GroundZero

The Corner 3

// June 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // The Corner

Summer is here!  I don’t know how you guys feel, but it’s been a little bit of an up and down year, and I’m glad for a break from the regular daily grind of the school year.  I enjoyed teaching the adult class, but believe it or not I missed seeing you guys!  You sure keep me on my toes.

Now to something a little bit serious.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it really means to be a Christian.  What do mature believers look like?  What shapes the way they think and speak?  I definitely don’t have it all figured out, and probably never will, but I’ve come one conclusion - we usually make it way too hard. We worry so much about what we are supposed to do, or what we aren’t supposed to do.  We worry about all the little details that cause so much grief in churches today – what kind of music we like, what clothes to wear, or what church is the “best” church.  But in reality, it’s about one thing – Love.  I hate to be simplistic, but sometimes it is just best if we do.  Christ himself said that to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Then he went on to say “Love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s it.  Love God, Love Others.  He didn’t list laws and commands, or speak of having a daily quiet time, or going to CIY.  He just says love.  Everything hinges on this.  We must Love God and we must Love others.  The cool thing is this – when we Love God and Love others, the rest of those other things will take care of themselves.  When we truly love God we follow his commands and spend time with Him.  When we truly love others, we will naturally care for and sacrifice for all people, not just the people we like.

In the class I taught this spring we spent a lot of time studying God’s word, and the message it contained.  Above all else was Love.  No matter what God’s people did, he loved them.  No matter what the people who didn’t follow God did, He loved them.  Sure there were problems, and like any good father He disciplined those who didn’t follow, but no matter what He loved.  Imagine what a world ruled by love would look like – no wars, no power struggles, no more food distribution problems, no more crime.  That’s actually a little hard to imagine!

So what’s the lesson here?  I guess it’s pretty simple.  Love God, Love others.  That’s really what being a Christian is about.  Without love, it doesn’t matter what we say, or even what we do.  Take some time today to treat somebody with love the way Christ would.  Don’t judge, don’t make fun, just love.  Thanks for reading.

The Corner 2

// October 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // The Corner

From the depths of BVA’s brain we bring you The Corner 2!

It’s been too long!  The first thing I want to say is GO TO ICTC!  Every year it’s a ton of fun and well worth the time and cost.  The cost is $40 + three meals, but as an extra bonus this year if you have never been to ICTC the cost right now is only $20!  Considering the true cost is around $80 that is an incredible deal!

I recently was able to attend a retreat in Colorado, and believe me, Colorado is beautiful!  I was only there a few days and I feel like I could move there in an instant!  Lots of good things happened while I was there, but one thing in particular that I would like to share with you all.  My mentor for the weekend challenged myself and the rest of my group to pray this prayer: “God, what do You want to do in Your ministry today?” Basically that means that God needs to be in control, and that it is His ministry, not mine, or the churches, or anybody else’s, it’s His. That may sound like a no brainer, God should already be in control, but I had to think pretty hard about that – do I really let God be in charge?  Or would things pretty much just go on as normal if God were taken out of the picture?  I came to the conclusion that most of the time we (myself included) do what we want to do and then ask God to bless it.  I haven’t figured out what that means for the youth group of First Christian Church, but I’m pretty sure it means some things may change in the next few months – hopefully on prompting from God.

So what does that mean for you?  Is God in control of your life?  Or do you just do what you want hoping God will bless it?  I challenge you to everyday get up and pray this short prayer “God, what do You want to do in my life today?” You’ll find that you will act, speak, and even think differently when you truly let God have control.  I know I do!

The Corner 1

// September 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // The Corner

From the depths of BVA’s brain we bring you The Corner 1!

All Right!  Finally, a place where I can write whatever I want and it will be read by thousands of eager people, hanging on my every word!  Ok, maybe not thousands, but hopefully at least a few of you will take the time to read this.

I just got back from speaking at the Students For Christ group that meets every Wednesday after school.  The message I gave them wasn’t earth shattering, but it was a great reminder for all of us.  Mainly, I said that we make time for what’s important in our lives.  We spend time working on and practicing things we want to be good at – school, band, sports, video games, etc.  And yet when it comes to being a Christian we all too often think that just a couple of hours a week is enough.  It’s a common belief that if I go to church and youth group I have “done my duty,” or “paid my debt” and that’s good enough.  Let me be the first to say it’s not enough!  Just think if you only practiced your instrument two hours each week or only studied two hours each week (probably not too far off for some of you!).  We wouldn’t be very successful in those areas!  The performances would be very subpar, and your grades would suffer.  Even if you could slide by, the truth is you could be doing much better if you would only spend a little more time practicing.  Being a Christian is no different.  You have to work at it a little bit.  Going to Church and being involved is a big part of that.  Being part of youth group is another part.  But then there’s the rest of the week – what are you doing to practice and grow as being a Christian?

There are tons of options but I want to highlight two that absolutely anybody can do.  The first is this:  Read your Bible!  However you do it, whenever you do it, just read it!  Every day if you can!  If you don’t have one, ask me and I’ll get you one!  The second is Prayer.  I’m not saying you need to spend an hour everyday on your knees in your closet praying.  If you can do that good for you!  That’s awesome.  But most people can’t do that.  I’m saying you need to pray every day.  It can be short, long, out loud, silent, or how ever you prefer.  Just do it.  God wants to hear from you.  And believe it or not, you will hear from Him when you start praying.

I won’t sugar coat it for you.  Being a Christian isn’t always easy, but I do believe it’s well worth it.  It takes hard work, discipline, and time to get “good” at it, but in the end you will be glad you did.