Goin' Mercer…ramblings and rants!

Grad School Update

I finished my class from January yesterday. I have a research paper due tomorrow and I turned it in yesterday. My next class will take place in May and it is on teaching text in contemporary contexts. I am not exactly sure what that will be, but it sounds completely interesting to me. So far I have been doing well with my grades and I was invited to join the who’s who Chancellor’s list. It sounds pretty nice and official until you read that for only $50 you can buy the book with your name in it. I guess since they give you the option of just having your name in it for free it is still an honor. But my luck it’s just a gimmick.

Life Update

I leave tonight to fly to Midland, TX. My good friend Brock is getting married this weekend. After that him and Sarah will return not to Alvin where he has been the last three years, but Ft.Worth where his new job and ministry await him. I will miss him greatly. It seems that most of my friends end up being youth ministers and the problem is that they tend to move away. I am the old guy in my area on my sixth year. As far as churches of Christ go the next in line has been here a little over a year if not two. I anticipate the arrival of two new youth ministers at Southeast and Alvin to see if we will work together. I hope so!

I will not be blogging the next few days while I am in Midland. 1) there won’t be any time with rehearsal dinner, golf, and then the wedding. 2) Leah would kill me if took the laptop.

I just have one other thing to say and if you hate romantic mushy-stuff stop now. I love my wife more everyday. She is a rock for me and listens to me even when I’m boring. She is a care-giver and really seeks the Lord. Since we have married life hasn’t been the same and I never want to be without her. I praise God for her!

And NO I AM NOT IN TROUBLE!

-Michael

Hurting Students

I am a youth minister and I love students. I don’t just love the students, but I love their families as well. I also love the church! Sometimes I find difficulty in loving some families because of how they hurt their children. Students don’t always do everything right and should be held accountable for their actions. Parents don’t always do everything right and sometimes need the benefit of the doubt and some mercy.

However, when I hear of a student who is being hurt by their own parents and in turn wants to hurt themselves, I get angry and I hurt as well. Youth ministry isn’t always fun and isn’t always about teaching students about Jesus. Sometimes it is standing in the gap of family, culture, government, and schools.

Right now I am being called to a situation to stand in the gap for one of my students. I won’t disclose any information here, but I will say that she is hurting and needs love. Please pray for this student and her family. Please pray for me as I deal with a serious situation. God will be my strength and her deliverer.

-Michael

Holy Spirit 4
The First Encounter with the Third Kind.

By the time Paul begins writing his letters the Holy Spirit was such a part of their spiritual life that the people would have never been able to separate it out from daily life. Every aspect of their life was centered on Jesus or they were encouraged to be that way, and the Holy Spirit was normal and a part of it. This is what Gordon Fee makes clear in his books. That the Holy Spirit was something necessarily to be studied and understood, but the core of the Christianity. Check out this quote

“It will be clear to those who read further that I believe the Spirit to lie near the center of things for Paul, as part of the fundamental core of his understanding of the gospel.” 1.

Paul and the people he preached with and to would have seen the Holy Spirit as a core of Christianity.

However, if that is where Paul is at how did he get there. Well, we have seen from the gospels that Jesus spoke of the Spirit before his leaving and it would come just as he said. So in this fourth installment I want to begin with the book of Acts and the first encounter of the third Kind.

At the beginning of Acts we see the ascension of Jesus and the business of the apostles. They were joined together for constant prayer (wouldn’t you like to have been present for those thanksgivings, adorations, petitions, and confessions) and regrouping. They cast lots for a twelfth apostle and Matthias was added to the group.

Fifty days after the Sabbath was the day of Pentecost and this is where they were introduced to the Holy Spirit in a radical way. After a violent heavenly wind that filled the house came they all saw the same vision. That vision being tongues of fire that separated and rested on each apostle. The Holy Spirit filled them and they each began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

The spirit rested on them and filled them just as Jesus had promised before he left. The Spirit enabling them to speak in other tongues is where much debate takes place. Because of the difficulty of translating the Greek to English it could mean either speaking in a different language or to speak in an ecstatic way or cultic context, meaning for us nonsensical utterances. Personally due to the Two Greek words of glosso and lalein being together it seems to me that this would have been a more overwhelming type of speech that would have been an unknown language, meaning nonsensical utterances (more of what is practiced in the charismatic movements of today). Of course the author would not have the vocabulary to describe something so new and unheard of so other tongues or languages would have been appropriate.

It doesn’t matter what you believe whether a different known language or nonsensical utterances the fact remains that something mighty and Holy was happening.

I will leave there today to pick up more next time. I hope you are enjoying studying with me.

-Michael

1. Gordon D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994) 5.

A Gift for People

My wife and I were having a conversation yesterday about our church and about giftedness. As we were talking she sincerely and compassionately told me that I had a real gift for people. I was someone who can easily make new friends and make people feel welcome. I have to be honest it took some convincing for me to believe her. I confessed last night that I have been too hung up on my spiritual gift of administration. That I have been leaning more on that gift and playing it up. While I have done that, I have believed the lies of Satan and convinced myself that I no longer have a gift for relating to people. Thankfully and unknowingly to Leah, she has given me new focus and new prayer topics.

I don’t want to make the mistake of swinging the pendulum the other direction and leaving behind the gift of administration. I have given that gift much time and practice over the past few years and I do not want, nor would the Spirit want me, to drop that gift or leave it behind. Rather, I want to use that gift to help me in my other areas of giftedness in order to strengthen the weak areas.

I love people and ministering to people and over the last year I have slowly began to forget that. Satan is so tricky! Making transitions in life are difficult. I could go on playing up administration and leaning on it, however, I am more interested in balancing my gifts. This will be my prayer. Also as I make this transition in my ministry it will hit difficult bumps and I pray that I do not become discouraged. God has placed me here at Clear Lake and I have no intention to leave just so I can make my personal transition easier. I will let God reshape me as I am here in ministry.

Since this blog is to help others in youth ministry let me say this. Transitions are inevitable and they are good. It is healthy to take an evaluation of self on a consistent basis and make improvements where necessary. I don’t only speak of improvements regarding your program, but also yourself and your relationship with God, family, church, and ministry.

May God Bless Us All as we minister in His name!

-Michael

A New Toy and More Work

My father-in-law and I went in together on a pressure washer. I went and picked it up yesterday from Sears. I tried it out yesterday around my house and I am thoroughly impressed. Hopefully Leah and I can go over to my in-laws today and pressure wash their back patio. I love new toys especially when they are as cool as a pressure washer. Hopefully it will mean a little time for me to get out and do some work as well. I love doing chores like this, where I can use equipment.

I am totally excited today to go and use the pressure washer at my inlaws and to use at the church for their sidewalk as well as my own house. This will come in quite handy.

I went to LTC today with my kids. Two weeks ago I was asked to coach high school drama and after a few practices we performed today. I think it went real well and I am so proud of them. We came back early to take one of the students home who had to work later tonight. We took him up to LTC and brought him back. It has been a great day and tomorrow will be a really full day. Easter service, Easter lunch with Leah’s family, LTC presentation night. That’s a full day.

Have a Happy Easter!

-Michael

Lunch Called Off

I was suppose to go eat with one of my junior high students. However, 20 minutes before I was to leave I found out that she is sick at home. So I won’t be able to have lunch with her. Maybe next week!

Today has been filled with some planning for our fundraiser next month. So far so good. Also I have worked on some studying and other random things within my ministry.

Leah goes to the doctor again today for a pre-op appointment. Her ear surgery has been scheduled for April 26th. Please remember her in your prayers.

This weekend is Leadership Training for Christ for our church. I have been coaching the high school drama. I found out last week and hopefully we will be ready by Friday. Leah and I will be there Saturday and then Sunday is our big Easter celebration at the church. It will be a busy, but good weekend.

-Michael

Burritos and a Hospital Visit

Yesterday the student I spoke of and I went to eat some wonderful burritos at Freebirds in our area. I knew I wanted to do some kind of simple, people oriented service project with him so we went to the local hospital. One of our extremely active members was in the hospital and we went to visit him. I asked the student if he had ever visited someone in the hospital and he did have experience. I processed through what we would do step by step and then we went. The visit went wonderfully since the member we went to see was quite awake and alert and feeling good. We stayed for about 15-20 minutes and then headed on our way. After that we went to his house, where I was able to see his room (that’s a big deal to a teen) and other pieces of his house. We had a good visit and I can’t wait for us to do it again. Today is filled with prayer meetings, staff meetings, and retreat meetings. Part of the necessary work of a ministry staff. They are calling me now!

-Michael

Excitement

Today I am excited because in just about 20 minutes I will be spending time with one of my younger students. He is a freshman in our group and is becoming one of our core members. I have some things planned that I would like to do and hope that it all happens. I am trying to spend more time with students and less time in my office. However, by doing so things that constant and sometimes taken for granted (mostly by me) will suffer. I am very administrative, professional, and organizational in my ministry. However, I want to be more relational. So last week and this week I have made that top priority. I hope to continue throughout the year with the same motive. That is why I am excited today. This student has spring break this week when no one else in our group does. So we are going to hang out, have some fun, and hopefully get to know one another better. I love serving the Lord, I love management, but I can’t leave behind what brought me to the ministry in the first place; relational youth ministry. Hopefully after five years of youth ministry I am becoming a better blend.

Pray for my day! I will let you know if anything exciting happens.

-Michael

Holy Spirit 3
John 16:5-16

I am no scholar. All I can do is read the scripture, come up with my own thoughts, and consult others thoughts. I wish not to be technical in my presentation of these Holy Spirit studies. I wish to be real, open, and teachable. In my last Holy Spirit entry I received a comment from a loved friend and attempted to respond. I am thankful for his comment, because it makes me think deeper on the subject. I would desire for many more to make comments, ask questions, etc. I may not have the answer, but I think asking the question, probing for the answer will help us all grow. Okay, so on with today’s entry.

In this text from John, Jesus again emphasizes his leaving and speaks of their grief. He also talks about the “Counselor” again. We see some new characteristics of the Spirit in this piece of text. The Spirit will “convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” Therefore the Spirit has the characteristic of convicting people of their ways. This is similar to how God would come down and convict the people as well as Jesus who confronted and convicted the people. The Spirit will convict the people of sin because of their unbelief. He will convict people of righteousness because Jesus is leaving and will no longer be seen. He will convict people of judgment because Jesus stands condemned. In other words the Spirit will begin to do what Jesus can no longer do once he leaves.

The Spirit becomes a guide for truth. There is the phrase here that leads us to believe that the Spirit is a fortune teller. “…And he will tell you what is yet to come.” This is in regards to truth. It must be kept in its context. He will tell you what is to come, but it will be from God and it will be His truth. The Spirit will also reveal Jesus to the people after he has left. He, The Spirit, will take the things known in heaven and reveal them to the Earth.

The Spirit has a big job here. It will guide us to truth, tell us the things of God and Christ, and reveal to us the things to come from the truth. These are some of the characteristics of the Spirit. Although, Jesus is speaking of the immediate future, these characteristics do not change from then to now. God does not change, we do! Therefore the purpose of the Spirit is still to convict, guide truth, reveal the Father, and bring glory to God. We are to use the word of God, listen to His call, and allow the Spirit to show its characteristics and purpose in us. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak! We must not allow our weakness to hinder the work of the Spirit.

I received my books today and have already begun reading. As I read through them I will share different insights. Both books are from Gordon Fee and deal with Paul’s letters and the Holy Spirit. So I guess I am on my own with Acts (no pressure)!

I will leave you with this quote that helps sum up my feelings about the Spirit prior to my studying and you may feel as well.

From Gordon Fee’s “God’s Empowering Presence

“We have a certain immediate empathy with the student who once told a colleague of mine: ‘God The Father makes perfectly good sense to me; and God the Son I can quite understand; but the Holy Spirit is a gray, oblong blur.’”

I will share more from Gordon Fee as I study each week.

-Michael

Josie Green
A Beloved Sister in the Lord

Yesterday I witnessed the celebration of the life of Josie Green. She was a wonderful sister in the Lord that loved many and therefore was loved by many. She always had a prayer for me and never went a Sunday without asking my mother about me.
The only way I know to truly grieve for her is to write my own eulogy.

A smile, a sweetness, and a special sincerity. That is how I would describe the dear sister that I loved and has been called home. The great thing about church is that along the way you acquire many mothers, fathers, grandparents, and loved ones. Miss Josie was one of my grandparents I was blessed to have along the way. I can’t remember who found who, but I do know that everytime I went home to visit my mom and was at church we were able to talk.

I remember her smile and the way you were given comfort just by receiving it. We would talk, she would smile and you knew you would be blessed by the Lord through her. I remember her sweetness. She loved her family and friends and always held out hope and love for them both. She believed deeply in the Lord and through her sweetness convinced you of Him as well. I remember her sincerity. Many people ask how you are doing and may even ask about your family. However, when Miss Josie asked it was sincere and from a deep love for God’s people.

I will miss Miss Josie, but I will long for the day when we will be reunited in Heaven. I know that through her example we have all become closer to the Lord. I only hope that I have learned about how a smile, sweetness, and sincerity are gifts from God to be shared with others. There was no better teacher of this truth than Miss Josie. What a blessing to have known her and share a bit of this journey of life with such a wonderful lady.

I thank the Lord for Miss Josie!

-Michael