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One thing I learned from this road trip…. UTZ Pub Chip Mix from Costco is like heroin. So addictive. And so flatulent when you have a van full of boys (and a few girls). Flatulence is the key ingredient to any good youth activity. UTZ is all around tasty.

Here’s what happens when the UTZ speaks back…

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Our first destination on our trip was Albany, Oregon where one of my best friends is a youth pastor. We were going to use Joel’s church as a place to spend the night. Joel and I have some history together. We both worked on staff at a church where I’d describe our experience there as enjoyable as taking a shower in a prison. When put in difficult situations, you bond quickly. Spending time with Joel was quite a blast from the past.

It’s been fascinating lately, how the Lord has been bringing up memories of the past for me to remember. During an quiet time, I was reading though some old journals of mine and was astonished at how far the Lord has taken me. Perspective is an amazing thing. Here is a journal entry I wrote while I was still with this certain church (aka prison) working with Joel (months before I left).

Today I stand at the crossroads, actually I’ve stood here before. I’ve been standing here, but just didn’t know it. There has been a rock placed in my path and I have been waiting on the Lord to either 1) remove it or 2) move me. And he has chosen to remove me.

I come to this conclusion with peace and of sound mind. The Lord has given me a torch to run with and I must run. I just need a place where this is possible. This church is not my home or even a fertile garden to plant seeds. I am meant to sow elsewhere. Lord show me which earth to till.

I know these things about myself:

• God calls you to a region and not a location - I’m am not mean to be here [at this church]
• I have a desire to create and lead - I need to be in a position to do that
• I need to come before Him [the Lord] daily and follow Him with a passion - My life depends on it.
• I have a passion to reach the lost - I need time and resources to do accomplish it
• I am a passionate being - I need to be in a position to drive forward after the Lord
• I need my family - I need a job that respects that.

I look back, years later to see what the Lord has done. He has fulfilled the desires of my heart and answered my prayers. Spending time down in Albany with Joel reminded me to this. God is faithful and good. He led me in faith out into the unknown. I now look at myself and the youth I’m able to minister to and know I’m where I am supposed to be. It’s an amazing feeling to know that I’m right where God wants me to be.

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The trip was an absolute blast. For having 8 people in tight quarters for 3 days of driving, we had no friction and no drama. How does that happen with youth? I have no idea. Needless to say… God is good (and thank you for your prayers).

We started off by rounding up the group early in the morning on Sunday and headed down to church at Overlake Christian Church. I had heard some good buzz about their Illuminate Service and figured that the kids may enjoy a bit of the supposedly, experiential, emergent type service. We got down there and had a good time, but it wasn’t what I expected. It was a pretty fluffy, showy experience of a service. It was slick, big church with more hair gel and candles. Joel Osteen would be proud. But I was a good boy, I kept my mouth shut, and just observed the service and the kids. I wanted for them to be free to experience whatever.

Afterwards, I kept quiet and let the kids express their opinions of the service. I heard things like, “it seemed like the people were there for a show and not for God” and “I really felt they were worshiping the music and the lights and not the Lord.” I was blown away. I love our group of kids, they crave authenticity and accept nothing less. God has really done an interesting work in these students lives. With such a great start, it was only beginning…

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I’m back from our Burger Odyssey and it was amazing. I’ll blog about it tomorrow.  As I was catching up on blogs I’ve missed out on for the past few days, I stumbled upon this by My Derbe…

The “hedge of protection” is an Old Testament thought. Our protection isn’t a hedge. Our protection is Christ, Who is far greater than a hedge. We are hidden in Christ.

I’ve always found the “hedge” statement odd when I heard someone praying. Mainly because it reminds me of landscaping, but also it evokes this idea that God is ADD and forgets us. You know… “God I need you now! And now. And now. And in a few seconds. And also now.” If we are covered and walking in Christ AND if Christ is in us… do we need to keep asking for him to do what he already said he would do? Just a thought.

What are your thoughts on the hedge?

I was talking with a pastor this week and we got onto the subject of the ineffectiveness of the church. I told him that from working with, in and around churches for the past seven years; I’ve lost my faith in religion (and the institutionalized church), but never in Jesus. From there, I continued the ideas from this conversation to others with my wife, co-workers and friends. And from those conversations we all agreed that something has definitely been lost. The church has:

lost compassion towards people in word and deed

lost touch with people on the the outside walls of the church

lost the reality that culture exists and matters (because it mattered to Jesus)

lost our love and mystery in pursuing God

lost our humility and the fact that we’re all sinners

lost our alien and nomadic nature

lost the journey in pursuit of the truth and being right

lost authenticity by refusing to be honest and broken and taking up the cloak of rhetoric

lost the here and now of the Gospel and traded it for the “was” and “will”

lost the grandness of following Christ and replaced it with a manageable life

Any to add? Any to argue?