Walk as Jesus Did...

This morning as I was reading through 1 John, I came to this passage:

"But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." (1 John 2:5-6).

A pretty simple, yet incredibly difficult teaching, isn't it?

Last night I was hanging out with my buddy Justin at a Starbucks in Granger, and Justin got a call from one of his friends who wanted to hang out. I knew the kid as well, and my first response was, Oh great.... You see, this particular friend is just about as different as it gets from Justin or me. He does not love God. He hates his parents with a passion (always a hot topic of conversation when we're with him). He struggles with deep insecurities and depression. He's a 20-year-old practicing homosexual, currently in a relationship with a 42-year-old man. And that's just the start of the demonic strongholds in his life...

So here I was just chillin' at Starbucks with my best friend, entirely immersed in my own comfort zone...and I found myself not wanting to step outside of it. How often does that happen? Too much...

Well, like I said, I didn't exactly want to hang out with this guy, but yet somewhere in the back of my head I knew that Jesus would be jumping at the opportunity to hang out with someone who needed him so much. For as Jesus says in Mark 2:17, It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

This particular conversation with Justin's friend began like so many that I had witnessed before. This guy began sharing all about the horror that is his life. It made me uncomfortable enough to realize one thing: I spend WAY too much time with Christians! I'm so used to conversations that are centered around the Church, God, and Scripture. This conversation was far from that.

But yet somehow in the midst of this conversation (a mostly one-sided conversation as Justin and I sat and listened), things actually took a natural shift to allow Justin and I to speak truth into this young man's life. He recently got a tattoo on his back, and part of the tattoo was a verse from Proverbs! Kinda crazy, I know. So that opened up a huge conversation about Scripture and Truth. This kid began to share about how he thought that we were all born "neutral" (in a spiritual sense). Because of this friend's interest in Scripture and in our thoughts on "good vs. evil," Justin and I were able to share with him about the fall and about how we are born in sin. Justin shared clearly with his friend about how the only way to be free from this sin nature is through a relationship with Jesus. It was pretty cool. I was so proud of Justin for the way he clearly presented Truth in a loving way to his friend.

So this morning when I read: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did, I think I had a pretty good visual of what this looks like. We are to walk in obedience to God, and we are to be the hands and feet of Jesus on this earth.

So what about you? Are you being a doctor to the sick? Are you learning to walk as Jesus did?

God wants to use YOU!!!

Introspection on Israel: Part VI

Day 3: Touring the Land

Herodian, Bethlehem, Palestinian Wall, Jerusalem Scale Model

Our first stop took us to Herodian, an ancient palace and watch tower built by Herod the Great (see Matt. 2) in the 1st Century A.D. Here are some pics of what we saw.

Approaching Herodian, which from a distance just looks like any other mountain.

Some of the excavations.

Some of the interior courts of the palace.

When we reached the summit, Dann shared the story from Matt. 2 of the Magi coming to meet Jesus. From where we stood, we could see Jerusalem (where the Magi met with Herod), Bethlehem (where Jesus was born), Mary and Joseph's (probable) escape route to Egypt, as well as the Magi's (probable) "other route" back to their country, avoiding Herod in Jerusalem. All in all, it was a pretty neat picture, to say the least.

More of the palace excavations.

The watch tower at Herodian. When armies came to attack from the South, a torch was lit on this tower to warn Jerusalem to prepare for battle.

From Herodian, we went into Bethlehem. An interesting fact that I learned on the trip was that Bethlehem is actually controlled by Palestine. This means that no Israelis are allowed to enter into Bethlehem. In fact, our own tour guide, Sergio, an Israeli citizen, had to be let off the bus before we crossed over into the Palestinian territory. Here are a few more pics of what we saw...

The wall separating Palestinian and Israeli territory. Sort of Berlin-esque, if you will.

The wall was covered with hate-filled graffiti.

Let this sink in for a second...yikes.

Lunch at Bethlehem Bible College.

One of the professors at the college, a Palestinian, shares the struggles of living in the middle of such turmoil and oppression. He shared of his own journey of learning first-hand how to "love his enemies."

Our final stop on the tour that day was to the Jerusalem Scale Model. This was a model of what Jerusalem would have looked like in Jesus' day, in the 1st Century A.D. Check it out...

The full model.

The Second Temple. This is the site where Abraham went to sacrifice his son, Isaac. This is where Jesus would have overturned the tables of the money changers. Much of this Temple can be attributed to Herod the Great, a master builder. This Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. Today, this is the site of the Muslim-controlled Dome of the Rock.

Terry looking really smart (because he is!) as he explains something to Robert.

Doing my best T-Money impression!

A great day, and a lot to let sink in! The highlight of the day was probably the Jerusalem Scale Model because for the rest of the week it helped give me a better picture of where I was in Jerusalem and how things might have looked in Jesus' day. 

Introspection on Israel: Part V

Day 3: Morning Session

My Religion Meets the Master

In the morning session on day 3, South African Mark Tittley, a big voice in the global youth ministry discussion, shared a powerful message with us about Jesus' response to religion. You can listen to this message here. For those who won't take the time to listen, the following are some of the key thoughts I gleaned from him, as well as a few thoughts of my own:

1. Jesus confronts our beliefs.

-Jesus was constantly challenging the beliefs of the people, especially his disciples. Consider the "antitheses" passage in Matt. 5:21-48 in which Jesus continually says, "You have heard that it was said...but I tell you...." Jesus saw through the disciples' faulty belief systems and cut to the heart of the issue. This is still true for us today (if we are willing to listen).

2. Jesus confronts the world around us.

-Jesus' teaching was always in direct opposition to the predominant culture in his day.

3. Jesus confronts the world we live in today.

-This includes the "religious cultures" we find ourselves in.

-We reflect our religious culture and the broader culture in which we live.

-Jesus introduced a "Kingdom of God" that was at odds with both of these cultures.

Mark's concluding message was that we have created a false dichotomy as Evangelical Christians in saying that we choose "relationship" over "religion." Was it not God who created the Jewish religion in the first place? It is not religion and relationship, then, that are diametrically opposed to one another but rather true religion and false religion. True religion has at the very root of it a relationship. False religion has its root in "the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2).

Sometimes we buy into this false religion...Jesus confronts this even today.

What is Reality?

This past Sunday night, I was blessed with the opportunity to speak to our high school students. Fresh off my trip to Israel, I felt like God had a specific Word for these students about His Kingdom. Contrary to everything I have been taught about homiletics, I didn't take a single note or outline with me that night. I felt like God was writing a message on my heart and that I needed to do everything I could to get my thoughts out of the way so that God could literally speak through me. Pulling a stunt like that would have been a guaranteed "F" in my Effective Teaching in Youth Ministry class in college, but luckily there was no prof. there to grade me (and only one Bethel student who came that night to evaluate our ministry! ha!).

Interestingly enough, I was not nervous going into my message, like I usually am. One thing that I've noticed God has been doing in my life since Israel has been empowering me and giving me courage to be the man that He has called me to be. I really feel like a different person.

So Sunday night I got up in front of the youth, not with my own prepared message, but with a Word from the Lord. God's message for us that night was centered around one question: WHAT IS REALITY? I suppose I'm not surprised that this was what God had for us...I mean, isn't that what Jesus was all about? He spoke about His Kingdom more than any other topic. He warned the people that the Kingdom was at hand. He called them to something bigger than themselves, to something more real than the lives they were so caught up in.

This is what God has been laying on my heart, and this is what I passionately want to impart on my students--that there is something better than the lives we are living. That when we live our lives for ourselves, when we get caught up in our fleshly desires, when our eyes are focused on ourselves, we fall drastically short of the lives God has called us to live. This kind of life is terribly unfulfilling! Yet I believe God has placed inside each one of us a "Big Dream," a vision of who we can be in God's Kingdom and how we can use the passions He has placed inside of us to literally bring the Kingdom of God to earth. It's never too early to begin catching a vision of that "Big Dream" and to begin to take intentional steps toward that dream. One thing is for sure, though--we won't come closer to joining in God's Kingdom by living self-seeking lives or cutting corners in the area of our core character. We live in a culture that says "Do whatever you can to get ahead, to get an edge." The reality is, however, that there are no shortcuts to the Kingdom of God. Living in the Kingdom is an everyday commitment and sacrifice. 

I believe God wants to raise up a new generation of leaders, but His invitation is to come and die in this life, and enter into a more real way of living...life in the Kingdom. I believe we can experience this life NOW!

Are you willing to come and die?

Are you ready for a touch of reality?

God is calling us to battle...are you ready?

Book Review: unChristian

What a new Generation Really Thinks About Christianity...and Why it Matters.

This recent publication was written in conjunction with both the Barna Group and the Fermi Project, major players in the Christian marketing and research fields. In this book, David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, and Gabe Lyons, founder and president of the Fermi Project, present their findings on thousands of hours of interviews and research on the perceptions of Christianity found in America today. The result of their study is somewhat depressing, to say the least.

As outsiders (non-Christians) were asked to define Christianity, the top three responses were antihomosexual (91%), judgmental (87%), and hypocritical (85%). One thing stands out immediately from these overwhelming responses: CHRISTIANS ARE MORE KNOWN FOR WHAT WE ARE AGAINST THAN WHAT WE ARE FOR!!! We are quick to voice our opinions against things like homosexuality, and at the same time slow to voice our opinions about (and show by the way we live) key truths like the love of Christ. This is depressing on two fronts: First, it just flat out stinks that this is the way Christianity is perceived by those outside of the faith. Second, and probably more importantly, this perception is depressing because I actually agree with it! I mean, if I were an outsider looking into the Church today, I would probably have these same opinions. As one who has grown up on the inside, I want to believe that people can change, and I want to believe that things are better than they are, but this book was like a swift dropkick in the face that said, "We've got BIG PROBLEMS in the Church today!"

Just in case you were wondering, after the "big three" perceptions of Christianity, these top off the list: old-fashioned (78%), too involved in politics (75%), out of touch with reality (72%), insensitive to others (70%), boring (68%), not accepting of other faiths (64%), and confusing (61%). Yikes...

Of these, the one that really stuck out to me was out of touch with reality. As Christians, we have gotten really good at taking the complexities that life throws our way and boiling them down into simple Christian cliches like "Let Go, Let God!" and "Just Believe!" Like I've said before, life is messy, and sometimes our bumper sticker theologies just don't quite cut it in answering the deeper questions of life. Outsiders can see right through our cheesy cliches, and quite frankly they make us seem highly nonintellectual because they refuse to address the depth of life.

Ok, so back to the book...

The first two chapters set up this pandemic problem facing the Church in America (and presumably other places in the world as well). Chapters 3-8, then address some of these issues in depth. At the end of each chapter, some major leaders in the Church today weigh in on the issues presented. This was a nice addition to the book and certainly provided some insightful teaching from people who have been in the trenches of ministry for quite some time. 

Chapter 4 entitled "Get Saved!" addresses the feeling outsiders have that Christians do not desire real and meaningful relationships with them, but rather view them as "projects" that need to be "worked on" until they accept the Christian's dogmatic faith. That just sucks...but again...is it really that far from the truth?

Like I said, the book was semi-depressing. I didn't really enjoy reading it in the moment, but in the end I was glad I read it. Chapter 9 entitled "From unChristian to Christian" approached some solutions to this obvious problem facing the Church's relevance, voice, and future in the world today, the most notable solution being, in essence: MAYBE IT"S TIME THAT WE START LIVING AND TREATING PEOPLE THE WAY CHRIST DID!!! Brilliant. The book concludes with some encouraging words from today's Church leaders about their vision and hope for the future of the Church in America.

Overall, I thought Kinnaman and Lyons did an exceptional job with their research, and it was clear that their hearts were to help, encourage and improve the Church, rather than to tear it down. 

I give the book a B+, merely because it hurt to read at times and failed to give me any warm fuzzies at any point in my reading (highly subjectional and ridiculous, I know!!!).

Introspection on Israel: Part IV

Day 2: Opening Session

Saturday evening was the opening session of the GYI Conference, which took place at our hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Jerusalem. We opened the session with a time of worship, and I must say I caught a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven the minute our group of 250 people from 56 different countries around the world began to unite our hearts in worship of our Creator. It was a powerful experience, and it set the tone for the rest of the week as God began to move in my heart and mind in that moment.

Dann Spader, former president and founder of Son Life Ministries and current president of Global Youth Initiative was the speaker that night. His message was simple, yet profound and powerful. He began with this question: "What is it going to take...to see a movement of God among the youth of the globe?" This, I soon learned, would be the entire focus of the conference--to spark disciple-making movements all around the world. Exciting stuff.

Dann pointed us toward what he saw as three imperatives for such movements to begin:

1. An increased commitment to "walk as Jesus walked."

I'll never forget this quote: "Jesus did not come to reach the world but to raise up disciples to reach the world."

2. A growing coalition of passionate leaders who:

-pray with focus

-encourage each other

-tell stories of what God is doing

3. A willingness to step out in GREAT FAITH. 

Dann identified five kinds of faith: no faith (Mark 4:40), broken faith (Malachi 2), little faith (Matt. 9:29), growing faith (1 Pt. 1:7), and great faith (Luke 7:9). He shared his own desire for God to commend him someday for displaying this kind of great faith, and he also shared passionately that it will take great faith if we are to ever see movements of God among the youth of the globe.

Finally, Dann shared with us what he called the GRAND IMPERATIVE...

WE NEED A FRESH ENCOUNTER WITH THE RISEN CHRIST!

Amen, brother. A-men.

Introspection on Israel: Part III

Day 2: The Old City

The morning and afternoon of the second day was free time to just travel around Jerusalem. Robert, Adrienne, and I decided to go check out the Old City, which is within the original ancient walls of Jerusalem in Jesus' day. Here are some of the highlights...

This is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Pretty much anywhere something important in Jesus' life is believed to have occurred, the Catholics have come along and built a huge church. This is where many Catholics believe Jesus was crucified.

Inside the church, this is where it is believed that Jesus' body was laid and prepared for burial. The Catholics come here and kiss the rock. They also often wipe the rock with a cloth because they believe the rock contains healing power which can be transferred into their cloth. Hmmm...not sure I'm buying that one...

Some interesting veggies in the marketplace. Can't say that I tried the pink cauliflower.

Walking through the marketplace.

We found these mangy cats, which Adrienne couldn't help but play with. In unrelated news, she later contracted 30 life-threatening diseases known only to be carried by Jerusalem street cats.

In the words of John Mayer, "I wanna run through the halls of my high school, I wanna scream at the top of my lungs!"

We snuck into this school ground and got this sweet view of the Dome of the Rock.

Some of the churches along the Via Dolorosa (Way of Suffering).

My first camel experience...with the only camel in Jerusalem! More from him later...

I hope you're enjoying the pics, but stay tuned because coming soon I will begin sharing some of the incredible things we learned during our conference...

Introspection on Israel: Part II

Day 1: Touring the Land

We arrived at the conference a day early for the pre-conference tour that involved the Israel/Jordan border, Mt. Arbel, Galilee, Capernaum, and Nazareth.  We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words, so instead of writing thousands of words here are a few shots of what we saw...

Looking into the land of Israel from the highway separating Israel and Jordan. It's no wonder the Israelites didn't want to conquer this land...I mean, where's all the milk and honey?!

Standing on Mt. Arbel, with Upper Galilee down below.

Robert, Adrienne, Me, and Terry on Mt. Arbel, with the Sea of Galilee in the background.

Looking out across the Sea of Galilee during a boat ride...contemplating all the miracles that took place here, including Jesus and Peter walking on water (Matt. 14:22-33) and Jesus calming the storm (Matt. 8:23-27).

The temple in Capernaum where Jesus began his ministry, reading the Messianic prophecy from Isaiah 61.

The Apostle Peter's house in Capernaum, converted to a church in the latter part of the 1st century A.D.

Becoming friends with a donkey in Nazareth. Also, the site of the quote of the day..."That's a really nice donkey"...spoken by none other than myself.

Good times...a great day. The highlight of the day was definitely the view from the top of Mt. Arbel. From there, we could see the setting for nearly 2/3 of Jesus' entire ministry. Incredible...

Introspection on Israel: Part I

I've been back from the Promised Land for about a day and a half now.  My apologies to those of you who were looking forward to hearing updates while I was gone...the internet wasn't as accessible as I originally anticipated.  However, be prepared for a barrage of posts in the days to come, as there is much to share about the life change that I experienced in the past week.

Before I get to the specifics of what was so life-changing about this trip, I'll just start this post series by explaining a little bit of what this trip was all about.  I went with my two Youth Ministry profs. from Bethel, Dr. Terence "T-Money" Linhart and (soon-to-be-Dr.) Robert Brandt, two of the coolest guys on the planet, and also a fellow Youth Min. student from Bethel, Adrienne "Adri-Anne" Searer, a pretty cool cat herself.  We were heading into the trip one man down, as my best buddy Justin "Preppie" Romine had to leave our team at the last minute because of an emergency appendectomy.  

I digress...

The conference was put on by an organization called Global Youth Initiative (GYI).  Their mission is "equipping young leaders for movements of multiplication."  This conference, then, was a gathering of over 250 youth leaders from 56 countries around the globe coming together under this common mission and purpose.  I can now certainly say that it is something special to experience such a unity among leaders from different countries and organizations all around the world.  One of GYI's main goals is to connect like-minded organizations and leaders who follow Christ's model for starting disciple-making movements so that they might work together as one team in the Kingdom of God. Sounds pretty awesome, huh?

Besides having two general sessions a day in which we learned more about issues relating to multiplying disciples, we also spent several hours each day touring the sights of the Holy Land. The combination of learning about Christ's model for ministry and then bringing to life the actual physical places in which Jesus' ministry took place was somewhat overwhelming and truly life-changing. I think I will be processing all that I saw and experienced for many months and maybe years to come.

So hold onto your hats as I take you through the transformational journey that began in my heart and life just a week ago...

Off to the Motherland!!!

More like the Holy Land, I guess...

That's right, I leave tomorrow morning for the (not so) peaceful nation of Israel. I'll try to keep this baby updated with some pics and stories from the trip, depending on what kind of internet access I have over there. I'd appreciate your prayers while I'm gone.

More to come...

Quote of the Day

As Seth and I were heading out to lunch today, we heard Rush Limbaugh say this:

"Is it just me, or is Hillary Clinton looking more and more like a women's basketball coach everyday?"

This got me doing a little research. What do you think?

A striking resemblance--yes. But I'd have to say that the biggest difference between Pat Summitt and Hillary is that Pat knows how to win!  Oh snap!  I said it!

Just Call Me Emeril

Thursday night was a pretty momentous occasion in my life. My parents had just taken off for a cruise, and I was left with a bachelor pad for the week. As dinner time approached, I was hit with the reality that no meal would be set before me unless I myself prepared it. In the past, a situation like this would have left me with a no-brainer. Can you say frozen pizza? I'll have to admit that, again, I was tempted to go the lazy and seriously unhealthy route of pounding about a dozen frozen pizzas this week. I actually got a Jack's pizza out of the freezer and began to preheat the oven, but then, as if struck by a bolt of lightning, I decided that maybe it was time to change before I got ridiculously fat and out of shape. I opened the freezer again, and this time I found some shrimp and a bag of broccoli and cauliflower. I was determined to make the best and healthiest meal in the history of bachelorhood. I started to stir fry the shrimp and veggies, but I wanted to add a little something for flavor. One thing I learned in China is that any vegetable (even broccoli!) is good when it's cooked in garlic. So I chopped up a garlic clove and "BAM!" (just call me Emeril)...tossed it into the pan with the shrimp and veggies. To add to my delicious meal I cooked some rice (Uncle Ben's Instant Rice) and then doused the whole meal with a little Asian zing called Mae Ploy sauce. 

To be honest with you, the meal was good, not great, but it wasn't the meal itself that mattered so much as what it represented in my life.  A turning point...the turning of a new leaf, if you will. No longer would I be held hostage by Spaghettios and frozen pizzas for the rest of my bachelor life. I can actually cook (or attempt to), and I can actually eat healthy. Time will tell whether this is just a phase or a new way of life...

In Unrelated News...

Later that night I went to play some intramural basketball at Bethel, and something didn't feel right. Before our second game, my stomach began hurting. I realized just in time what was happening and rushed for the toilet. What I experienced next was one of the most forceful and awful pukes from way deep down in my stomach that I had ever experienced. All those shrimp and veggies came right back up. What a waste...

Ok, so maybe I'm not the best cook in the world yet, but even Emeril had to start somewhere, right?

When Theology Gets Messy

The other night I got home around 10pm to find my parents at the bottom of the stairs trying to figure out a way to get my dad upstairs. That might sound kind of weird, but that's the reality my dad is faced with everyday. Because of the cancer in his spinal chord, and the fact that the radiation zapped his back into a mere shell of weakened bones that can barely support the weight of his body, everyday tasks that used to be no problem have become...well...a BIG problem. My dad's having a hard enough time walking, let alone climbing stairs.

So here's my mom, more or less attempting to carry my dad up the stairs, without much luck...and then there's my dad, writhing in pain because with each step the raw nerves in his back are shooting torturous jolts throughout his entire body.

My parents gave up right as I was walking through the door. My mom gently helped my dad to his chair, and he sat down to rest for a while. They wept bitterly together.

Finally, they mustered the strength again, and as my dad's back spasms calmed down he was able to crawl up the stairs into bed, where he typically found some relaxation and comfort from the pain. This night was different, though.

Just moments after my dad reached his bed, I heard him crying out in excruciating pain. My mom rushed to get me, and she said, "Dad needs you now. We need to pray." Together we fell down at the side of the bed, lay hands on my dad, and for quite some time the three of us cried out to God.

"Lord, you say that if we ask anything in your name, we will receive it...and Jesus, we are asking you to relieve my dad's pain now!" I cried. "You are the Great Healer...send a Spirit of healing!"

Nothing happened.

"God, don't forsake me now!" my dad wailed. "I need you!"

Nothing happened.

This went on for quite some time, and as I kneeled there next to my dad's bed, for a split second I was caught up in my own thoughts, almost as if I was entirely removed from the situation before me. Three things crossed my mind in that instant.

My first thought was how surreal this moment really was. The pain I literally felt flowing through my dad's body was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was like he was being repeatedly stabbed in the back. I knew I had never known such pain.

My second thought was how inadequate I was at praying. I soon ran out of words to say...I felt helpless.

And finally, I realized how messy theology really is. I spent four years at a Christian college trying to pack my theology nice and neat into a box, only to realize in that one moment next to my dad's bed that so many of my "simple answers" about God meant so little when it came down to the complex realities of this world. My theology has a big smiley face on it that says, "God loves you, and everything will work out if you trust in Him!" Sure, I still believe that, but I think it's a lot more messy than that. God loves us, but we live in a fallen world. God is sovereign, but sometimes he allows us to live in pain. That's the reality we all live in.

I can't explain to you theologically why God didn't bring healing to my dad as we prayed that night. And I suppose I don't have to...God can defend Himself. What I would say, though, is that we must always be careful not to put parameters around God. Sure, it's good to study the Scriptures about God and to get to know Him more, but if all of our studies in theology bring us to pots of gold at the end of the rainbow or to neat little boxes with ribbons on top, then I think we have entirely missed the mark.

Life is messy...so it shouldn't surprise us when our theology is, too.

Lessons in Short-Term Missions (India Part 2)

The Research

My first short-term mission trip was to Ecuador in the summer of 2002, in between my junior and senior year of high school. Interestingly enough, my future youth ministry prof. and close friend, Terry Linhart, came along with our team on that trip to do some on-sight research on the effectiveness of short-term missions for his doctoral studies.  A book and several published articles later, Terry has put together some cutting-edge research on the topic.

In his article "If We Send Them, They Will Grow...Maybe," published in The Journal of Student Ministries, Linhart, along with co-researchers Kara Powell, Dave Livermore, and Brad Griffin make  the bold statement that Short-Term Mission Trips (STMs) do not necessarily guarantee life change for the students who participate. They identify five components of effective STMs, namely:

1. Focus--helping students prepare emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and relationally.

2. Action-Reflection--helping students accurately interpret their experiences.

3. Support-Feedback--assisting students in their learning as it takes place.

4. Debrief--reflecting on the experiences of the trip as the students prepare to return home.

5. Learning Transfer--helping students make what they learned on the STM a part of their daily lives back home.

The research here suggests that a STM experience in and of itself will not necessarily provide long-term change in the lives of students. This think tank of researchers concludes that as leaders we must be very thoughtful in how we approach STMs and in how we encourage students to process everything that they are experiencing.  I couldn't agree more.

My Experiences

Going into my trip to India, I didn't really think about it as a STM experience.  In fact, I really didn't have much time to think about anything going into this trip.  I joined the India team merely 3 weeks before we left.  Therefore, my preparation for the trip was very much a blur.  Because of this, I probably skipped more than one or two of these five components to effective STM experiences.  Now, I certainly wouldn't suggest doing that, but as I have looked back and reflected on the trip (my attempt at learning transfer), I have come to the conclusion that it was probably my most impacting overseas experience.  More so than the week I spent in Ecuador, or in Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, or even the 3 months I spent in China!  At first, this conclusion puzzled me...why did India impact me so much more than any of the other trips I had experienced?  

The answer...relationships.

I made more meaningful relationships with the native people on this trip than I ever had before on any trip.  In 9 days, I made more connections with Indian people than I had in 3 months with the Chinese people!  One of my prayers going into this trip was that I would be clothed with the love of Christ.  It's hard to explain, but in a supernatural way I was able to love those people with a love that I myself had never known and had certainly never been able to express to others.  And in the same way, I felt that love returned back to me from so many of the Indian people that I met.

As I assess STMs and the experiences I have had, I have come to the conclusion that one of the greatest gifts we can give to students on STMs is an opportunity to intertwine their hearts with the hearts of people from all around the world.  Students definitely go into these trips prepared to give a piece of their hearts to someone. Unfortunately, often times we as leaders don't give them opportunities to love on the native people, so they end up throwing their hearts at the cutest guy or girl on their team (can you say mission trip hook-up?).  It happens all the time.  What a waste of a trip and an opportunity to experience the diversity of the Kingdom of God.  I am convinced, though, that if students are given the opportunities to connect with people from other countries on STMs, they will leave forever changed by the relationships they have built.

I leave you with a few pictures of the life-changing relationships I built while in India.

This is Jhumki.  She's 5 years old.  She stole my heart on this trip. 

The short guy on my right is Ibrahim.  He's currently working in Bhutan, one of the most closed countries to the Gospel in the world.  He risks his life every day for the sake of Christ.  I received an email from him today saying that he's praying for me and my ministry here. Wow...humbling...

 This is Sreejan.  He's about my  age, and he's a stud cricket player.  Sreejan lives in Orissa, an Indian province where the demonic strongholds of Hinduism are very evident through acts of human sacrifice (often babies or teens) to "the gods of the soils," and where churches are burned and Christians are often killed for their faith.  Sreejan has a heart of gold, and he's truly searching for what God would have him do with his life.  I suggested that he might be well fit for vocational ministry, to which Sreejan replied, "I could never pursue ministry for the Lord unless God Himself calls me to it."  I wonder how many fewer pastors we'd have in the U.S. if we all had such strong conviction about God's calling as Sreejan did!!!

These are my guys--Rahul, Bunty, George, Vishal, Johnson, and Pratik!  I love these guys!!!

That's all for now.  Much, much more to come!

Why I Love Macs...

About 9 months ago I officially became a Mac guy.  It was then that I dumped my dying Gateway laptop and joined the 21st century with a Mac PowerBook.  My buddy and partner in crime over here at St. Mark, Seth Bartlette, a recent Mac convert at the time, was very instrumental in my exodus from the world of PCs to the Mac world.  I had often heard that once you go Mac, you never go back.  So true...

Here are a few reasons why I love my Mac:

1) Compatibility.  All of the Mac programs, such as iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, etc. are all seamlessly linked together, allowing me to work across several programs at once with ease.  Macs are also highly compatible with other non-Mac programs and devices.

2) Wireless Capabilities.  The minute I enter an area with a wireless network, my Mac recognizes it and connects.  

3) Widgets.  These make it easy to keep up on the weather, sports scores, etc.

4) Spaces.  When I get working on several things at once, spaces allows me to use 4 full desktops.  With my PowerBook currently hooked up with an external monitor, my Spaces double, giving me the capability to use 8 desktops at once.  I can't imagine ever needing 8 desktops, but it's still cool to know that if I need them, they're there!

5) Design.  Macs just look cool...enough said.

6) Parallels.  With this program I can still run necessary Microsoft programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on my Mac.

7) Garage Band.  This program allows you to mix your own sweet tunes or even record yourself.  We've started recording our youth services--both the messages and worship--with Garage Band.

8) Graphics.  Macs are well known for their creative capabilities with graphic design.  I don't know how to do any of that stuff yet, but I can imagine how cool it would be if I did!

9) Keynote.  The Mac version of PowerPoint...only better!

10) Time Machine.  I saved this one for last because this is my new favorite reason why I love Macs.  A brief story will best explain my love for Time Machine.

Basically, Time Machine works as a back-up for my entire computer.  My Time Machine is connected to my 500 GB external hard drive.  Every hour, on the hour, Time Machine more or less takes a snapshot of my entire hard drive and saves it.  Now, say for instance I've been working on a project since March of last year.  I've made countless changes along the way, but here in February I decide that I would like to see the project exactly as it was on November 7, 2007 at 1:00pm.  I simply click on the project and then open Time Machine.  Then, as pictured below, Time Machine would allow me to go back to the project as it was at that very moment several months ago.  Very cool...

Well, this whole concept became even more valuable to me last week.  As I was uploading my pictures and videos from India, I suddenly received a notice that I had mistakenly maxed out my internal hard drive.  Before I could stop the upload, my hard drive crashed, losing EVERYTHING.  You'd think that this would cause me to hate Macs, but this is where Time Machine comes in.  I was able to simply go back and restore my entire hard drive just the way it had been merely an hour before the crash.  Literally everything, from all my documents all the way down to my desktop picture and screensaver were exactly the way they had been before.

The Bottom Line: I love Time Machine, and I love Macs even more!

Why I Hate Credit Card Companies...

Today I called up my friendly CitiCard credit card company to dispute a charge on my account for the second time in as many months.  The FREAKING SCAM ARTISTS at emusic.com (I dislike them even more than I do credit card companies) got a hold of my credit card information and have been charging me for monthly music downloads which I have not been receiving, nor have any desire to receive.  Ok, so the truth is it's partly my fault.  You see, I received in the mail one of those ads promising 25 free music downloads with "no risk required."  Well, the "no risk required" was that I had to plug in my credit card information, and as my greed would have it, I foolishly complied, the result being these monthly fees for a service for which I never signed up.  I also never even received the 25 free downloads in the first place!  A lose-lose-lose situation, in the words of Michael Scott.  

Well, the first time I contacted CitiCard, they informed me that they were unable (or unwilling) to dispute my claim.  Strike #1 against them and their (un)customer (dis)service.  This time, however, they finally agreed to dispute the monthly fees from eMusic.  At which point their (un)customer (dis)service rep. tried offering me a "free" and "no risk" trial of some service for which I was not in the least interested.  Of course, after the "risk free" 30 days came a huge monthly fee...blah blah blah...you get the picture.

So I immediately turned down the offer, at which point the rep. continued badgering me.  She wanted to know why I would turn down "such a great offer!"

Here's the irony of the situation (and the reason why I hate credit card companies).  I was calling to dispute a charge from some bogus company that had offered me "free" services but then charged my butt off...and after helping me dispute this very claim, this lady with the credit card company was attempting to suck me into the same game.  Credit card companies thrive off of these games.  They offer "free" services, but then they know that they can get you caught up into paying outrageous monthly fees when you fail to unsubscribe to their services.  This lady actually told me in her spiel that "she was on my side" and she was "there to help me."  A comforting thought, but entirely untrue.  Credit card companies are there for one reason and one reason only--to screw us!

So there you have it--that's why I HATE CREDIT CARD COMPANIES!!!

But You're Cool?!?! (India Part 1)

It's hard to believe, but a week ago at this time I was still thousands of miles away in India, a country that truly captured my heart in just the few days that I was there.  In the past week, I've had plenty of time to reflect on my time in India and to really process all that I experienced.  Among other things, I learned a lot about myself during this time of reflection.  In the days to come, I want to express some of these thoughts, not just for the faithful one or two of you (literally) who might check out my blog, but also to help myself continue to sort through and clarify the thoughts in my own head.  So without further ado, I take you to the story of the first impactful event that happened to me on the India trip...before I ever reached India!

Our first flight was from Detroit to Frankfurt, Germany--about a 9 hour trip.  Now I'm not exactly the friendliest flyer in the world.  Once, on a 13 hour flight from Detroit to Tokyo a couple years ago, I read a book the entire time and literally didn't say a word to the person seated next to me.  This flight, I figured, would be no different.  I sat down next to a young Indian man, and for the first 7 1/2 hours of the flight neither of us spoke to each other.  He slept most of the time, while I was engrossed in a book, Revolution in World Missions, written by Gospel for Asia's president K.P. Yohannan.  The book was inspiring, to say the least, as Yohannan shared GFA's vision for the Gospel to be taken to all of Asia, including some of the hardest to reach tribal regions in India.  Yohannan shared that most American Christians say they believe the Bible, but yet rarely does he find a Western Christian who truly lives out the biblical mandates, most notably the Great Commission (see Matt. 28:18-20).  Yohannan shared of the outpouring of the Spirit throughout Asia, and how resources were desperately needed to train and send out native pastors and evangelists to reap the harvest.  The more I read, the more my heart was stirred.

So for 7 1/2 hours, I sat...

...and I read...

...and I did nothing.

Then, as if a light suddenly popped on in my spiritually slow brain, I realized that God had given me an incredible opportunity to share about His Son with the man sitting next to me.  So I struck up a conversation with Naresh, a 25-year old computer-techy who had just finished a 6 month internship in Detroit and was heading back to his home in Hyderabad, India.  I told Naresh that I, too, was headed for India, and that I wanted to learn everything I could about India before I got there.  I picked his brain about Indian culture and customs, politics, family life, and finally, religion.  I took an interest in Naresh's life, and I honestly cared to learn as much about him as possible.  The Spirit was moving as we talked.  

Naresh asked me about what I did for a living, and I initially told him that I was a "youth worker."  Honestly, my first thought was that if I told him I was a pastor he was going to notify the authorities in India, and they would send me home the minute I got there.  Pretty silly, I know.  Well, as our conversation progressed, I began to ask Naresh more and more about Hinduism.  He was a Hindu, but honestly I probably knew more about Hinduism than he did.  He was a Hindu more by culture than by real practice (remind you of any Christians you know?).  

Finally, Naresh asked me about my religion.  I began to share with him about Christianity.  I asked him if he knew anything about it, but he knew very little.  He had seen a few Benny Hinn-like characters on TV, but that was about it.  I began to walk Naresh through the story of Christianity, from creation to the fall...to our need for a Savior...to Christ.  I could tell that Naresh was soaking in my words.  The power of the Spirit was truly speaking through me, and before I knew it I was in "preacher mode."  The funny thing is, as little Naresh knew about Christianity, he could smell a preacher from a mile away.  At one point, he finally said, "You're a preacher, aren't you?"  I admitted that I was, and without missing a beat he exclaimed, "But You're Cool?!?!"  He was shocked that a pastor could be young and "cool" like me.  I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head as I realized that the preachers he had seen on TV in India were presumably as dry and boring as our American televangelists.

I continued to share with Naresh the Truth, as I knew it, and I asked him if he believed what I had said.  He was very hesitant, and I could tell that he was pretty confused.  He began to share that he felt that we all have our own "path"--a very Hinduistic belief, and also not very far off from the relativistic thinking prevalent in our culture today.  His motto was "live and let live."  He believed that there were many "truths."  At which point, I pulled my best Chad Meister impression and shared with him about the Law of Non-Contradiction, namely that two antithetical propositions cannot both be true [ie. Jesus is the only way to God (a) and there are other ways to God (-a)].  Naresh was intrigued by this idea of absolute truth--he had never thought about that before!

In the end, I'd love to say that Naresh gave his life to Christ.  

He didn't.

BUT...I was able to give him a Bible, and he was so appreciative.  He promised to read it, and I think he truly wanted to learn more about Christ.  He gave me his email address, and I plan on keeping in touch with him.  What an incredible start to my trip that was!  The Spirit gave me a boldness that continued on for the rest of my trip, and I was truly encouraged by my experience with Naresh.

And that was just the beginning...