Summer 2012 is upon us and we are gearing up for a great one! We’ve got Collide Youth Camp, Junior High Mission Trip to the Texas valley, Super Summer Leadership Camp, High School Mission trip to Devine, Leadership Retreat, Senior Mission Trip to New Orleans, Summer Bible studies, Boot Camp, Block Party Local Missions, and something nearly EVERY Wednesday night.
With this type of schedule, we are taking a break from our regular scheduled blog, but we’ll be back in August!
May 17 – 23
The picture was from the end of last night’s worship time. It is very powerful to watch EVERY chain that was on the stage be taken down by a student and moved to the foot of the cross!
I’ve never been skydiving and I’m pretty sure that I’ll be able to say that when I die. Jumping out of a plane makes me nervous just thinking about it! I know people that have skydived and there is a lot of preparation involved. In fact, one website gives six steps to prepare BEFORE you take any classes. After you do all those steps, you take the training class. That classs lasts anywhere between four – six hours. Then you have to get in the plane and get up in the air before you jump.
You spend multiple hours preparing for a five minute experience! The process is much longer than the end result.
Forgiveness is a lot like that. Release bitterness, anger, and hurt feelings is a bit more difficult than we would hope. It’s a process. There are ups and downs along the way. It may take longer than you hoped, but you can start the journey today.
What do I do?
1. Start a conversation with your parents. Ask them about a time in their life where they had to enter into the process of forgiveness.
2. Make a commitment today to forgive the person who has hurt you. Get a small journal and write down your thoughts and prayer. Everytime you feel like you are on the forgiveness rollercoaster, go back to that journal and write.
One last thing . . . this is why I don’t skydive!
If you missed Chris’ story last night, here is a brief overview from the video he showed.
Would you be able to forgive if this happened to you?
What can I do this week?
1. We are two weeks into this series and forgiving someone who wronged you may be hard, but that’s our goal. If you still are having a hard time with this then talk to your parents. If your parents are who you are struggling to forgive, then talk to your Collide Small Group Minister or your mentor. Start processing the emotions so that you can move on to . . .
2. Call, write, or talk to the person that you’ve been embittered toward and tell them that you are learning how to forgive and are going to start by letting go of the unforgiveness you’ve had towards them.
May 3-9
Craig Brian Larson posted about an article entitled ”Walter Bonatti, Daring Italian Mountaineer, Dies at 81″ which was written by Graham Bowleyfor the N.Y. Times (9-15-11)
Many mountain climbers regard Italian Walter Bonatti as the greatest climber of all time. In 1954, when he was 24-years-old, he was the youngest member of the Italian climbing team that became the first in the world to conquer K2, the second tallest mountain in the world after Everest.
Wikipedia says, “K2 is known as the Savage Mountain due to the difficulty of ascent and the second-highest fatality rate among the ‘eight thousanders’ for those who climb it. For every four people who have reached the summit, one has died trying.”
Mountaineer Reinhold Messner told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, “Bonatti was just a boy from Bergamo who in a very few years became the best climber in the world,” and that he had been envied around the world because he was “too ahead of the curve, too alone, too good.”
But when Bonatti died in 2011 at age 81, his New York Times obituary focused much of its attention on a controversy surrounding the 1954 conquest of K2 that dogged him for the rest of his life. Although two members of the Italian team reached the summit of the mountain, Bonatti himself did not. He and a porter were responsible to transport oxygen tanks to a camp at 26,000 feet, where they were to meet the other climbers who were waiting for them. Then together the entire team was to make the final, one-day ascent to the top.
However, when Bonatti and his porter arrived with the oxygen tanks at the agreed-upon location, no one was there. Bonatti and the porter had to spend the night camped in the open, where they almost died from the cold. The next morning, leaving the oxygen tanks in the snow, they rushed back down the mountain, and the porter lost fingers and toes to frostbite.
A few hours after Bonatti and the porter had left the oxygen tanks in the snow, the other members of the Italian team appeared, took the tanks, and proceeded to the summit and to mountaineering glory. Later, Bonatti accused them of deliberately missing their planned meeting place on the mountain. The others denied it, and the Italian Alpine Club sided with them. From then on, Bonatti did much of his climbing alone rather than with teams, and for the next 50 years the controversy over K2 lingered in the climbing community.
Then, in 2004, one of the Italian climbers who had reached the summit of K2 essentially admitted in a book that Bonatti’s version of the events was true.
When Bonatti died in 2011 at age 81, his partner Ms. Rossella Podesta, age 77, said, “The K2 story was a big thorn in his heart. He could not believe that, even after all those many years, nobody had apologized or acknowledged the truth. This falseness has left a mark in his life.”
In his own book, The Mountains of My Life, Walter Bonatti wrote, “My disappointments came from people, not the mountains.”
April 26 – May 2
ONLY HUMAN;By Sarah Anderson
Acts 15:36-40 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. (ESV)
Have you ever been really good friends with someone, maybe even best friends? Maybe this friendship was rooted in similar interests or personalities, or common goals in life. You and this person were as close as two friends could possibly be. But then, one day, out of nowhere, you get in a disagreement. It started as a simple difference in opinion, but it didn’t take long before things got heated. What started out as a simple preference over something became much bigger, something where your convictions were involved. Before too long, it became obvious. No one was going to budge. And a simple argument, a simple tiff became the thing that undid your whole friendship. Years lost. Experiences overlooked. Memories forgotten. None of it mattered anymore. The friendship you thought had the longevity to last a lifetime is brought to an abrupt end.
I have been there before. Have you? Would it surprise you to hear that even the apostle Paul has been there? Is that weird for you to think that the apostle Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament Bible, was in such a sharp conflict with someone, that the friendship was ended over it? It surprises me. In fact, I remember the first time I read the story in Acts that told what happened between Paul and Barnabas. I remember furiously skipping ahead in the book to see where the reconciliation was, to see when one of them finally swallowed their pride, got over themselves and made things right between them. But I couldn’t find that story. I couldn’t find the verses that told me it all worked out in the end.
As far as we know, when Barnabas and Paul parted ways in Acts 15 that was the end. Things never quite got back to how they were before. Maybe harsh words had been said that could not be overlooked, maybe demeaning comments had been made that could not be forgotten. Whatever happened, it was big enough, shocking enough, far-reaching enough that a deep, profound and personal friendship could not survive the fallout.
The story of Paul and Barnabas is like a black stain on the reputation of one of the most noted Christian missionaries in all time. It reminds me of Paul’s humanity, but honestly, I am not sure I want the reminder. I would rather think of Paul as perfect than read about what seemed like a petty disagreement that caused friends to part ways. And the fact that Acts stays relatively quiet about what happens later kind of annoys me. Were they sorry? Did they regret what happened? If they had to do it all over again, would they?
I think they would. And while Acts doesn’t dish on the weeks, months and years that follow the split between Paul and Barnabas, Paul himself has so much to say about relationships, that I can’t help but think he was speaking from some experience.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs . . . It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Corinthians 13:4-5, 7 NIV).
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV).
Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:2-4 NIV).
These sound like the words of a man who has been broken. A man who has tried to navigate the tumultuous waters of relationships and friendships, and undoubtedly failed from time to time. These sound like the words of a man who can only speak as wise and as confidently as he does because of the mistakes he made in the past. Read these verses again and see if you can’t hear a hint of regret, a taste of remorse, a sense of, if only I could go back. Paul never claimed to be perfect. He knew he was human, just like all of us know we are—and as a result, he knew he was prone to failure and making mistakes that came back to haunt him. Paul’s story is no different than ours, except we get a front row seat to the drama in his relationships that all of history doesn’t get to see in ours.
The truth is when it comes to our friendships and our relationships, we are going to have conflict. We will have disagreements, and sometimes because of our pride, because of our stubborn nature, conflict not handled well and disagreements not treated rightly will result in the end of a relationship. But you and I both know, and Paul knows, that when a friendship ends the story doesn’t end there. There is a lot of time for wondering why it had to go the way it did, what would happen if you could do it all over again, a lot of regret.
When we read the letters of Paul, when we hear the words communicated about relationships, about how to treat other people, about how to love as Christ would have us love, the significance of his words become a lot clearer once we understand the history of the man who penned the words to begin with. Paul lost a good friend. A companion. A partner. And he didn’t forget it. Not when he wrote to the churches years later, not when he taught them how to move beyond a disagreement, not when communicated the hard to swallow words about loving a friend, no matter what the cost.
Have you ever lost a friendship? Have you ever truly gotten over the wounds it leaves? Paul doesn’t seem to have. And I think if he had his way, he wouldn’t have us get over it either. He would want us to learn from our mistakes, from our missteps when it comes to our friendships, and then, and this is the most important part, change because of them. Learn from them. Fix our behavior and our actions so it doesn’t happen again. Or as Paul himself would say, be patient, persevere, love them through it, be compassionate, forgive, think of everyone as better than you.
We may not be able to change the relationship failures we have caused in the past. But we can learn not to repeat them—to become people who forgive so quickly, who love so completely, who persevere so thoroughly that our present and our future relationships are reshaped and remolded to look like Jesus would want them to.
April 19-25
YOU, NOT ME; By Sarah Anderson
Mark 2: 1-12
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed andglorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (ESV)
Something about just hearing the word “friendship” makes me feel good. I immediately start thinking about long phone conversations, inside jokes, road trips, a good meal together, a good cup of coffee and a lot of laughs. When I think about friendship, a lot of great things come to mind. But the truth is a friendship made up of only the great stuff isn’t really a friendship at all. It’s a fantasy. Because anyone who has been friends with someone for a long time can tell you that as much fun as solid quality friendship can be, it can be a lot of hard work too. It isn’t always convenient and it definitely isn’t always easy.
At one point in His ministry, Jesus encountered some guys in Capernaum who had learned firsthand the sometimes inopportune and awkward demands of being a friend. When Jesus had entered the city, He went to a house to begin preaching His message. Word had spread about Him and what He was able to do—His reputation proceeded His arrival so that once He got in town, not only were people ready to hear Him, they crowded the house He was in, gathered outside the doors and windows, and were willing to do just about anything to get a closer look at this rumored Messiah. There was talk that He was a healer, a miracle worker and that in a seemingly effortless way, He could restore sight to the blind, movement to the lame and hope to the desperate.
With that much hype surrounding Jesus’ arrival, it was no surprise that the crowds took to Him immediately, surrounding every square inch of space available around Him. And the guys this story is about were no different than the rest of the town—they were five guys whose curiosity was piqued and whose interest was stirred. They too wanted to hear what Jesus had to say. Only one problem. One of the five was a paralytic. As in totally paralyzed. As in living his life on the space of a 3×6 foot mat. Every day. Day in. Day out.
Let’s get honest here. Let’s say what everyone else is thinking. When it came to getting to hear Jesus, this paralyzed guy was kind of slowing the rest of them down. I mean it took all four of his friends to carry him, and if they wanted any chance of getting to the action, then they had to leave this friend behind. Surely he would understand. Surely he would see that he was more a hindrance than a help. Surely he wouldn’t mind if they promised to bring him around next time Jesus made a public appearance.
But these four guys weren’t about to leave their friend—the one who needed the touch of Jesus more than anyone else—behind. They weren’t about to put their interests, their desires, their expectations before the wants of their paralyzed friend. So, the book of Mark says, the four friends carried the fifth guy. They each took a corner of his mat, and they lifted him, shouldered him, somehow moved him to the house where Jesus was, only to find the crowds more than they could handle. They couldn’t get close enough. They could hardly hear a thing from the outside. Their plan was interrupted. So they gave up? Nope. So, they cut their losses and said maybe next time? So they left their friend on the mat and bumped and pushed their way closer to hear what Jesus had to say themselves? No. They got creative. They climbed on the roof. And then they made an opening there. As in, they damaged private property. And then somehow they got their paralyzed friend on the roof, and with whatever strength they had left, they lowered him, slowly, carefully, but probably not quietly, into the room where Jesus was teaching.
And while the people there may have been a little put out, a little frustrated by the disturbance, Jesus wasn’t at all. In fact, Jesus takes note. Not just of the man on the mat coming from the roof, but of the four men who worked to get him there. The book of Mark says that when Jesus saw their faith—not the paralyzed man’s faith, but their faith, the faith of all five men and not just the one—He did more than what everyone expected. He invited the paralyzed man to pick up his mat and walk.
Jesus stopped what He was doing when He saw the faith of five friends. It silenced Him. He noticed it. He made an example out of five guys who saw the bigger picture of friendship than just convenience, ease and a benefit to themselves. What these guys understood was that friendship very rarely has to do with only the good stuff and the easy stuff. That oftentimes the friendships that go the distance, the friendships that people take note of, the friendships that end up silencing the people around you are the ones that are marked by selflessness, the ability to drop personal needs for the sake of someone else’s. The friendships that get our attention are the ones where someone is willing to get a little uncomfortable for the sake of the one who needs him or her.
How far are you willing to go when it comes to being inconvenienced for the sake of a friend? Are you willing to carry the mat? Are you willing to put yourself aside and risk some embarrassment, just so you can get that friend to the feet of Jesus? What lengths are you willing to go to?
Who around you could use some help carrying their mat? Who could use some extra strength, some additional care, some added encouragement? Who needs you to be the kind of friend you have the potential to be? And what will it take for you to start acting like this friend they need? Yes, it can be hard. Sure, it may be uncomfortable. But you have more than just the world’s attention when you live this way. You have the eye of Jesus on you. You have the attention of the very One whose love you are modeling. He notices love, service and friendship of this magnitude. And where He is involved, anything can happen.
April 12-18
NO CLONES; By Tim Walker
If you’re anything like me, I usually walk into a room of strangers and start looking for the people who look like me. Okay, not exactly like me—I’m not that vain. But I tend to find people who seem to dress similar to me, who are around my same age, who seem to be a “similar status” as me. But the ironic thing is that most of the time, once I start a conversation with those people; I’m bored out of my mind. Or the conversation just is strained, awkward, and we’re done talking after about a minute.
It’s “comfortable” to seek out people who are like me, but if I’m honest with myself, most of the people who are closest to me are nothing like me. And that’s a good thing. King Solomon was the wisest man—ever. He wrote things like: “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm” (Proverbs 13:20 NIV). And from his son Rehoboam’s decisions, one just might think he wasn’t listening to his dad’s advice.
Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.
They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”
But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”
The young men who had grown up with him replied, “Tell these people who have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter’—tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”
Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.”
The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”
So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home (1 Kings 12:6-16 NIV).
Rehoboam chose to ignore the people who were different than him, in order to follow the advice of those who were just like him. And the advice of his friends, the ones he grew up, turned out to be very bad.
There are people in your life now, people who are so different from you, that you may be completely oblivious to because you have this picture of what your friends should look like, how they should dress, what kind of financial status they should have. And there may be someone in your life or someone you know who doesn’t fit any of those criteria, but could be someone who brings a different perspective, teaches you new things and even inspires you to be more like Christ.
When we don’t allow people into our lives who look and act differently than we do, we end up less. Too much time in the company of people exactly like you starts to affect you—just ask Rehoboam. It starts to make you think that if someone isn’t like you, than they aren’t good enough. We start to judge people and their worth based on how closely they resemble us, and we think that God is on board with it. But don’t be fooled—He’s not. God isn’t only like me. He isn’t only like you. And, God didn’t make a world full of clones. But when we begin to act like we, and people like us, are the only people worth investing in, we start to shrink God. We start to undermine His creativity and the pleasure He finds in the diversity among us. God is much bigger than that. And He wants us to be bigger than our sometimes narrow view of other people.
There is one thing in common you definitely want in a good friend—you want to have people close to you who have an active relationship with Jesus Christ. People who love Him, not only with their words, but with their lives. But their interests, their perspectives can be completely different than yours.
The world is much bigger than us. It is much bigger than people like us. Do you believe that there is more to you and more to me than just who we already are right now? What if there was this incredible untapped potential to become so much bigger than we even thought possible if we just began to entertain this idea that there are people out there who are going to shake our lives up, maybe push our buttons every once in awhile, but who will expand our world in ways we could never do on our own?
What if someone different from you wasn’t bad, but was just what you needed to become the person God has in mind? Would you choose them, pick them, accept them as friends as different as they be from you—even if no one around you, including yourself, understood “why them”?
What can I do this week?
Make a list of the top 5 traits you want in a friend. Then figure out how you can intentionally accomplish all three of them with three friends.
