Goin' Mercer…ramblings and rants!

I have been waiting to hear from my friend who is the youth minister for the group I spoke with this past weekend. However, we just haven’t connected. So, I will tell you from my perspective it was a success. I was at the retreat less than 20 hours. I spoke three times and did some other activities with them. The students were great and really inviting. They made me feel very welcomed and appreciated. We covered the sixth chapter of Joshua regarding the Jericho story. I covered three of those sessions, while two others covered the last session. I only got 4 hours of sleep on Friday night and for most students on a retreat trip the measure of success is the amount of sleep. The more sleep you lacked, the better the retreat. Well since I am old and need eight hours, I would say this retreat was extremely successful. We talked about the walls we build between us and God and us and others. We then talked about why we like our walls and how others perceive them. The last session I spoke was about how good and bad come from the walls coming down, but it is necessary to be vulnerable with God. The last session was the treasure that comes from living a non-walled existence. We just followed Joshua 6 all the way.

There is too much to tell in one post. Also, we are planning on using this same material for a youth event with our junior high. So I won’t tell all the juicy details. I’ll just say thank you for your prayers and encouragement. It was a great weekend!

Other Business:

Leah is coming today. We had a little trouble getting flights so I am picking her up in Dallas today, but she fortunately is flying out of Abilene on Sunday. She is meeting with the HR director of AISD while she is here as well as some principals.

Please pray for Leah to get a job teaching here.
Also pray for our house to sell quickly.

We covet your prayers during our transition!

-Michael

Yesterday we had one of our Mexico Mission Trip fundraisers. Unbeknownst to me there were two cakes made to auction off that were “Michael and Sarah” cakes. I have to say that they were pretty funny and well done. The cakes came together and for one low price (read: highest bid) you could have both. These cakes were vanilla with cream cheese icing. They were decorated by one of our students. Since they were white, they reminded me of the old Saturday Night Live character, “Mr. Bill”. Then by the time they were auctioned one of the eyes on my face began to run, making it look like I was crying. My first thought is that when they announced our cakes they may say something witty like, “Michael’s crying because Leah isn’t here yet, so buy this cake!” However, they said, “Michael’s crying because we don’t have any money for Mexico.” Funny and witty. The cake sold and was re-donated and sold again. We really appreciate everyone’s generosity for our fundraiser.

Another Fundraiser Note:

In all my years of ministry I have never had the ability to work completely alongside students. I have always spent the majority of my time being the foreman and making sure they were on task. Yesterday was different. I assigned tasks and began to work. In my mind I just knew I would have to stop and redirect someone. However, I never had to stop. I worked, they worked and things were done extremely quickly. I am very impressed with the quality of kids that will be going on this trip to Mexico. Another blessing of being a youth minister.

Pray for Mexico and that we receive the funds we need to help students pay for their trips.

-Michael

This weekend I am traveling to Dallas to speak at a youth retreat for Saturn Rd church of Christ. The theme is “Remember Jericho”. As you might guess we will spend time in Joshua 6 for the weekend. We will look at the different ways in which walls that we put between us and God and us and others affects our full experience of God.

We tend to feel very safe within our walls. We feel so safe, much like those in Jericho, that we don’t worry about the evils of the world, its challenges, or the extreme of what God has to offer us.

We march around others’ walls and admire our own. Just like the Israelites marching around Jericho once every day for six days, people circle our walls and wonder how to enter. They wonder how to break the barrier down. We become proud of our wall and wear it much like a badge. We make it beautiful, so others won’t know the truth that lies on the inside.

The walls must collapse and one day will. The walls of Jericho came tumbling. The Israelites rushed in and took the city. When our walls come down we become vulnerable. We encounter such things as suffering, joy, mystery, truth, and freedom. When our walls collapse or we bring them down we do receive benefits from God, but we become challenged as well. God strengthens and gifts us through unusual ways. Vulnerability isn’t fun, but when we are raw before God, He can work so mightily within us. Just ask Rahab, who treated the spies with kindness, lost her city, but went on to live with the Israelites in their camp for the rest of her days. It’s not too great to lose your city, but she gained promised land with the Israelites.

Lastly, we take the plunder and cherish God’s treasure. The Israelites took the city and gathered its prized possessions and gave them to God. God wants to gift us as well. Maybe the best gift we can receive is to live life as long as possible in a non-walled existence. How much richer we become emptied before Him.

Saturn has accommodated my schedule and I will be returning Saturday evening. I am teaching in the high school on Sunday and am greatly excited about sharing with them Salvation from the book of Luke. It will be a busy weekend, but what a blessed one.

Pray for me while I am away and this awesome weekend of ministry, speaking, and fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ!

-Michael

We went to San Antonio for two nights. We stayed on the riverwalk in a nice hotel. Our favorite places to eat were Paesano’s, Guenther House, and La Paloma Blanca. We did some shopping around the river and took a trip out to the shops at La Cantera. We drove to the Zoo, but it was extremely overcrowded and decided no on that option. We went to a Spurs game (Go Spurs!) and they won. We also went to the Majestic theatre and watched “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (that was probably my favorite thing of the week). The other days we spent taking care of our house and seeing my parents and Leah’s parents. We had a great time! I had almost forgot how great it was to be with my wife all the time. It is WAY better than this bachelor thing.

I am reading four books right now:

Blue Like Jazz -Donald Miller (I know I’m behind)

Velvet Elvis -Rob Bell

Sabbath Time -Tilden Edwards

Out of the Question…Into the Mystery -Leonard Sweet

They are all great and all different. I am usually the kind of guy who has to read one all the way through then the next, but they all hit me at a different time and I can’t choose one over the other. So far I am flying through Miller’s and the others are coming at pace.

What do the Chicken Dance, the Good Shepherd (John 10), and Team Hoyt have in common?

Ask the middle school class.

Okay, I’ll tell you:

One of our students was willing to do the Chicken Dance for whatever was in the brown paper sack (which happen to be a toy from United). Team Hoyt is a video of how much a dad loves his challenged son. He loves him to the point of pulling him in a raft swimming, driving him in a bike, and running him in an adult stroller through the IronMan. John 10:11-18 describes Jesus, the good shepherd, who was willing to lay down his life for us the sheep.

It was a great class that challenged our students to follow Jesus because he gave the ultimate gift of love; his life!

-Michael

It was a great vacation and an awesome week with my wife! Worship was great yesterday with Jerry Taylor speaking on worry! It is great to be back and working! Our week was well spent visiting family, spending time in San Antonio, and just taking care of business to help sell our house.

If there is time today, I will elaborate more.

-Michael

Since January there has been only one other time that I have spent more than two days consecutively with my wife. Of course that was the week she was severely ill! So realistically this next week will be the first time we have spent more than two days in a row together since December. We are taking vacation on Spring Break! I am excited about being together for an entire week. Life has been good to us, but things tend to get really lonely without her.

I won’t tell you where we are going, but will have much to say when we get back. I am not sure that I will be around a computer next week so I probably won’t be blogging. However, if you get bored here are some archives of mine I like.

1. First Blog Ever!

2. Spiritual Homes

3. Katrina and Devestation

4. Funny Story

5. Really Cool Salvation Story

Well, I hope you have fun reading some of my old stuff. I tried to find funny things, but I guess I am just a boring guy. It was all serious and stuffy. I need to have more fun. Bring on Spring Break!

-Michael

Our church has put out a booklet for lent. If you haven’t picked one up, you should do so immediately. The thought for this week was that the Kingdom of God has come near. The thing that struck me were the questions.

What do you long for in a king?

What part do you play in the kingdom?

I am a big fan of the book of Matthew. Mostly I chose this as my favorite gospel because my middle name is Matthew. However, the more I have read and studied this book over the last two decades I have really come to identify with the author, the audience, and the message. It is about the kingdom and Jesus being the one true king. And it really is about Jesus training his disciples, which Matthew was using to train disciples, which we still use today to train disciples.

The things I long for in a king really boil down to one thing. A totally sovereign savior. Forget the majestic appeal and the world’s stance on prosperity and fame. Give me a man who can overcome every evil in the world and raise himself back to life just so we can have eternal life. Now that is a king!

What part do I play? Well I should play the part of disciple! However, my walk usually looks more dazed and confused. I end up playing the game more than I do just being a disciple. I want to play the part I was made to play. That is being a disciple of disciples who helps make disciples. Honestly, sometimes I am and sometimes I’m not.

I am just thankful I don’t have to be anyone else’s king. That part has been played and I am eternally grateful, literally!

-Michael

Communion thoughts yesterday at church was quite emotional for me and from what I hear, others. One of our university students told his story of growing up with divorced parents, abusive step-father, and the forgiveness that had to take place. His story and my story overlapped more than I could have imagined. I have never dealt with any kind of abuse, but having a dad who committed adultery, was disfellowshipped from church, being poor for a while as mom put things together, and having forgiveness issues connected. My story has a happy ending. I have a great relationship with my dad, he has been forgiven, and has even asked forgiveness from my mom. Amazing steps of faith that took 23 years and I would imagine will continue to take place. My Monday thought: When we come to the table sincerely, we come equal in weakness and strength to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the one who seeks all to save.

I have a BIG job! This is probably everyone’s thought on a Monday! I am not overwhelmed, but more or less humbled that God would choose me a struggling servant to do such great things with His kingdom. I know that whatever is done great is through my weaknesses and yet blessings come my way. It was a big job a year ago and its a big job now. My Monday thought: There are no small jobs within the Kingdom; no everything is God-sized!

There aren’t enough books for teens that talk about spiritual growth. It seems as though the books that are there are more about image, sin, temptations, and relationships. Oh wait, those are things on spiritual growth. What I meant to say was there is a lack of books for teens that specifically lead them to drawing closer to God. They rather teach them how to run away from sin. I think these are vastly different goals. My Monday thought: Do I have the courage to write such a book and if so, how would such a book change the mindset of our youth?

Lent has begun. It began last Wednesday and will go through Easter. Of course as I have written before I have given up Sodas. Notice I did not say Caffeine. However, it is not the caffeine of Dr. Pepper that entrances me, but the taste. These past two days I have had thoughts of Dr. Pepper and its glorious, heavenly taste. I have seen others with this drink and it crossed my mind to steal a sip or indulge in an entire gulp. I have restrained my desires, I prayed about its lure and God has been merciful. My Monday thought: Sacrifice is permissible and beneficial. What other things do I desire that need to be in check?

Well, I hope these weren’t my only thoughts today! I just wanted to write a glimpse of life this Monday. I hope your day was as great as mine!

-Michael

Thanks to some of our eighth grade girls the crisis of the buttonless pants was averted. No, they didn’t have a sowing kit or safety pin. They simply are honest people. As I walked through the First Baptist youth area where our Ash Wednesday service was held I saw many of our group. I walked around with my belt tightened, my Passion Week T-shirt carefully tucked in, and very self conscious. Some of the girls saw me and before they could even say hi they said, “Why don’t you untuck your shirt?”
I replied, “I’m not suppose to tuck in my shirt, why not?”
“You’re wearing a t-shirt, you aren’t suppose to tuck in t-shirts!”, they said
I got right to their point, “I’m wearing slacks with the shirt, but you still think it looks dorky!”
A resounding yes ensued and I untucked my shirt. Then a light bulb went off in my head. That completely solves the button issue, which they hadn’t even noticed due to my savvy fashion skills. I told them the quick version of my button falling off and thanked them from saving me from total fashion faux pa with having my shirt tucked in. They chuckled, then acted like I wasn’t standing there and everything went back to normal.

Thank God for eighth grade girls!

-Michael

The button on my pants fell off. I don’t have time to go home and change. I am suppose to speak in front of a couple hundred students tonight. Hopefully my belt will be tight enough to keep my pants together and hide the fact that I have no button. May dropping the Dr. Pepper for 40 days will take care of some of this problem. However, tonight I am just begging God not to embarrass me in front of 300 hundred students, six different denominations, two sets of elders, and our new interns.

Why have safety pins become such a rare commodity?

-Michael