 and 8:22-26. These passages are two separate times when Jesus healed blind men. Sure, if you read those passages (which you should do before going on) you could probably see how there are some spiritual applications. It's just amusing to me how often I hear sermons on passages like this which totally ignore the fact that Jesus (or His disciples at times) physically healed people. It's easier for us to put a hyper-spiritual spin on things rather than deal with certain other issues like, "Well, Jesus said to do this, but I don't see any Christians doing it," or, "Why doesn't God actually heal people anymore?" (FYI, He does...a better question might be, 'Why don't we see it around here?')
I realised the other day that I've been doing things wrong for a while. I've been slowly boxing in God, trying to make Him a part of my life instead of making myself a part of His life. It hurts, but I love those moments when I realise how much I've been missing out on, how much I can learn from God's Word, how totally He can guide my life if I let Him. When those moments arrive, I can run back to His arms, knowing He still loves me and wants to use me in His plan.
"He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
Peace.
"He (Jesus) said also to the man who had invited him, 'When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.' " Luke 14
Well...shoot. I can see why that would bother Francis, because now it's bothering me. Jesus straight up told this guy who invited him into his home for dinner, "Hey, when you throw a party, you shouldn't actually invite your friends or family...you should go get the people from the homeless shelter, the people living on the street, and the people who can't do anything for themselves and don't have any help. Bring those people for the very purpose of not getting anything in return from them. Then you'll have a reward in heaven."
That should be pretty hard to hear, even for people who can't throw full-on banquets. However, I've heard plenty of Jesus' hard words get molded into spiritual metaphors in order to make them more "do-able." Just recently, for example, I heard a sermon on Mark 7:31-37 and 8:22-26. These passages are two separate times when Jesus healed blind men. Sure, if you read those passages (which you should do before going on) you could probably see how there are some spiritual applications. It's just amusing to me how often I hear sermons on passages like this which totally ignore the fact that Jesus (or His disciples at times) physically healed people. It's easier for us to put a hyper-spiritual spin on things rather than deal with certain other issues like, "Well, Jesus said to do this, but I don't see any Christians doing it," or, "Why doesn't God actually heal people anymore?" (FYI, He does...a better question might be, 'Why don't we see it around here?')
I realised the other day that I've been doing things wrong for a while. I've been slowly boxing in God, trying to make Him a part of my life instead of making myself a part of His life. It hurts, but I love those moments when I realise how much I've been missing out on, how much I can learn from God's Word, how totally He can guide my life if I let Him. When those moments arrive, I can run back to His arms, knowing He still loves me and wants to use me in His plan.
"He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
Peace.
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