Home

I love to travel.  Every place has new sights to see, interesting food to taste, and delightful people to meet, but there is no place like home.  There are places where I have lived and experienced a part of my life.  Those places created a part of me of who I am.  Home isn’t where you hang your hat.  It’s where you hang your heart.

I grew up in Daytona Beach Florida.  I was able to visit Daytona this last week and reconnect with a great friend.  Daytona is known for a racetrack, a beach on which you can drive any car, and Spring Break, but the real identity in my hometown is in friendships.  Only a few of my friends remain in Daytona, but no matter where we live today we are still connected.  Daytona may be small in population and acreage, but the friendships, peace, and memories are as large as the Atlantic Ocean that borders the town.

Home contains people who are there for you.  Home contains a place where you can use your talents and gifts to make the world a better place.  Home is where you can influence the most important people to you in your life.  Home is where you can grow and thrive, and everything in your hometown creates a space for you to thrive.

Home provides peace.  It’s not easy to be peaceful in a community that is contentious, so we need to provide peace. 

Home extends beyond family that is blood.  It’s family made up of people who love and care about you.  It’s a family that accepts you with all of your quirks, as you accept others with all of their quirks.  It’s a family that loves and accepts people no matter what they believe, because love covers over so much.

I love to travel.  I have come to realize that I love the people that I meet when I travel or the people that get to reconnect with in life that makes my travelling so much better. A home is made up of people. People are great and flawed, but every home has its best and worst parts.  Home.  There is no place like it. 

Risk

 A few years ago, a pastor challenged us to “Name our year.”  We were to name it to something we wanted to achieve throughout the year.  I’ve been optimistic, but cautious.  I named my years “adventure,” “Dreams,” etc.  This year I jumped.  This year with everything swirling around me, I took on the word, “RISK.”  When I took the word I realized how cautious I really am. 

When I took on the word, “risk,” I didn’t mean skydiving, bunging jumping, deep sea diving, or even cliff diving.  I meant to take a real risk in my life and do life with dares.  It means taking a risk with my writing. It is with our deepest passions that we must take that first step and share with the world our talents and gifts. 

I must risk the laughter, the negative comments, the criticism, the backlash, and even the idea that some people will gossip.  It’s fine.  These are the symptoms of their own fears.  It’s easier to hide behind the screen of criticism to someone who risks rather than take that jump first.  It’s easier to scream that a person is horrible rather than face our own imperfections. 

With all the fears aside, it is time that I jump. Instead of standing on the edge of the cliff looking down at the water below, I must take that leap of faith.  Rocks may attack me on my way down and scratch me a bit, but the landing in the water will be exhilarating.  So, I’m not over thinking.  I’m taking a risk.  I’m going to jump.  I will live my passions and not let fear keep me from them. The world is waiting.  I need to live my passions and live life to the fullest.  I need to serve others and love with extreme grace even when others don’t give it in return.   My encouragement is to take a risk and live your passions.  The world is waiting for you to jump.   

The Church

 The church has hurt me, and in my journey of healing from the hurt, I have continued to go to church, and even started loving it again.  The church has been blemished and has a dark spot in recent history.  Many people are leaving the church with anger and bitterness because of the lack of compassion and love.  They may be right with their information, but for the past two weeks I was reminded that the church, with all its flaws is one big family and if we all come together as a family compassion, grace, and love will become a valuable part of the church again. 

The church would be perfect if there were no people.  Think about it.  People make it messy.  The pastor gets up every week and speaks.  Every week someone emails him and lets him know that there were flaws in his message.  The pastor is just frustrated that three people left early with their baseball jerseys on, the baby in the back kept squealing, and he’s pretty sure someone snored during the most important part of his message.  If there were no people, then his message would be brilliant; however, the church is not a building.  The church is the people.  It’s one big messed up family. 

This last week was like going back to a family reunion.  No family is perfect.  Every family is flawed and many families try to hide the flaws.  The church is discovering that we need to stop hiding our flaws and begin fixing them.  The people who can help the most with making the changes the church needs are those of us who have been hurt.  We can be bitter and post negative news about the church, or we can get our hands dirty and go to church and begin the healing.  It will take time.  It will take work.  It can be done. 

For the past two weeks I was travelling and visiting with friends from National Bible Bowl (Bible quiz teams) and friends from Christian college.  We reminisced, ate food, laughed, and enjoyed each other.  Time had not passed since our college days.  The church met this last week in a large room with encouragement from speakers and worship, but the church also met around dinner and lunch tables with laughter and joy.  The church doesn’t just meet on Sunday gatherings, but when two or three are gathered together with Jesus bring us all together in the center of it all. 

The church within those walls had grace and love.  As I sat with strong healthy leaders in a small group, there was no condemnation, but encouragement that discouraged leaders so desperately needed.  The church movement that prided itself on fellowship and numbers has grown to understand that many of our church leaders become discouraged and walk away from ministry and some from God.  It is now growing to train and encourage those discouraged leaders, not just for the churches, but also for the individual leaders to love God and the family of God. 

No family is perfect.  No church is perfect.  No person is perfect.  Our world will become a better place when we all recognize that.  The church has wounded many and it’s time that it begins to heal.  The church needs and can do better.  We don’t have to believe the same as everyone else, but we can respect and love one another.

The church has flaws because it has people.  The people are flawed, but the people are also beautiful.  Time has passed, but our friendships have strengthened. The church doesn’t have four walls.  Those four walls are broken down when people all over the world come together in small parts and unite.  Flawed people with quirks, sins, and hope that the world can be a better place come together and give love.  If you want the church to change and become better, then go into one and be the change you want to see.  It will take time and work, but it can be done. I want to be a part of a revolution and not look back and wonder what it would have been like if I had been a part of it.   The church is messy because of people, but the church can heal and change because of the love and grace of Jesus. 

Nerds for Jesus

Nerds for Jesus

For the past couple of summers I have explained to people what I am doing for the summer.   I tell people that I volunteer my time with the nerdiest group of people.  They laugh but I have their interest.  I then explain that I volunteer with a Bible quiz ministry and friends who are both Christian and non-Christian are impressed.  This ministry is more than a quiz game.  It encompasses friendships that lasts a lifetime, and for some of us, it is a church outside of the four walls of the churches we attend.

Teenagers all over America study a certain text for the entire school year and memorize it word for word.  Some memorize it better than others, but they know more than most people on staff in churches.   If this ministry were just about memorizing and knowledge, it wouldn’t be great.  It is so much more than that, and maybe that is what has it thriving in the last few years.

Before I entered my freshmen year of high school, I made a commitment.  I would no longer be invisible at school and church.  I would find a way to the beer parties, (Of course I thought I would not drink…um, yeah, that wouldn’t have lasted long.) and become part of the popular crowd at school and church, seeing how many of my church friends participated in those beer parties.  That summer at church camp, a girl encouraged me to join a Bible quiz team.  I wasn’t sold until she said that this is a ministry in which we get to travel.  That sold me.  The travelling got me in, but the friendships that I made and still have to this day thirty years later and the knowledge and understanding of the Bible are what held me in this ministry, in the church, and in the faith of Christ. 

This last week I observed teenagers serving others not to get accolades, but because they wanted to have others see Jesus.  Even the team that won Nationals, went around and cleaned all the classrooms we used for the week to burn off nervous energy before playing in the championship game.  For that, I’m extremely grateful because it was one less thing that the volunteers had to do when everyone left.  These young people are passionate, gracious, kind, and goofy.  They are teenagers, so I know some of their coaches will question how they survive, but in the end, they can see the fruit of all their hard work. 

People in this ministry may enjoy studying, reading, and memorizing, but they really enjoy God’s presence most.  I heard it in their prayers. In their prayers, they just talked to God. I observed it in their friendships, conversations, and service. When you are in God’s Word, His word resonates in all aspects of your life.  They have embodied Psalm 119:11, “Your Word I have treasured in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”  With an understanding of God’s Word, they are able to conquer mountains that stand in their way.  It is my hope and prayer that they will know and see that any mountain can be conquered with God.

In the world of business, the nerds rule the world.  Maybe, in the church, it is the same.  If more leaders in the church could know and understand what these young people know and understand in the Bible, maybe our churches would not be struggling today to gain respect.  We can learn from young people.  They teach me all the time.  These young people have humility, grace, faith, and strive to learn more about the Bible.  These aspects would guide our churches to be strong and healthy. Nerds need to lead our churches. Congratulations to all of the teams of the 2017-2018 season of National Bible Bowl.  May we all be nerds and study the Word of God so that it is not misused.  Maybe it isn’t nerdy, but it is worthy.  Maybe we all need to serve and show God’s grace no matter what our occupation or our role in life.  Maybe just maybe, the church can look at who is invisible and see the visibility of Christ.

Travelling is an Adventure

Travelling Is An Adventure

Normal people travel and have absolutely no glitches.  They have obviously never travelled with me.  In youth ministry, the countless times the church van left us at our camp in the mountains or in the desert created stories forever.   Along with the fact that I once almost flew the Bible Bowl quiz team to the wrong city, my students learned quickly that if they travel with me, we would not travel in a straight line. Travelling teaches us lessons and if we take the time to learn, it can be life changing.

I always try to do something that the locals would do…visit Wal-Mart.  The truth is I always forget something that Wal-Mart can provide, which is ironic because I do not pack light.  As I walk through stores and observe the items and customers, I realize that people have different cultural ways but the same pursuit in life.  We all want the best.  We all want to present our best to others, even when our best might be questionable to others around us. Sometimes, we all just want to get to the cashier before the lady with the cart full of stuff does. 

They tell us on mission trips to eat the food means you have accepted the culture of the people, so I always try to eat what is unique to that part of the area.  Food can be adventurous, even in America.  When we stay with what is comfortable, we miss out on what can teach us a new way of life.

The beauty of America is noted when you drive through areas that you have never seen or have not seen in a while.  I forget how green the rest of America since I live in Southern California and brown land surrounds me.  Sometimes you have to look beyond the rows of trees and remember that it is land where wars were fought and where moonshiners created their own wars within their territories. 

Travelling should be an adventure.  See what others do.  Eat what others eat.  Go without worrying about getting lost.  Enjoy the extra time in an airport with delays. Like the hand written directions that flew out the window (before GPS), trips never go as planned.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  From my travelling I have learned to trust God and others.  From travelling I have discovered that when plans do not go well, you actually do something better than you imagined.  When life begins to get interrupted and gets messy, I remember all the trips that got interrupted and messy and realize that in the end, it’s those times that we speak of the most.  So, sometimes I need to remember to plan but be flexible and try something new.  It’s the only way to fly.