Your Social Network

(last week's shiftVARSITY sermon)

So how many of you have heard of Delilah? Not exactly a name you want to give your kid, right? It’s right up there with Lucifer or Jezebel or Judas.

Can anybody tell me what Delilah is famous for? She robbed Samson of his strength. So how in the world did a big guy like Samson get hooked up with a lying, cheating mess like Delilah? Let’s take a closer look at his story.

Judges 14:1-3 Samson went looking for a Philistine wife. This was a problem, because God had told the Israelites not to marry unbelievers, so he had no business even looking at a Philistine. (God tells us not marry unbelievers as well, so you shouldn’t even date one) He found a doozy in Delilah. Delilah turned out to be a whining, conniving, manipulative and self-serving wife, who eventually cost Samson his strength, his freedom, and even his very life. Samson should have seen this coming when she sold him out on their honeymoon. He had made a wager with the Philistines (Delilah’s people) and Delilah bellyached and moaned until he shared the answer to the riddle with her. She shared the riddle and in turn he lost the bet. This loss fueled a lifelong quest of revenge on the Philistines. But, instead Samson continued to pile bad choice on top of bad choice when it came to Delilah. Funny how that works, isn’t it??

Here’s a little song to summarize it for you.

So that is one example of a relationship gone wrong. But the Bible has another great example of a godly relationship for us to look at.

Everyone remember David, the shepherd with the smooth stones who took out Goliath? Well, after that story, David goes to work for King Saul. King Saul has a son whose name was Jonathon. Jonathan and David became very best of friends. So much so in fact that 1 Samuel 18 tells us “After David had finished taking with Saul, Jonathon became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.”

See, God knew that David was going to need a friend. Because God weighs our hearts and judges our motives, God already knew that King Saul was beginning to have some jealousy issues with this new giant slaying star in Israel. In fact, in the very next chapter, King Saul tries to kill David. But Jonathon had David’s back, and let David know about his father’s evil plans. Jonathon even took it upon himself to speak kindly of David to his father, but his father was crazy with jealousy and went on hating David the rest of his days. Jonathon swore to aid David as he ducked multiple threats on his life from Jonathon’s father. They were best of friends, and their relationship built each other up, supported one another, and grew them as people.

Friendships are born out of need or love.

A friendship born out of need is usually self-serving. You have a desire, and the person, for a season at least, fulfills that desire. Maybe it’s to be a part of the cool group, or to not sit alone at lunch or maybe it’s just to blend into the background and not to draw attention to yourself. The problem with with need-based friendships is that you are basing the choice to be friends with that person on what you can get out of them.

A friendship born out of love is an animal of a different sort. Love-based friendships are life-giving. You see that person, and you recognize that they are a unique creation of God, they have special characteristics and personality. You desire to nurture and protect them. You enjoy spending time with them, because you both build each other up. It’s not about fulfilling your need as much as it is about enjoying who they are, and celebrating who you are when you are with them.

I’ve definitely had both kinds of friendships. In junior high, most of my friends were need based. See, I was a nerd, with a capital N. I wore glasses since the 2^nd grade! And when I hit jr high I realized that the people around me could dictate quite a bit. So I found some friends that had a better life than I did. My one friend, in particular, we'll call him Bob Jones. He had a Super Nintendo, which was a really big deal back then. He was the youngest of two, and his family had significantly more money than we did, being pastors. He made me feel included, funny, and part of a group. I also got in more trouble with him than any other friend up to that point. You see, I was using that friendship to prop myself up. I didn’t genuinely care about Bob Jones as a person, I was enjoying the privileges of being his friend.

Fast forward to college, I met my friend, Lori Camiolo. We were in sociology class together. The night I got to know her it was because we were sharing a dorm room at retreat and she was going through a bad breakup. She needed someone to talk to, she was hurting. And I just listened. Encouraged. Turns out we had a lot in common. She’s smart, funny, and a little nerdy like me. I met her through youth group. And over the years, God has shown me so many cool things about her. We have cried together, prayed together, hoped together. I still talk to her every day. She holds me up. I hold her up. I’m invested in her as a person, I genuinely love her! She challenges me, and I do the same for her. In fact, she is so loyal. I bet I could call her up right now and she’d just be thrilled to talk to me.

[at this point in the message I picked up my phone and called Lori, we just checked in with each other. it was pretty cool]

If you remember back to our definition of love, it is a deep desire to nurture (grow) and protect someone. I definitely have that with Lori. And honestly, most all of my friendships are that way now because I have finally learned to stop weighing people by what they can offer me, but to start looking at people as the unique creations of God that they are. Remember how you are a masterpiece? Well, the person sitting next to you is too! And the person next to them. In fact, every person in this room!! When you start looking at all the people around you as God’s masterpieces, and considering His heart for them, soon all of your relationships will be born of love. You’ll stop using people to step up, and start offering your hand to others.

My guess is that most of you aren’t to that point yet. You are likely still choosing friends on a need basis. I’m not trying to insult you, that’s how I chose my friendships at your age too. But the big problem with that is when you choose a friend based on a need, you are likely to make the choice hastily and foolishly. Like Samson.

Samson chose Delilah because he wanted to get some. I know that’s vulgar, but read the scripture, he looked, he like her, he went against the advice of his folks and married her anyway. And he produced a miserable life from there on out.

Building a relationship based off of a need will likely result in a crash and burn. Sadly, the more invested in that need-based relationship you are, the bigger the burn will be. Say, if you start hanging out with the wrong crowd because you are desperate to be a part of any crowd that will accept you, you are likely going to be caught sooner than later doing wrong things. You guys know what I’m talking about.

Maybe you are already hanging out with the wrong crowd. You know what I’m talking about. If the kids you are hanging out with are pressuring you to make choices you wouldn’t normally make, or choices that you know break God’s heart.. well those are friends you need to ditch while you get your life together. You figure out who you are in Jesus, and what He says about you, and about them, and when you are stronger, (ready to stand up for what God says is right) then you can go back and begin a love-based relationship with that person. Love based meaning that you see them as a hurting child of God in desperate need of the saving knowledge of Jesus. But if you don’t have that story straight in your own life right now, you aren’t ready to pull that person up cause you are barely swimming on your own. I’m not a very strong swimmer, I couldn’t save someone from drowning if it was more than about 5 feet deep.

What you need is some love-based friendships with people who know Jesus. Love based relationships add value to your life. These folks will be the ones who see you for who you really are. They are willing to invest in you, and you will do the same for them. You’ll begin to see relationships as something of eternal value, because they are truly the only earthly treasure you get to keep on the other side. These kind of relationships will last a lifetime, bring you hope and encouragement every time you even think of them.

So now is your decision point. Do you have some need-based relationships that need to go? It may not be the wrong crowd at school. It may just be one boy or one girl who is encouraging you to compromise your values, God’s values. It might be an older sibling who keeps getting you into trouble. Decide today that you are going to stop basing your relationships off of selfish desires.

Maybe you are lacking a love-based relationship, where you genuinely see the other person for who God sees them as. Love-based relationships are fewer and farther between (at least in the beginning) and may be harder to find. But we serve a big, awesome God who gives good gifts. And He’s given you an awesome one by bringing you to shift. We’ve got a lot of students here who love God and want to see you as the person God created you to be. Students, and leaders, who will link arms with you and encourage you towards growth. These are people who will hold you accountable and ask the tough questions. But you need to be willing to do the same.

How do you start building those love-based relationships? Coming to shift is the best place to start. Come early, hang out in the snack shack. Open up, talk to us. Come to shiftAM, we are changing the format a bit and I know you’ll make some great friends in there. Join a ministry team. That’s one of the best ways to get to know other people for who they really are. Pray about it, ask God to bring you new relationships with people who will help build you up in the faith. No one needs a Delilah, but everyone needs a Jonathon, and everyone can be a Jonathon. In fact, Acts sets up an awesome example of what happens here at shift each week. The word tells us in Acts 2:42 that “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” That is what we are all about here at shift; teaching, fellowship, communion, and prayer.

So tonight’s altar is simple. The first question is, do you need to give up some friends? Do you have some of those need-based relationships and they are holding you back?

The second question is are you conscientiously building love-based relationships? Are you being someone’s Jonathon? Maybe you are just lonely right now. I understand that, I”ve been there at different seasons. Stop focusing on your loneliness. Instead, look for someone to build up, to invest in. Start seeing the people around you the way God sees them.

Credentialing Interview

I woke up this morning with the words, "Today is the day" in my brain. After a year and a half of working through Berean, I was finally to the last step of the first level of credentialing. Today was my interview. I was nervous, but confident in my calling, if you can be such a thing. Turns out it wasn't nearly as stressful as I had imagined in my mind. But I took it seriously, cause it's me. :) The best part of my interview was the prayer that Dub Jones prayed over us at the end. I was shaking, simply because I am all too aware of the spiritual brevity of the calling of 'pastor'. He prayed thanksgiving for my life, for the way God carefully knit together the events of my youth to create the woman He's called me to be. He prayed for my children and my husband and our ministry. He called on spiritual gifts to be evident in my life, specific gifts that I have been privately seeking the Lord for and hadn't even shared with Rob just yet. It was powerful. I definitely had an experience with God during that prayer. I was again, filled with humility and awe of God's hand on my life.

On a less intense note, here is the outfit that Jen so carefully crafted with me. I was wearing a great pair of black pointy pumps too, in case you were wondering.

The whole interview went really well and my paperwork has been sent off to Springfield. Someday soon a little card will come in the mail saying that I now have authority to marry and bury. Hurrah!! God is so faithful! Even as this step is solidifying, I am half way finished with my next step - licensing. 14 more classes and I'll be ready to step up to ordination. I am so excited for this process!!

It made it all the more awesome that Autumn was here through this day. She came for Section Council and spent the night with us. We are going out with missionaries (and former co-workers) Matt and Stacey to celebrate successful interviews here shortly. We are having Thai food, which is a first for Rob and I!

The Next Twenty Years of Your Life Are Going to be the Most Fruitful

Those were the words spoken over me at lunch today by my new friend, Ardell Fleck. I'm still turning them over in my brain, like precious pearls plucked from an oyster. When I think about the future in ministry, it is incredibly exciting. I think about the past fifteen years, sixteen really, since I rededicated my life to Jesus in the darkened sanctuary of First Methodist in Sioux City, IA. It's incredible what He has done in my life, the experiences He has brought me through. And then even more the past year and a half.

Since that morning I got filled in my bedroom back in the Baytown house, I feel like He has turned my life upside down and set me on fire. All in a good way, of course. And to think, that the next twenty years will be even more fruitful. How terribly exciting!!

I met Ardell at a minister's meeting two weeks ago. The wives gathered together to share and encourage one another and it was just an awesome time of testimony. Ardell shared about her recent loss of her husband and the love and pain in her story tugged hard at my heartstrings. She adored her husband (I can relate!) and they did ministry hand in hand for over fifty years. I said a little prayer right then and there that Rob and I would have fifty years. Listening to her grief over the loss of her best friend just really got me, I can't imagine losing Rob and we've only been married thirteen years at this point. Anyway, she went on to share about her involvement in Teen Challenge ministries. Janet shared about what Rob and I are doing with the youth here at ct and with credentialing.

After our meeting Ardell approached me to ask if I would speak at Teen Challenge. I accepted, of course, what an opportunity!! And we emailed back and forth and set up a lunch for today. What a blessing that was. She is wise. She is humble. She is in love with Jesus. And after she prayed for me, I prayed for her. We were both blessed.

And now I am just thinking about what God is going to do next in me. In Rob. In us. Makes me so excited!!

Please remember to pray for me on Monday at 2:20pm. I will be in my credentialing interview with the sectional presbytery. I'm nervous, excited, prayed up, and ready for it to be 3pm that day for it to be a done deal! At this point, God has done so much in my heart to prepare me for ministry (especially with preaching weekly now) that this just feels like a formality, although I am very aware of the responsibility of what I am taking on. I'm humbled and blessed and in awe that God wants to use me.

Anyway, time to finish up my shiftAM lesson and get back to preparing the shiftJV message for Wednesday night.. Thanks for your prayers, I covet them!

Early Riser

So, I've been a little grumpy in the morning with the kids. Got pretty convicted about it yesterday and decided that I'm really no good before my quiet time. Plotted to wake up at 5:30 daily instead of 6am. Starting that on a Wednesday was not my wisest moment. By about 2 this afternoon I was yawning. :) Oh well, can't wait to preach!!

and here is the recipe for sheet cake. oh, it's so yummy. I think I need to make some for the weekend since Bart and Jen are coming. Yay!! I can scarcely believe that I don't have to go anywhere this weekend. That's huge considering that I've been in Houston the past four weekends. I'm so ready to be home! And to spend it with amazing people, yay! We are doing their family photos, which officially kicks off the Christmas photo season for me. woohoo!

Sheet Cake and other Spiritual Truths

So last night I scurried home from Accelerated Ministers Training. After 8 hours in intense classes I drove the four hours (250) miles home and realized that I needed to make a dessert for this afternoon's youth leadership meeting. So after changing out of my heels and snappy sweater to a much more forgiving set of worn jammies, I set about the business of fixing a Texas Sheet Cake, one of my favorite and most popular desserts.

Rob sat in the kitchen with me while we post processed the past few days. As we chatted, I worked on the cake. If you've ever made Texas Sheet Cake you'll realized it's a bit of an edeavor - not completely complicated, but definitely one that requires full attention. Rob and I discussed, and I stirred, heated, poured. Finally as I was whipping up the icing, the timer dinged and I pulled my greatly-anticipated cake from the oven to add the final delectable layer and I knew in a second that something had gone terribly ary. The cake, which should be fluffy and moist, was instead the consistency of a tortillia. Somewhere in my fervancy, I had missed a step. It is amazing how crucial the baking soda is in a rising cake recipe.

Sadly, I had wasted an hour of my time. I'd dirtied dishes, (quite a few, it's an involved recipe), trashed the kitchen, wasted ingredients (the butter alone was about $3 worth), heated the oven, and it was all for naught. I can't serve this cake, no one would eat it!!

So this morning, as I am cleaning my kitchen (before I prepare for church, cleaning your kitchen in church clothes is a whole other lesson in itself) as I washed the pieces of cake down the disposal I realized there had to be a lesson in this failure. It's come to my attention repeatedly lately that God always uses failure as teaching opportunities. So what was the lesson in my failed sheet cake?

I had forgotten the baking soda. I'd busied myself with preparations, getting out the ingredients, prepping the pan, pre-heating the oven. I knew the plan, I was focusing on the end goal, but I'd forgotten the power of the baking soda to allow the cake to rise to it's full potential.

It's just like the church and Holy Spirit. We can busy ourselves with Sunday School programs and bulletin covers, making sure the power point is just so. We can have committees and volunteers and take large offerings. We can preach sermons and fill pews. But without the Holy Spirit, without Pentecost, we will never rise to the full potential God has called the church to. We will always wind up with some weak imitation that people will just bearly tolerate, a poor representative of what God has truly called us to be.

So this morning, as you take your shower, primp your hair, polish off your church clothes, don't forget to invite the Holy Spirit to church with you. And if you are leadership, in all your fervored plans and efforts, remember to seek His support, leading and guidance. Remember, without it, all your best laid plans will fall flat. Blessings this morning!

Lately I feel like I'm on that old tv show "This is Your Life." Things are just so crazy and amazing. I haven't been posting because it seems like I've spent about half of September in Houston thus far. With District School of Ministry starting back up and Accelerated Minister's Training, that isn't too much of an exaggeration. But more exciting than that, we just started doing two services in youth; a jr varsity and a varsity service. Last week was a rocky start, but I think things will tweak out as we get a groove going. Last week I preached the varsity service, and this week I will preach JV. I've loved it!! I totally see why God called me to pursue ordination. His timing is so perfectly perfect, I am amazed.

Ok, just wanted to check in. I'll be back! (said in my best Arnold voice)

Who Are You??

(last week's senior high message, first in the Identity series)

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

I know for girls, we tend to be hard on ourselves. Freckles, awkward features, disproportionate or unhappy about color, shape and size. Boys mostly see awesome. :)

Have you ever wondered what does God see when He looks at you??

The Word, which is the only truth you can build your life on, says this about you.

Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

You may think that was about Adam and Eve, but you were created in His image too.

Let your brain sink into that for a moment, made in the image of God. To be like Him, not to replace Him. We were created to be companions with God, to have relationship with Him.

You all know the story of Adam and Eve. And you probably know about their great fall. Let me refresh your memory.

Genesis 3:1-7 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

So thus, Adam and Eve lost right relationship with God and opened themselves up to sin and sickness and ultimately death.

Fast forward 4000+ years and enter you.

You were born into sin. Hate to say it, but that’s just the way the world works. Want to challenge me on that? Have you ever taken something that wasn’t yours? (stealing) Ever wanted something that belonged to someone else? (envy) Ever stretched the truth a bit? (lying) Ever thought you were better than someone else? (pride)

You see, thanks to Adam and Eve, we are all sinners. Don’t get too upset, you probably would have made the same choice. In fact, at first opportunity, you did. The first time you wanted a cookie and your mom said no and you threw a fit, you entered into sin all on your own.

Now let me share the good news. Even on that day, way back 4000 years ago, God knew we’d choose sin. And He had a contingency plan all along. Genesis 3:15 is His first reference to His salvation plan. Jesus came and lived a perfect life free from the entanglements of sin. And He died on a cross in our place, paying our cost for sin, for all mankind.

See, you were so valuable that God was willing to pay anything to restore relationship with you. Jesus was His most valuable asset.

Even when you didn’t know who God was, He knew about you. While you were living it up in sin, doing whatever you wanted whenever you wanted, He had His eye on you.

It’s kind of hard to picture it.

Let me share a clip with you from a favorite movie of mine.

(set up, Jean Valjean is a broke prisoner who has served his time. The bishop opens his home to Jean, and during the night Jean steals his silverware and runs off. He is found the next day and this is the bishops reaction.)

See, we were liars, thieves, idolaters and haters before we met God. And He loved us anyway. He loved us so much that He bought us with a price. A tremendous price. A price that could only be paid in blood. Just like Jean Valjean, you have been given a new future. It is your choice what to do with that future.

“You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:20

Remember that a very high price was paid for your life. Honor God with your life in response to that sacrifice.

(Pass out silver forks with ‘paid in full’ tags on them.)

Altar: There are two kinds of people in this room right now.

1.) Maybe you are listening to this and thinking “this is all new!” or “man, I didn’t think of this in this way before.” Maybe you are at a place of making a decision to accept the price Jesus paid for you tonight and move forward in your life with Him. I want to give you that chance now. If your heart is pounding in your chest and you feel like you might want to run out the door and throw up, there’s a good chance God is dealing with you about your salvation. This is your moment. Make a decision now that will affect your eternity, just as much as the silver affected Jean ValJean’s. See, he went on to live a full life, impacting many people around him with love and compassion.

2.) The second group of students in this room have forgotten the price God paid for your soul.. Or cheapened it. You know what Jesus did, but you have let the message of the world sneak in the cracks. You have stopped at salvation and never moved forward to lordship. We need to walk in the light of our salvation every day. Responding to God’s love and mercy, sharing our life with God, allowing Him to lead us, and sharing our story with the people around us. Remember the high cost God paid for you. You need to start living like Jean Valjean, passing out compassion and love to the people around you. Declaring Jesus Lord of your life. Living your paid for life to the fullest, and enjoying relationship with the creator.