Inspiration

Last Sunday I led a sermon at Western Oaks about inspiration. You can listen to it here. (Listen carefully though as I talked way too fast!) The whole premise of the sermon, though, was that death brings life.

Think about it:

• Without food, you die. But to eat food, it first must die. Food's death brings you life.
• Many people have saved the physical lives of others, yet still lost theirs. Think of 9/11, any war, or another heroic act.
  
• Or in a completely different way, I once killed a cat (on accident) but its decaying and dead body gave the grass above it a huge burst of life.

Seriously, I think death always brings life. Always. Did you know though that death doesn't have to be physical. You've heard of it and I'm sure you've seen it. People dying to something. Maybe it is someone dying to their pride, schedule, or whatever. People are constantly dying to something. A lot of times these acts inspire others.
Here is something really interesting though. Inspiration means breathing life into something. So when you are inspired by something, you are given new life. On the flip side, the person who inspired you is dying.

Anyhow-listen to the sermon. It goes over all of this and I don't feel like typing it all. (And this will hopefully force you to listen to it).

I want to tell you about the death of a man though. This was a man whom I had never met, but had heard many stories about. This man was Samuel Cowan-the grandfather or one of the students in the youth group I lead.
I attended his funeral this morning. It was such a neat funeral. There were, of course, a lot of tears. It was interesting though because I had never seen so many smiles at a funeral before. Every single person smiled, laughed, and even had a good time. His death really touched a lot of people.
Even though I never met Sam, I know that he was one of those people who was constantly inspiring others. He was constantly dying to himself to give others life. Keep reading for a few examples that I learned this morning.

• Sam went to darn near every sporting event at Pleasant Plains-even when his grandchildren weren't playing in them.
• Sam loved to drive up and down the streets of Plains just to check in on everyone who lived there.
  
• Sam called his children on the phone almost every day. He had nine of them.
• Sam accepted Christ as a grown man while holding one of his daughters in his arms. His children still remember that day.

You see, Sam lived a life not for himself. Sam lived a life for others. Sam died everyday to give others life. Sam inspired.
Even though I didn't know Sam, I was sad for his death. I take joy in the fact, though, that even his physical death inspired others. It inspired others to try to live a life like him. You knew by the tears and the smiles at his funeral today.

Will you live a life of death? Will you live a life of inspiration? Or, will you live a life of living, a life lived only for you?

So you want to be a Youth Volunteer?

I heard you say that, right? That's what I thought. Here's the deal. The new "season", if you will, of youth ministry at Western Oaks is starting up here in the middle of September. Youth group always takes a bit of a break for the summer. We do less Sunday night hang outs, and more random weekly events. Once September hits though, we gear right back up. So it is really good timing that you are telling me that you're wanting to be a Youth Volunteer.
Oh, you want to know what being a Youth Volunteer is all about? That's simple. It's about being with students. It's about hanging out with them on Sunday nights. It is about investing time praying for them, chatting with them, and maybe even inviting one or two or twelve over for dinner once in a while (not required of course). :) It's about enjoying yourself. It's about having a good time. It's about building relationships. It's about forming bonds and connections. It's about ministering to students simply by living your life.
Don't just jump into this position though. It'll change your life. Only do this if you are ready for your life to be changed-changed in a great way. Only do this if you are willing to change the lives' of students, also in a great way.
Think you have what it takes to be a Youth Volunteer? Think you are ready to give up your Sunday evenings for the rest of the school year?

I think you are. So e-mail me and tell me you agree. youth@westernoaks.org

Garden of Eden

So I've been trying something new the past week or so. I've felt challenged to go back into the Old Testament and re-read many of the "typical Sunday School" stories. You know the ones that I mean. The stories that you hear over and over again during Sunday School as a little kid: David and Goliath, Jonah and the Whale, Jacob and Esau, Adam and Eve.
Now don't get me wrong. I think it is great that we've heard these stories so many times. It is important to read and re-read. This time though, I am really trying to grasp something from these stories that I've never grasped before. It is interesting that as I do this, God is revealing some really applicable stuff to me-new applications though. Thus, I figured I'd reveal it to all two of you who like to read my thoughts. So here we go.

First off, check out Genesis chapter 3.

After you've read that, think about what really stands out to you in the story. Was it the Serpent's craftiness? How about Adam's willingness to eat something he was told explicitly not to? Maybe it was simply the stupidity of Adam and Eve to listen to a stinking snake, which in turn got them kicked out of the Garden. I mean come on guys, it was PARADISE! How can you screw up that bad!?

I'm sure most of those things stuck out to you. They always have for me, at least. Last week when I re-read this story though a new point stuck out to me. One that I wished I would have payed attention to long ago.

Adam and Eve were tempted to eat the fruit not because of it's taste or beauty. They were tempted to eat the fruit because it would give them the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve ate the fruit because they thought they were ready for a responsibility that God knew they were not ready for.
Think about that for a minute. Eating the fruit didn't just get them kicked out of the garden. Eating the fruit gave them a laundry list of responsibilities that, before they ate, they did not have! Look back at Genesis 3: 16-19. We're talking big time responsibility here. Eve would have some serious child birth issues now and Adam was going to have to take care of her through those times. Food was no longer just going to be all around them. Instead, thorns and thistles would be and they would have to tend the ground, plant their food, and be responsible for it while it grew. Oh, and did I mention that they were going to die now? This brings a whole new meaning for taking care of someone, because if you don't, they die. That's a pretty big responsibility!
Hey Adam and Eve, after you got kicked out of the Garden, did you still feel like you were ready to take on all these new responsibilities? Probably not. God knew that too. That's why he told you not to eat from that tree! Check out that picture! (Sure it's probably not accurate!) But look at what you walked away from because you wanted more responsibilities. What a joke!

It's easy for me to bash them though. I've never really taken on responsibilities that I wasn't ready for...?

Have you?