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Last night we started a new series with our HS students about becoming “fishers of men”.  The Scripture I was teaching from was Mark 1 and Luke 5, where Jesus called the first 4 disciples.  We had planned to have the service out at our church pond, but it rained almost all afternoon.  Unfortunately, we had to move it all inside.

We had borrowed a small boat and fishing gear from some friends, and I was going to teach from the shore and then get into the boat when Jesus stepped into Simon (Peter) and Andrew’s boat in the story. We still wanted to keep the fishing imagery throughout the night, so we decided to put the boat on stage. The boat was dirty nasty.  We had to clean it, dry it, and then haul it up the escalator (to the 3rd floor).

It still turned out to be a great night.  We were reminded that Jesus’ agenda and plan for the first disciples was to become “fishers of men”.  His plan for us [2000 years later] is still the same.  If we want to be on board with what God is up to in the world, then we must start “waking up” to the fact that He was to MAKE us into fishers of men.  The first disciples were not good at it in the beginning, but by end of the Gospels we see them turning into people who had learned to “fish” for other people…people sharing the story of what God had done/was doing in their lives.

God knows that we won’t be good at it at first either.  That’s why Jesus said that He would “make” us into it…that if we truly followed Him, then that’s what He would turn us into - fishers of men.  He wants us to wake up to what He is doing in the world, and what He wants to do through us.  God has, and will continue to, PERFECTLY POSITION us in someone else’s life to share Him with them.  Meaning, He will take all - where we are, who we are, and what we are (family structure, abilities, gifting, background, neighborhood, ball team, friendships, likings, etc.) - and use it to reach someone else for Christ.  He will take His “divine message” combined with an “available messenger” to change the heart of those in the world…and He wants to make us into that “available messenger”, if we’ll let Him.

Below is the video we used (at the beginning of the night) to prepare our students for where we were headed during the night, and the series.

P.S. - this morning I received a note [from a girl named Emme] that was a great reminder of why we do what we do…

Dear Gabe,
      Thank you for influencing my life in Christ.  I hope I can become a fisher of men just like Mark 1:17.
                           Love,    Emme :)

Small Group Leaders, Central U. Teachers, Cafe & CBSM Space Workers, Production Team - thanks for making this stuff possible…thanks for “fishing for students”.   

I was reminded of a simple trust yesterday - Remember!  I spent hours playing with my 2 boys, throwing baseball (playing “pickle”), kicking the soccer ball, wrestling, and throwing them all around the living room.  In the middle of playing, I started to remember back to my days as a kid.  Some of my fondest memories are of my dad doing the exact same stuff with me…day after day after day.  He was there!

Yesterday, the boys and I laughed and ran and played.  Those will be some of the best memories of their childhood…that Dad was there and took the time to play with them.  After dinner, we decided to wrestle…so T runs and gets “dressed” for wrestling.  Which, for him means tighty-whities (“just like the guys on tv”…although we don’t watch wrestling…we don’t even have cable).  Part of wrestling for us means that daddy throws the boys across the room onto the couches (over and over and over and over and over).  We haven’t done that in probably a year.  It was our favorite thing to do when we first got them (4 years ago tomorrow).

Once we finally called a “time-out” for the night, we sat and reminisced about “the good old days” when we did that almost every night.  I was sad for a moment, thinking that we hadn’t played like that in so long.  But, it also brought back happy memories, good times had together as a family.

Memories are good.  So many times I try to race ahead toward the unknown future, trying to blaze a trail for others to follow.  Yesterday was a good reminder that, along the way, I need to stop and take moments to build memories for “future remembering”.

Sunday night, we continued our HS series in Flood (called WE).  The theme is “community”…real community.  We want to move beyond Facebook friends, text messages, and tweets to a place where we know and are known by others…in an intimate kind of way.  True community means opening yourself up to someone else so that they know your deepest fears, your darkest secrets, your greatest triumphs…and loves you simply for who you are.  They have gained access into your life to a point where they can challenge you and call you out when you step out of bounds.  We all need people like this in our lives to influence and help shape who we are becoming in Christ.

Unfortunately, this kind of community (the kind that the first church in Acts experienced) requires a great deal of sacrifice: of time, money, and effort.  It might cost us emotionally, relationally, financially, or even physically to have true community.  Is it worth it?  A lot of times our actions scream “No!”, because we push others away when it requires too much effort on our part.  Or, we push them away when we get scared about being vulnerable…because it means that we are laying ourselves out on the table, naked (figuratively, of course) for them to see…and now, the power has been transferred to them.  Will they accept you for who you are, or will they reject you…because you don’t look like them, dress like them, or act like them.  It’s a scary, messy place to be.  But, is it worth it?  I would say it is.

If that’s true, then what about the “Flip Side”?  What about those who aren’t in community with other people?  How do they get in if they aren’t invited?  What’s it like on the outside…hoping that someone will notice?  Tonight we focused in on the early church and the risk they took at brining in someone from the outside.  In Acts 2, they invited all people and gave up all possessions so that no one had a need.  In Acts 4, they continued to do it…selling all they had, giving up their beds, sacrificing money so that others wouldn’t go without.

Then in Acts 9, we saw what it was like for 2 men to put their reputations, and even their lives, on the line to bring an outsider into the community of believers.  In the first part, we saw Ananias reach out to Saul (Paul) after his conversion on the Damascus Road.  God called Ananias to go to Saul and lay his hands on Saul to bring healing to his sight.  Once he laid hands on him, the scales fell off and Saul’s sight returned.

Ananias’ reaching out to touch Saul was a “physical symbol of the invisible power of the Holy Spirit”.  The act of Ananias laying his hands on Saul was a physical touch to allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through Ananias to communicate the love and affection that Father had for Saul.

Later in Acts 9, the disciples were still scared of Paul (who wouldn’t be…the man killed Christ-followers for breakfast, and liked it).  One man, Barnabas (Son of Encouragement), reached out to Saul when no one else would.  Barnabas spoke on Saul’s behalf to the disciples…telling them that Saul was ok, that he was one of them.

There are people in your schools, at our youth group, who are waiting [dying] for someone to step up and step out (like Ananias & Barnabas)…someone to reach out a hand and speak on their behalf…someone to tell everyone else that they’re ok.  They are waiting (on the outside of community) for YOU to sacrifice some of your time, relational energy, focus on them…for someone to be a “physical symbol of the invisible power of the Holy Spirit”!!!

So, are you willing?  If not, then think about this…what if it were you on the outside?  What if you were the one walking down the hall, onto the 3rd floor @ CBSM, sitting in lunch alone…just waiting [dying inside] for someone to notice, to care enough to sacrifice?

What if?

Today was just one of those days…you know, Monday.  It was just kind of a ho-hum sort of day.  Not quite an Eeyore (from Winnie the Pooh) day, but a Monday nonetheless.  I didn’t put much thought into it until I ran across the blog post below.  

This is an excerpt from a minister/speaker named Clayton King:

“If you are in any kind of ministry, leadership role, or work in a local church setting, you need to read this.  Why?  Because today is Monday, the most vulnerable day of the week for you.  The day you are most susceptible to temptation, pride, irritability, fatigue, and discouragement.  If there is one thing I know about Mondays in ministry, it’s simply this; after God uses me on Sunday, Satan and my flesh will come against me on Monday.

Sundays are game day for ministers.  It’s more than just going to church and doing your ministerial duties.  Sundays are the time when it all comes together; the lesson, the sermon, the conversations, the meal afterward with a family, the anticipation of what attendance will be, what the offering will look like, and what the response will be to the gospel.  The stress and pressure can literally beat a minister to the ground, but the strange irony is that it can also create within us an excitement that energizes us for the assignment.  It is actually the stress and adrenaline that do both; they motivate us to carry through and then they cause us to crash and burn both emotionally and physically.  Many ministers have no idea why they feel the way they feel on Monday.  They think they’re just tired.  It is so much more than that.

Physically, your body is wound up all day on Sunday, and if you are preaching more than one time, it’s compounded.  The chemicals in your body are raging; adrenaline, endorphins and dopamine give you the boost you need to get it done.  Then Sunday night rolls around, the big day is over and now is in the past, and your body is filled with the residue of these chemicals.  Some ministers fall right asleep from exhaustion.  Others can’t stop rehearsing the day in their minds and are up to the wee hours of the morning.

Spiritually, you just came out of a war.  Sunday is war and the minister is a warrior (if you think I am being over-dramatic, then you’ve never been through it, or you would totally understand).  God has used you to deliver His word to His people and there is a very real spiritual battle that has raged around you all day.  When it’s over, you are spent.  God has granted you the honor to serve Him and now you need rest and refreshing.  Your spirit is battle-weary.  You must renew your heart and soul.  But it’s hard to do that on Monday.  The tendency is to pack Monday full of meetings and busy work.  But Monday is the day you need to rest the most.”

Clayton sums up what a lot of pastors go through every time they speak God’s Truth to their people.  Energy is at a peak, adrenaline is running like a stock car, and self-esteem is placed on the line.  There are many Sunday nights that I am simply too pumped (on edge) to go to sleep right away.  I spend hours replaying the day, the message over in my mind…hours winding down.  

For most people, Sunday is a great refreshing day spent worshipping God with friends and family.  For ministers, its a day filled with expectations, responsibilities, and hard work.  Don’t get me wrong, we love it (or we wouldn’t be crazy enough to do it).  But, don’t get me wrong here either…it’s not like what you experience on Sunday.  Very rarely do we leave refreshed and renewed.  Rather, it’s challenging, exhausting, and thrilling…all at the same time.  It’s our Super Bowl.  It just happens to come every single week.  I heard one pastor say that preaching for 30-45 minutes is like working a physical 8 hour day.  Not sure if it’s accurate, but it sure feels that way sometimes.

Again, we love what we do.  We couldn’t imagine ourselves doing anything else (or trust me, we would).

So, the next time you happen to think about your pastor (or other pastors for that matter) on Sunday night or Monday please remember to lift him up in prayer, encourage him, or simply save your question, criticism, or comment for Tuesday.  He needs a day of refreshing and renewal…just like you (maybe even more).

As pastors, we love you guys!  Thanks for your continued love and support of what God is doing in and through us.

This weekend, I spent some time playing disc golf with a few friends on Monte Sano mountain.  We had a great time, just getting away from everything and hurling discs through the tress.  Well, I hurled a few…AT trees…NOT what you’re supposed to do.  

We threw, we laughed.  We threw, we laughed (HARD).  UNTIL, we got to #18 (the last hole).  Just 4 feet away from where I stood…slithered 3 feet of coiled up poison just waiting to strike.  Yuck, I got the heebie-jeebies just typing that.  There I was, 4 feet away from death (ok, maybe a little melodramatic), but at least 4 feet away from serious pain and sickness.  That’s just not right.  We were having a great time, then this copperhead decides he needs to ruin our fun.  I HATE SNAKES!!!

As we are preparing for our new series at Flood “WE”…I couldn’t help but think about how much more fun (if it can be fun) this experience was with close friends.  If I had been alone, the experience wouldn’t have been as great, the story wouldn’t have been told as well, the snake wouldn’t have been captured on camera, and I might not BE anymore.  I completely missed the snake.  It took one of my friends pointing it out for me to stop short of walking right up on it.  

So, whatever you’re doing, find some close friends to do it with.  Life is just more fun that way.

P.S. - if you ever want to try disc golf, let me know.  It’s a lot of fun!