It is finally time to catch up on the blog. During January and February and most of March I couldn’t find the time to write. Now that I am getting back into my normal routine I’ll hopefully be disciplined to start posting again.
Since we started Pod Bible Studies I’ve been really impressed by how much you all seem to learn from these times. Even one week when I sat in and most of the time was spent reading Mark 1 – 4, I was amazed at how much depth you were able to pull out of that passage.
Once again, I know I really shouldn’t have been surprised. All you in our group, and even teens in general, really have some amazing abilities. Unfortunately, we adults often forget that.
As our team began to dream about how to design the youth program for our church I started to think about what I wanted to do when I was in High School. I also remembered back to the different choices I had available and then reflected on why I probably chose the activities I did.
As I pondered the first thought, I realized that even when I was young I wanted to be doing things that made a real difference. One time when I was four the family was at mi Abuelito’s house and the men were going to move the picnic table to the other side of the patio. I saw what they wanted to do and I wanted to help more than anything. So, when my dad, uncle and abuelito lifted the table off the ground I walked underneath and pushed up from below adding my once of strength to the task. The adults reacted in a way I didn’t expect. They immediately stopped and my mom pulled me out from underneath the table. I began to cry because their reaction surprised me and I didn’t understand what they were so concerned about. I can remember so many times I just wanted to help but I was too little.
This same desire to make a significant difference in the world is still with me today and I want to spend my life doing just that.
When I reached High School I was drawn in three different direction and I am glad I made the choices I did. The first direction was Boy Scouts. (Yes I was a Boy Scout. In fact I am an Eagle Scout and admit this with pride) Most kids speak about Boy Scouts with disregard because they see the outside but never know the inside. Boy Scouts is not about the merit badges and knot tying. It is about giving youth the skills to make a big difference in the world and that is why I chose to be a Boy Scout.
The second direction tugging at me was music. I loved playing piano and horn and still do. If you look at a pie chart dividing the hours of my life, music will probably take-up a large slice. I had talent but I think I chose to pursue music because I knew how good the performance felt after hours and hours of practice. This is also something I would never trade.
The third way I was being pulled was church. You may be surprised (especially with my job), but I chose to do very little with church. Sunday mornings were really the only time I spent at church. I can’t give you the reason I would have given as a teenager, but now the reason is very clear to me. I simply had no way to express one of the deepest desires of my heart, to make a significant difference in my world. The very most I could ever do was to show up and be entertained.
Thankfully, God’s reach is longer than the church’s and God took me place where my hearts desire was met. It was even during my High School year that God planted the seed for ministry. (Blindly I ignored this for many years) It might seem ironic that God taught me about ministry apart from my church, but in some ways now I expect it.
One of my dreams for Maple Evangelical Church is that we are a community where people are able to do the things God has placed in their hearts. These are the “greater things” Jesus talks about in John 14:12.
In Mark 6, Jesus understands that the disciples had needs to go and do something great on their own so he sends them away in pairs and gives them the power to change their world by freeing people from demons and healing the sick.
In our church the reality is that you have also been given the power to do world-changing things and my desire is to help you do them. With the power of God nothing is impossible and we all need to look daily to see where God wants us to do something great.
- Matt
Since we started Pod Bible Studies I’ve been really impressed by how much you all seem to learn from these times. Even one week when I sat in and most of the time was spent reading Mark 1 – 4, I was amazed at how much depth you were able to pull out of that passage.
Once again, I know I really shouldn’t have been surprised. All you in our group, and even teens in general, really have some amazing abilities. Unfortunately, we adults often forget that.
As our team began to dream about how to design the youth program for our church I started to think about what I wanted to do when I was in High School. I also remembered back to the different choices I had available and then reflected on why I probably chose the activities I did.
As I pondered the first thought, I realized that even when I was young I wanted to be doing things that made a real difference. One time when I was four the family was at mi Abuelito’s house and the men were going to move the picnic table to the other side of the patio. I saw what they wanted to do and I wanted to help more than anything. So, when my dad, uncle and abuelito lifted the table off the ground I walked underneath and pushed up from below adding my once of strength to the task. The adults reacted in a way I didn’t expect. They immediately stopped and my mom pulled me out from underneath the table. I began to cry because their reaction surprised me and I didn’t understand what they were so concerned about. I can remember so many times I just wanted to help but I was too little.
This same desire to make a significant difference in the world is still with me today and I want to spend my life doing just that.
When I reached High School I was drawn in three different direction and I am glad I made the choices I did. The first direction was Boy Scouts. (Yes I was a Boy Scout. In fact I am an Eagle Scout and admit this with pride) Most kids speak about Boy Scouts with disregard because they see the outside but never know the inside. Boy Scouts is not about the merit badges and knot tying. It is about giving youth the skills to make a big difference in the world and that is why I chose to be a Boy Scout.
The second direction tugging at me was music. I loved playing piano and horn and still do. If you look at a pie chart dividing the hours of my life, music will probably take-up a large slice. I had talent but I think I chose to pursue music because I knew how good the performance felt after hours and hours of practice. This is also something I would never trade.
The third way I was being pulled was church. You may be surprised (especially with my job), but I chose to do very little with church. Sunday mornings were really the only time I spent at church. I can’t give you the reason I would have given as a teenager, but now the reason is very clear to me. I simply had no way to express one of the deepest desires of my heart, to make a significant difference in my world. The very most I could ever do was to show up and be entertained.
Thankfully, God’s reach is longer than the church’s and God took me place where my hearts desire was met. It was even during my High School year that God planted the seed for ministry. (Blindly I ignored this for many years) It might seem ironic that God taught me about ministry apart from my church, but in some ways now I expect it.
One of my dreams for Maple Evangelical Church is that we are a community where people are able to do the things God has placed in their hearts. These are the “greater things” Jesus talks about in John 14:12.
In Mark 6, Jesus understands that the disciples had needs to go and do something great on their own so he sends them away in pairs and gives them the power to change their world by freeing people from demons and healing the sick.
In our church the reality is that you have also been given the power to do world-changing things and my desire is to help you do them. With the power of God nothing is impossible and we all need to look daily to see where God wants us to do something great.
- Matt
posted by Murray @ 1:09 AM
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