Evangelism...

Evangelism... probably not anyone's favorite word. We don't like doing it because we fear people's opinion more than we should. It's just awkward... Just last week, I even read an article put out by Relevant magazine about Why We Don't Evangelize Anymore.

As you may know, we went to NYC and did some street evangelism with the teens back in August. I did not want to do it. Seriously, who wants to walk up to a stranger anywhere, let alone New York City, and start talking to them about Jesus. I tried to figure out how I could weasel my way out of that part of the trip and just join the group for the work projects but finally decided it was all or nothing and went for the whole trip, evangelism and all.

One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.

"One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it." -Oogway (Kung Fu Panda)

When we left off last time, Jonah was on his way to Tarshish because he didn't want to preach/evangelize to the Ninevites. Bad storm comes, the sailors pray, then toss cargo overboard and nothing is working. The captain gets Jonah and tells him to pray or help and not just nap.

And now, verse 7... The sailors decide that someone must have made his god mad and figure let's cast lots to decide who and the lot falls to Jonah. So they start grilling him about who he is and what he's done to have caused all of this to happen.

Is it ok to run or do you have to pray first?

In Sunday School, I started teaching Jonah. Three weeks ago we did the first six verses. I encouraged the teens that although this is a familiar story, look for details that you never noticed before or for things that jump out at you this time around.

The thing that jumped out to me was the response of the sailors in verse 5. Now as any good Christian knows, when something bad happens, we are supposed to pray about it. "Cast all your care upon Him, for he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7, NKJV) However, maybe I'm alone in this, but when something bad happens, I want to call a friend to talk, go for a run or come up with a solution-my first response is not always prayer.

You’re Keeping Me Going

Ever watch White Wolves?  My new goal in life is to incorporate this movie every time I write a devo… since starting I’ve got a 50% success rate… not too bad ;) I’ve already given you a brief synopsis of the movie in case you haven’t seen it. So after the trip has become a rescue mission, there is yet another injury and it gets to the point that the whole group just can’t travel on anymore. In the middle of the night, Benny decides he’s going to go off alone and get help. Pandra catches him as he’s packing up and asks him what he’s doing. He explains his plan is to hike an old lava flow, cross an old bridge then white water raft the Lone Pine. Pandra tells him he can’t do it alone that it’s class 4 rapids and she’ll join him. As they are hiking along, Pandra trips and Benny tells her they can stop for the night and she says she’s fine and she doesn’t want to slow him down. To which he replies, “You’re not slowing me down, you’re keeping me going.” After awkwardly glancing at each other, she says, “Then let’s keep going.” And they continue on.

More Than You Can Handle

There is SO much good stuff in Perry Noble’s book and there is SO much more we can learn from David’s life too. So I only got to write two of the devos this week, but I easily could have written more! I wanted to share with you a little bit more that you can maybe go and do once you return home. Maybe it will help the spiritual high of this trip to last a little bit longer. If you read through this, share your thoughts with me. Send me an email or fb message or a good old fashioned phone call :)

Did I ever tell you about the crazy adventures Jeff, Hil and I had going to Georgia for the Catalyst conference last October? Jeff ‘borrowed’ a pumpkin from outside this gift shop we went to… we found the CRAZIEST/STRANGEST yard with all sorts of monsters/creatures/body and even helped the owner move a 6-ft tall hand into a guy’s truck… we had dinner in Alabama so I could add another state to my list of visited states (which means I’m currently beating my brother and father)… Hil and I rode a pirate ship… We had sushi with Sharla Megilligan (one of the missionaries we support)… But most of you probably didn’t hear about those things.

Your Heart’s Desire

I love the Chronicles of Narnia! I think The Magician’s Nephew is probably my favorite (with The Voyage of Dawn Treader being a close second). Towards the end of book Aslan (who is the God character in the book) sends Digory (young boy from our world who ends up in Narnia) on a mission to get an apple from this garden at the far end of Narnia. Once this apple is planted it will protect Narnia from the evil empress. However, when he gets to the garden he sees this sign:

Time-Out

Ever watch White Wolves? For those of you that haven't had the privilege, a group of teens and their leader go on a backpacking trip, very much like the wilderness trip, with less canoeing. Their goal is to get to the top of Eagle Rock. They eventually make it to the top and disaster strikes! Their trip turns into a rescue mission and they go through struggle after struggle on the way. At one point, after yet another plan doesn’t work out as anticipated, Kara gets overwhelmed and yells out, “No, I can’t do this anymore, I wanna go home!”

Do you ever feel that way? Things get frustrating or scary or hard and you’d rather give up than keep going?

Walk Circumspectly

Today we are reading Ephesians 5. Read it and jot down anything that stands out to you. When you are done, go ahead and read on.

Are you noticing that every chapter in Ephesians is packed with things that are challenging and convicting you? Chapter 5 is no different. I want you guys to really be thinking about all the material in this chapter, so before I share my thoughts, answer these questions:

Verse 1 talks about following God's example in everything we do. What's one way you are currently doing that?

Verse 2 talks about living a life filled with love for others. How should that be seen in us?

Verses 3-5 are talking about some specific sins that we should have no part in. What is the biggest struggle for you of the things mentioned? (You can write in code if you're afraid someone might see what you wrote. And we're not gonna make you share these answers later.)

Verses 8-14 talk a lot about light and darkness. That's one of those topics that is seen throughout Scripture. What is the coolest thing you've ever heard about light vs. darkness?

It's not fair! We did everything right, EVERYTHING!!!

Ever watch White Wolves? For those of you that haven't had the privilege, a group of teens and their leader go on a backpacking trip, very much like us, with less canoeing. Their goal is to get to the top of Eagle Rock. They eventually make it to the top and disaster strikes! Their trip turns into a rescue mission and eventually two of the teens embark on the final leg of the mission. The two teens, Benny and Pandra, plan to hike an old lava flow, cross an old bridge then white water raft the Lone Pine to get help. However, as they approach the old bridge, they find it has fallen apart and can't get across it. Benny, full of frustration, yells, "It's not fair! We did everything right, EVERYTHING!!"

Do you ever feel that way? You do everything right but then things don't turn out the way you expect them to?