ServantForLife

So it’s been a while since I have been able to post something.  Well let’s be honest, I have not made it a priority at all.  But as I promised months ago, I will be posting different bits and pieces of my writings up here from my classes.  As I am working on my Applied Learning Paper for New Testament, I will be throwing the final versions up here for the world to see.  Please feel free to comment and give Ideas.  (In case my professor reads this, I will not be incorporating these ideas into my paper.  =)  Enjoy and let me know what you think!!!

A story of redemption and fulfillment

What is the difference between the Old and New Testament’s?  Are they two completely different pieces of scripture?  How can both be applied to a Christians life?  These are questions often heard in the Christian community today.  The truth is that the New Testament is an extension of the Old Testament.  Throughout the Old Testament we see God working through his people to save them.  We see many of His Children respond through faith such as Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, and many others.  We also see God set the stage through His prophets for the coming of His son.  The purpose of the New Testament is to proclaim salvation through Christ, to declare our new identity as children of God, and the charging of the church to fulfill His good works until Christ returns.

This is a hard questions to answer.  It’s one that all of us struggle with from time to time.  Or maybe a little more often than that.  We live in an age were there are so many different styles of worship music ranging from classic hymns to ultra contemporary worship in which you feel like you are at a concert.  Each of these styles affects us differently.  Some of us start working on to do lists in our heads when we hear hymns.  There are those who cringe when we feel the kick drum pounding into our chest.  For some, it’s a particular writer of worship songs that engages us more than others.  For a different group, a certain song writer pushes them away.  For some of us we just don’t enter the sanctuary until worship is over.

Pastor Eric challenged us this week to ask ourselves the question “Which of us is right?”.

In the past year I have learned a lot about how different people view worship very differently.  I have also learned how to approach worship when a particular song or set of songs doesn’t seem to engage me.  I’ll give you an example.  A favored song in our church is “God of this City”.  This is a wonderful song that engages a large portion of our congregation.  This song does absolutely nothing for me spiritually.  I have tried in every way possible to find and engage with God while singing this song.  Nothing.  I actually began to find myself totally disengaging with the entire worship service due to my dislike of this song.  About a month ago though, it hit me.  I discovered how to engage in worshiping God through this song.  It was very simple.  PRAYER!!!  When the song started playing on that particular sunday, God put it on my heart for me to pray.  I found such joy in that time of worship.  It was at this moment that I discovered how to continually engage in worship though I may dislike a song, hymn, or anything else.  It was so simple.  Prayer.  So my challenge to anyone who may read this, if you find yourself being distracted from worship because of a song or instrument or even a bad mix.  Stop and engage with God in prayer.

SK

So it’s been a while since I have had the chance to post up here.  I have really missed it because it gives me the chance to really get my thoughts down coherently.  But now I’m back and ready to go.

So Peacemaker’s Second G revolves around Matthew 7:3-5.  The first time I had heard this passage was on Youth Group ski trip. It was expressed with such gusto and feeling that it has made it nearly impossible to forget  Let me set the scene.  We were in the conference room of a hotel, most of us are tired after a long day of skiing, but still enjoying our evening bible study. My mentor Jeff Reed brought up this passage in regards to our evening bible study.  He took a little liberty with his translation though. So I’ll give it to you in the Gospel According to Reed version.   ” Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brothers eye  when you have a huge frigging plank that you have to have to yank out of your own.”  Now add on top of that a really intense expressive voice and hand motions, and you might be able to see why that verse has stuck with me.  It impressed upon me at a young age the importance of looking at my own faults before others.  The difficulty then was to actually do it.

So how does this fit into being a peacemaker.  Well the log in our own eyes at some point has become something that we need or want.  And when we don’t get these things, we become angry and judgmental to the point of taking it out on other people.  This is the portion of the conflict that we are 100% responsible for.  What has become so important to us that it has gotten in the way of our relationship with Christ and with another person?   It is very easy to look at someone else and blame them entirely for the conflict we are in. It is very difficult, however, to figure out what we have done to contribute to the conflict..  To discover this we need to really examine our motives and ask some serious questions of ourselves.  We need to pray and study scripture to discover where we are sinning.  Finally we need to confess to God and others whom we’ve sinned against exposing the log in our eye and ask for forgiveness..  That confession needs to be honest and done with humility.  

One thing that Paul Cornwell from Peacemakers said that really struck me in all of this was that “Forgiveness is only the first step.  It gives you the capacity to resolve your conflict.”  So finding out what my log was and seeking forgiveness for how it affected another person is only the beginning.  It opens the door for me to begin resolving my disagreement and bringing me to unity with a brother or sister in Christ.

Lord give me the strength, guidance, and wisdom to seek out my own faults and issues.  Give me the courage to address them and ask for forgiveness.  Give me the strength to always believe the best in my brothers and sisters in Christ by examining myself for fault first, before I go looking for it in them.

SK

One of the things that has always been a part of my life is service.  I can’t tell you when or where it began, if there is a catalyst to me wanting to serve, or anything else.  It has just been part of who I am.  There have been a lot of factors that have contributed to this, serving at church, mentors, family, scouts are a handful. None of these things, however, are things that made or molded me into a Servant.  God has made me a servant.  It is at the core of His creation in me. I am designed to work and serve others so that His Light might shine through me.

I have been looking back over Philippians 2:1-11, which has been my life verse, and really trying to get back to my servant roots.  While I was on the road touring, I got away from and lost touch of what it meant to be a servant of God.  I was more concerned with getting a job done and moving towards the next one.  It’s actually been a little difficult for me to reacclimate to being Christ like in servanthood.  Last night I was reading vs. 6-7 and was struck by the word bond-servant.  I realized I wasn’t yielding to God’s call for me to be bound to Him in my life the way I once had been, or the way I should be.  It was an awesome moment last night at 1:30 am.  I am a servant of God, bound to His Will and seeking to serve Him in whatever capacity I can.  I will strive to obey Him as He directs me, and even though I might fail over and over and over again, I will continue to pursue and seek after God’s Will for me.  

God use me as you see fit, put me to work as you need me to work.  Direct me and guide me to do Your Will.  Thank you for loving and redeeming me, though I hardly deserve it.  Make me the Breathe of God. Make me a servant for life.

SK