“ Non-recyclableficated?”

Yesterday I wrote a little about what we are connected for. Today I want to focus on our commitment to that connection. It’s one thing to be connected to people in healthy family relationships, and a whole other thing to stay committed to those relationships.

Many people look at relationships like hotel staff. They wonder, what can you do for me? How much is it gonna cost? And do I really have to tip when I can carry my own bags myself? This may sound a little extreme, but I believe this is popular mindset in our culture regarding relationships. The what can you do for me/if you act up I’m gonna upgrade you mentality.

Just look at some popular tv shows in the past few years; Joe Millionaire, The Bachelor/Bachelorette, the fifth wheel, Next, etc. The only way any of those relationships last, is if the main partner is 100% completely satisfied. And the second they’re not...someone gets kicked off the show.

I’m so glad that we have a model of how relationships work from how God relates to us. The bible tells us that God will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. I hope and pray that we would be committed enough to be able to say that to people who really need to hear that...and then follow through with it.

At THIRST, we don’t believe in disposable relationships. And since we don’t practice disposable relationships, I'm not up on the current terminology. But I like to say our relationships are.. non-recyclableficated?

“Connect For”

So lately I’ve been focusing on our campus ministry values, which happens to be an acronym that spells out our name...THIRST. This week I wanna primarily look at the letter H, which stands for Healthy Families.

Now I think I was a little to young to actually get into this show, but I looked it up online the other day and watched a full episode of The Lone Ranger. I’ve heard so many people refer to this show, but never seen it. I got caught off guard, cause I noticed something. The Lone Ranger had a side-kick! His name was Tonto. Maybe someone in hollywood read the part of the bible when it said, “It’s not good for man to be alone.”

I don’t believe God designed humans to live life alone. If he did...we’d probably grow in cocoons. And I’m not just talking God’s plan for natural families, but also for spiritual family. No matter what kind of family background you come from, there are other people out there in the world who God wants to connect you to. At one time, Jesus connected one of His followers to His mother. He said, mother this is your son, brother this is your mother. Even though they both had great healthy natural family relationships, there was still a need for them to be connected to a broader group of people.

I once heard someone say, “If you find your people, you find your purpose.” Me, I just like being connected to people who are called to do similar things that I feel called to. What do you connect for?

“Emagination”

I can’t believe it’s been 10 days since I’ve blogged. I guess I need to reread my old blogs about time management! Anywho, I’ve been thinking a lot about our campus values, especially “The Gospel Expressed” one. In my previous blogs, I wrote about how we can uniquely EXPRESS the gospel, with the individual gifts that God has EQUIPPED us with. Today I want to write about our Emagination.

Now yes, I know how to spell imagination. I just wanted to give you an opportunity to use your imagination! (also cause it looks cool to have all my points start with the letter E)

Seriously though, I think that sometimes as Christians, we limit our creativity because of tradition, fear of failure, or sheer laziness. We shouldn’t be afraid to use our Emagination. Think about it. That’s how the bible started out! “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.” God used His Emagination to create something from nothing. Imagination is the faculty or action of forming new ideas, images, concepts of external objects not present to the senses. How can you present the Gospel in ways that have yet to be acknowledged by our senses?

I love tradition, as long as I know the why behind it. But we shouldn’t do things the same way just because it’s always been done like that before. If we’re gonna reach people that no one is reaching, we gotta do things no one is doing. I’m not encouraging anyone to reinvent the wheel. Just make it better. Just use your God given Emagination.

“The Polarized Express”

Continuing on the letter T for “The Gospel Expressed”, I believe we all have a unique expression when it comes to communicating who God is and what He’s done. On the last blog, I talked about how everyone has a gift and talent that comes naturally to them that was placed there by God. And I think we should use them to express the Gospel.

The key is being yourself. We’re called to express, not impress. As Paul was writing a letter to the Corinthians, he was telling us that collectively we are a body, but that the body is made up of many different parts, and each part plays a critical role in the overall being of the body. He then said that we all can’t be the same part. Think about it. If everyone was a mouth, we’d have no eyes to see, ears to hear, etc. Our culture has become obsessed with trying to be like someone else, instead of just trying to be themselves.

When it comes to communication, its a two way street. One is giving and the other is receiving. Im glad we all don’t express ourselves the same exact way. Because not everyone receives the same way. Im also glad everyone’s not like me! Don’t be afraid to express yourself, even if it’s the polar opposite of other people you know. We’ll just call that expression “The Polarized Express”.

“Become the Gift That Keeps on Giving”

What talent or gifting do you have that comes naturally? This is the question I asked last week at our campus meeting. The best answer was that someone said they are naturally good at smelling things. I guess you had to be there. One of the main reasons I asked this question was so that we could begin to discover how God has created us and how He created everyone with unique gifts. The best part about the night was that everyone was able to point out a gifting that they have... everyone.

THIRST is an acronym for our campus ministries values. The letter T stands for The Gospel Expressed. Our ministry believes that God’s love can be expressed through many facets, like speaking, singing, dancing, writing, kindness, etc. The key is doing it in a way students can connect the expression back to God.

This is why were talking about gifts. We all have natural talents and gifts that we’re born with that we'll always have. And if you’re a Christian, you’re called to express the Gospel. The good news, is that you don’t have to express the Gospel like everyone else all the time, because we all have different gifts and talents. So feel free to use what what you got. Cause when you do, you truly become the gift that keeps on giving.

“Thirsty Anyone?”

We started a series on campus last week based on our new ministry name: THIRST. So this month, I want to focus this blog in the same area. I think it’s so apropos that we kick off these blogs with an introduction that we are using for our website/brochure. Let me know what you think.

“Many students come to college with hopes to “start their life”. Some of life’s most important decisions are made in college. [Scary huh?] Things like what kind of career do I want, where will I live, who will I marry, & what will I give my life to. Now, we don’t want to tell these young adults what to do, but we do want to help them become the type of person who makes wise decisions in all facets of life. Its like that whole give a person a fish or teach them how to fish thing. We give them tools, but at the end of the day, they gotta choose. Popular ideas say the bible tells people what to do, but it doesn’t. It shows them & leaves the the decision up to them. We want to transform our colleges & universities, not by telling, but by showing. Were tired of seeing freshman not making it to sophomore year; of students leaving school because of pregnancy; of students catching STD’s; of students living life depressed; of seeing students hungry and thirsty for more than what they're getting out of life. Jesus said that if we drink from the water that He gives, we will never thirst again. The last thing we want to see is this young generation dehydrated. Thirsty anyone?”

“In one ear, out the other” (How we Hear- part 5)

Isn’t it interesting how you can listen to a speech, message, or movie with a group of people, but everyone for the most part has their own interpretation of what they just heard? Im betting that the person(s) that were speaking had only intended to communicate one thing, but somehow the message was lost in translation. And when I say lost, I mean ignored. :)

I believe when it comes to how we hear, sometimes we only hear what we want to hear. It’s not that were incapable of the latter, it’s just that we naturally gravitate to what sounds pleasing to us in particular. In fact, we are so good at this, sometimes we can listen, block a few words, and continue listening without missing a beat… but in actuality, we missed a few beats.

It’s like the time when God was warning Pharaoh (The Ruler of Egypt) to set free the people he was enslaving. But because it didn’t quite line up to Pharaoh’s plans or what he wanted to hear, he pretty much CHOSE to ignore God all together. So basically God hardened Pharaoh’s heart by asking him to do something he didn’t want to do. Oh, and if you don’t the rest of the story, God eventually got what He wanted.

We have to make the choice to hear the things that we sometimes don’t want to hear, and not let it go in one ear, and out the other.