Offering Update

While nobody gave their shirts, many people did give big and generously last Thursday. Since my last blog, $13 more dollars came in, and so the grand total we will be sending Blood:Water Mission is $1090.77.

I'm still wowed and touched by the generosity of the young adults in attendance at Watershed's Thursday Gathering last week. And I'm beginning to think that if we'd asked for the clothes off their backs, that some of the young adults would have given it!

Wowed at Generosity

We did not have to put any sort of pressure on the young adults attending Watershed's Thursday Gathering last night. We took only the third offering we've ever taken in Watershed's short two year history, all of which was going to Blood:Water Mission's 1000 Wells project as part of the "Be All There For the World" message. The 100+ young adults in attendance last night generously gave $1077.77 to bring clean water to our African neighbors at the end of the earth.

I am extremely "wowed" by the generosity of the young adults last night. I believe generosity is close to the heart of the Father, and for one night, we allowed our hearts to beat in sync with God's, and to "Be All There" for our neighbors in Africa through liberal giving. Thanks to all who gave!

And if you missed last night's Worship Gathering or would just like to give, you can donate directly to Blood:Water Mission and join us in helping bring clean water to our African brothers and sisters.

Thank you, Watershed! I am VERY proud to be associated with you right now!

The Unimportance of Prayer?

I saw this cartoon in my inbox this morning. While I laughed, I grieved that the only reason the picture comic was funny was because it was true. No, not true that prayer is unimportant. True because we THINK prayer is unimportant.

How did I get here - to this incorrect place of making prayer a side thing that isn't as important as study or counseling or teaching or analyzing culture (that's my way of justifying the intake of entertainment ;o) )? Rather than launch into a blog sermonette about prayer, I think I just need to pray for me and for you.

"Lord, forgive us. Forgive us, your children, for not having hearts of prayer that want to boldy come before your throne of grace with confidence and humility, to spend time with you in conversation and seeking your input, direction, leading, and aid in our lives and the lives of others. Teach us, Lord, how to pray without ceasing. Please replace our easily distracted and worldly minds with the mind of Christ. Replace our ears that are filled with the noise of the culture with ears that hear Your whisperings. And replace our hearts that beat for so many selfish things with hearts that are in sync with Yours. Please help us to give prayer an important place in our lives."

Thick Skin, Tender Heart

Recently during a phone conversation, a friend of mine said that in his sales job, one day you are everybody's best friend and the next day those same people ask "what have you done for me lately?" We laughed about it, and I said "boy, sounds like you are getting ready for ministry!"

That's been my last two weeks. One week I'm on top of the world - God is using me in people's lives and doing some encouraging things in the ministries I'm involved with - and the next week I'm blindsided by complaints, leaders stepping down, sin issues, and the like.

Thankfully, I know that Jesus is all-too-familiar with issues like this. During his time on earth, he could go from being everybody's friend to low-man-on-the-totem pole far too quickly. In Matthew 12 alone, there are two instances where Jesus healed someone, and immediately others follow up the miracle with criticism and plots for his assassination.

The most powerful example of Jesus enduring this relational rollercoaster ride is what many Christians refer to as Passion Week. It started with a grand entry into the city, people cheering, waving palm brances (a political sign for desired freedom from the Romans), shouting "Hosanna" (which means "save us"), many believing that this famed rabbi would rise up to overthrow the Romans and free the Jewish people.

But in less than a week, many of those same people who were shouting about how great Jesus was before the city's residents were soon shouting for his crucifixion before Pilate. Any normal human would react naturally with anger, deep hurt, and emotional wounds. But Jesus wasn't a normal human - he was fully human.

How does a true human being respond to the criticisms, abandonment, and sin issues of others? With a steadfastness to stay the course to accomplish the purpose the Father has laid before him. It's as if Jesus has a thick hide to bounce off the criticisms, but a tender heart to continue to love people enough that he would die for them.

So how will you respond when you are being criticised in your job, or experience abandonment in your friendship, or feel the affects of other people's sinful choices? Quit? Criticise back? Blast people with a viscious tongue? Those are the natural responses of normal humans. I encourage you to choose a different path, go the way of Jesus - respond with thick skin and a tender heart.

At least that's what I'm somewhat successfully trying to do this week...

Helping Katrina victims locally

After a tragedy such as we have witnessed in the Gulf Coast, many Americans first response is to help through financial donations. We have made a similar option available to the young adults of Watershed by putting donation buttons on the Watershed homepage.

But sometimes we long to do more. When I lived in Colorado during the Columbine shooting, my first response was to rush over to the other side of Denver and pray with people and counsel them (but I didn't because I figured I'd be more in the way than an actual help). I have a pastor friend leading a team down this weekend to some of the areas impacted by Katrina - they are going to explore where and how they can help, call home to tell a second team what to bring, and then spend the week serving best they can.

I don't feel like I'm in a position to go down there and help like my friend. What could I possibly do here in Iowa to tangibly help the victims besides donate money or items?

That opportunity has opened itself up suddenly. MAHP is preparing some apartments here in Cedar Rapids for some families who lost their homes in the hurricane. They are arriving this Saturday, so we are going to go in and clean, paint, and help however we can to make a home for these families to live in until the decide what to do next.

If you are a young adult in the Cedar Rapids area, I'd encourage you to join us in the west parking lot of New Covenant Bible Church this Saturday at 9:30 a.m. From there, we are going to go over to the apartments and help with what we can.

Won't you join us?

Be All There By Slow Dancing

Just got an email with the below poem in it. This echoes our "Be All There" theme in Watershed.

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask "How are you?"
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"hi"

You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift.... Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

It's just too bad the poem was tied to a hoax email chain letter.

Eye Of The Storm

Here is the blog of a couple of reporters covering Katrina from an area that passed right through the eye of the storm. Some great photos that really touched me and helped me see the devastation in a new and closer way. The photo to the left is the one that stood out to me the most.

Generosity

Personal News
My family had a great Labor Day today. We had a slow morning, then went and played softball with people from church, enjoyed a picnic, and then had our normal weekly family night.

Personal Thoughts
I saw on a forum I frequent a post about a blog on the profits of the oil companies. This is something I would normally have no interest in, but with the war and Hurricane Katrina's effects on the price of gas (and my wallet), I couldn't help but click the link and read the blog myself.

If what is reported in that blog is true, it is very sad and frustrating to see the greed of American oil companies. But unforunately they aren't the only entities in our culture with a heart of greed.

Millions of Americans, Christians included, have hearts of greed. They have a desire for "more, more, more", yet "more" never quenches the desire.

But what God longs from us is a heart of generosity. He has a generous heart, as revealed in the giving of Jesus. And Jesus, our model, gave all of himself for us. And now God desires for us to follow the example of Him and His Son - to be generous, to give all of ourselves for others.

Are you ready to be generous? What area are you being greedy in? Rather than desire more, learn to be content with what God has given you so that the Holy Spirit can develop a heart of generosity in you.

A New Minimum Standard

I love Sundays! Being with people who love Christ and are coming together to worship Him and learn together excites me. Unfortunately, today I'm feeling overwhelmed by my to-do list that I'm slipping back into my office during the services to get work done instead of doing my usual Sunday routine.

As I was working through my email inbox just moments ago, one newsletter had a link to an article I felt I should read as a pastor to young adults. Once on the website, I saw an advertisement at the top of the page that said "Know God better in just 5 minutes a day!"

This ad really bothered me. Let me paraphrase how I interpreted that marketing statement:

"Get to know the most amazing God, who created the entire universe and you, who is all-knowledgeable, all-powerful, all-loving, all-wise, all-just, and all-present by personally sacrificng the minimum amount of time possible."

Now, if somebody hasn't been praying regularly or reading Scripture on a regular basis, then 5 minutes is a great start. I just heard a talk not to long ago by Rob Bell (entitled "Money Sunday - A Theology of Clicks") about "moving to the next click". Going from no time with God to 5 minutes is a move to the next click in the right direction.

But too many Christians stay there. They do their 5 minutes, call it their quiet time, and proceed with the rest of their day. That minimum standard eventually becomes their maximum.

I like how Erwin McManus puts it in his book An Unstoppable Force. He calls for Christians to a new Radical Minimum Standard (see Chapter 10, the Epilogue). This is not a call to a legalistic standard, but an invitation to freedom. As Erwin puts it:

"When we are afraid that the minimum is an unreasonable maximum, we limit the Spirit of Christ from working in the hearts of those who genuinely desire to be used by Him."

Is the Spirit of Christ calling you to allow yourself to be used by Him? If so, is it possible that you have adopted a maximum in your life that should really become your minimum standard?

I encourage young adult followers of Christ reading this adopt a new minimum standard, to not make Sunday attendance their maximum, but a minimum. To not make praying 5 minutes a day a maximum, but rather a great starting point. To not make an obligatory monetary gift a maximum, but to discover the minimum of generous and cheerful giving. To not allow "Christian" influences keep you at a legalistic maximum, but to be unleashed by God's Spirit into the life that goes beyond the new minimum standard.

Making Ripples

Heard a great message this past week by Mike Breaux, one of the teaching pastors at Willow Creek Community Church, entitled Making Ripples. He was teaching at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI, on August 21, and a lot of what he said would be meaningful to many young adults who are followers of Jesus.

If you'd like to listen to it, go to this page.