NYC Mission Trip: Day 7, 03/18/2011

Today was a great day!! We started out the day with a soup kitchen in the heart of Harlem. The Soul Saving Station was awesome. I got the chance to talk to a lady named Carol and hear her story. It is amazing the variety of people you meet when you volunteer and the amount you can learn. This lady is a part time security guard, has three kids and has lived in NY her entire life. She was not homeless but she just needed a good meal and the place we were at provided that need.

The SSS did a great job of spending an hour sharing God’s Word and worshiping. I heard a saying before and I realized how true it was today, “The love of God should have been preached before anyone ever takes a seat to listen to a preacher say a word.” The group that I am with has done a great job just talking to and relating to the people who have come to this SSS. They came for food and found people who were willing to love them, talk to them and just hear their story with sincere compassion.

This evening we had a change of plans. We were scheduled to do a mission called “Glory Train” but instead we went to the Brooklyn Tabernacle’s Youth group called Transitions. Man, what a word that was spoken to us. The youth leader talked about temptations. As Christians we face so many temptations and they can lead to some serious downfalls in our lives if we allow them to take control of our lives. I wish that I could have a recording of it to share because I feel like temptations are all around us and everyone has one in particular that they struggle with on a daily basis.

After the youth group meeting ended our group went out to eat at a local place and had great food and conversation. When most people were finished eating we had a chance to share with the group something that we felt like we had learned that day/week. Every night during the trip we try to get together and do this but tonight it just felt like more people were touched by what had happened that day. It was really cool to see some of the guys get up a share some real stuff that they had seen that truly affected them. Powerful.

NYC Mission Trip: Day 6, 03/17/2011

Today might have been one of the most important days of the week. Today, I slept. I don’t mean that I took a nap for an hour, I mean; I slept almost all day long. I woke up to eat breakfast at seven and then slept until twelve. I got up and ate lunch, read for awhile and then went to sleep until dinner. I even went to bed early and had no problem sleeping through the night.

I used to think that if you were on a mission trip or volunteering somewhere that you had to be in constant motion all of the time. I learned quickly that not only is this not true but often you become ineffective because you are tired and exhausted emotionally. God says to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, but what if we don’t even take care of our needs. How effective can you be when you are broken versus when you are working on all cylinders?

Because I rested, I got to fulfill needs that my body, mind and soul needed. A day of rest meant that my body feels rested and ready to move the world. My mind feels refreshed emotionally and I have had time to process all that has gone on and will continue happening the rest of the week. My soul has had time to reconnect with the One who created it. I have enjoyed my day of rest but I am so ready to get back to work serving others. So, remember this, even God rested one day of the week, I think that His example is a good one to follow.

NYC Mission Trip: Day 5, 03/16/2011

Sometimes as a volunteer you feel like you need to be directly in contact with the person you are serving, on the front lines so to speak. But, what most people need to learn, myself included, is that some of the most powerful ways that you can affect those in need is to do some of the tasks that are done behind the scenes.

This morning our group got to go serve at Bethel Food Pantry. Three quarters of our group was either in the kitchen or helping restock their food pantry. Only one quarter of our group was actually a part of the food service team. Only one quarter got to actually meet the people who we were serving. ONE QUARTER!!! Yet, the people we served would not have gotten the service they did if the other three quarters had not done their part. Someone had to prepare the food(wash potatoes, cut potatoes, chop onions, chop peppers, cut chicken), someone had to cook the food, someone had to put the food in the individual containers, someone had to wash dishes, dry dishes, put juice into cups, stock the pantry, clean up etc….. If someone did not do all of these things behind the scenes, no one would have gotten served in the first place. I never got to interact with the people we were serving at the food pantry but I definitely felt God in the work that I was doing. Washing potatoes might have been the job that I was tasked with completing but it was love that became the product of my work. After all, Jesus came to serve, why shouldn’t we?

Tonight we got to minister to the homeless. No matter how many times I do something like this I am always a little bit nervous but I never worry. God has always made a way for me to talk to someone and has always led our group to the right people. I got to talk to two different guys, Larry and Al. They were two totally different people and yet I could connect to them both very easily. Larry’s parents were from VA so that was an easy in to start talking to him and Al was a War Vet so that made it easy to talk to him. Like everyone else in the world, they just wanted someone to talk to them and listen to what they had to say. It is amazing the perspective that can be gained when you talk to someone who most consider to have nothing.

In society we today we are so blessed. Most of us do not have to worry about our next meal, where we are going to sleep or if we will get any water the next day. Our lives are so blessed yet some of us have found ourselves feeling like we are lacking something in life. I have found that the biggest influence on how my day goes is the perspective that I have going into the day. People would pay to have our kind of problems. Remember how lucky you are to live where you live and to eat what you eat.

NYC Mission Trip: Day 4, 03/15/2011

I feel like I just got done taking the SAT’s today. I had the amazing opportunity to learn about the Jewish faith in detail and how people try to evangelize to them. We had an amazing NYSUM leader named Don who was so knowledgeable about Jewish people, their background, their history and what they believe in. Let me give you a rundown of the sheet he gave us called “How to Effectively Share the Gospel with Jewish People.”

1. Biblical Principles of Evangelism
This section talked about how Paul says in 1st and 2nd Cor. That we are to be ambassadors for Christ and about how becoming “like” a Jew might win a Jew. (1 Cor. 9:20, 2 Cor. 5:20)


2. Barriers to Communication
I learned the most from this section. First of all, there are a lot of misconceptions about Jewish people.
A. Misconceptions
1. Jewish people know the Old Testament and accept the New Testament.
2. The “Jews” are the “Christ-killers”
3. Jewish people hold similar religious beliefs
4. Jewish believers are no longer Jewish
5. All Gentiles are Christians; all Christians are Gentiles

B. Anti-Semitism
1. Theology of Contempt: Quotes of John Chrysostom, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther
2. History of Persecution: Crusades, Inquisition, Pogroms, holocaust

C. Terminology
1. Avoid the “C’s”: Messiah not Christ, Believer not Christian, Atonement not Cross, Repent not Convert.
2. Use these expressions: God of Israel rather than God, Jewish People rather than Jews, Jewish Scriptures rather than Bible


3. Prophetic Scriptures to Share
A. Isaiah Chapter 53 “To who does this passage refer?”

B. Jeremiah 31:31-34 “What is this New Covenant?”

C. Matthew Chapter 1 “Why the Jewish genealogy?”


4. “Provoke Them to Jealousy” (Romans 11:11)
A. Appreciate the Jewish roots of Christianity
B. Express a debt of gratitude to the Jewish people
C. Use Jewish terminology in expressing Biblical truths
D. Acknowledge the Biblical right for the existence and preservation of the modern state of Israel.


5. Prayer
A. Removal of the veil (2 Cor. 3:14-16)
B. Revelation, Signs and Wonders (1 Cor. 1:22)

Don really got to explain to us in detail how Jewish people feel towards Christians and how it has become his life mission to reach out to as many Jewish people as he can. We got to do two very cool things during the day. The first was going to a synagogue and getting to meet a Holocaust survivor. I felt like I got the chance to shake the hand of a man who has lived through the history which we read about. He shared with us his thoughts on what his Jewish faith meant to him and how it shaped his life. It was very interesting to hear it from his perspective and it definitely raised some questions. The second event of the day was that we got to go into a Hasidic synagogue. It was a time of information overload. I got asked 3 times whether or not I was Jewish and then I got to talk to lady for 20 minutes about everything I saw and about what she believed in. Let’s just say that it was a very interesting time in the synagogue. I feel like I am more educated about their beliefs and at the same time, I have so many more questions about why they believe what they believe.

The thing we got to do was to go to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Prayer Meeting. We got to hear the testimony of a woman from the Middle East and how she came to know Christ. Once the meeting started we got to really sing a couple of songs to God. Pastor Cymbala, shockingly enough, spoke about Anti-Semitism and related it to the story of Moses and what happened to him when he was born. He spoke about how the real turn in the story was when the Mother let her baby go. He spoke about how there are things in our lives that we need to put in the basket, let them go and let God handle the rest.

WHEW!!!!!!!!!! What a day.

NYC Mission Trip: Day 3, 03/14/2011

Sometimes the best way to serve in the mission field is to serve those who are serving. I got a healthy dose of that today. Today was our first official day of work this week. Our schedule for the day included working at NYSUM and going to Cerebral Palsy Center. I had no idea that the day would turn out the way it did.

I started the morning off working in the kitchen and proceeded to work in the dishwashing room from 6am-2pm. I love washing dishes, I don’t know why. I guess it is because it is work that allows you to see what you have done very quickly and I realize that not many people like to do the work so it takes away a job that is more of a burden to others. At first, we just did the morning breakfast dishes as they came in. Once breakfast was over we cleaned every dish in the kitchen that wasn’t nailed down. The rest of the team gave the kitchen a complete cleaning makeover. The freezer got emptied out and reorganized, the ovens got a good cleaning and the floor was spotless. The two guys who were on staff were so thankful because if we had not been there the work would have not gotten completed and they would have had to stay late. The rest of the group did work in the building with the maintenance department and the house keeping department. Although I don’t know everything that they did, I am sure that they worked hard and really helped out the staff. One of the coolest parts of washing dishes didn’t even come until the evening. After we ate supper we saw that the bins that held the dirty dishes were getting full because no one was back in the dish room. Chap took one look at me and we both had the same idea. I went back into the kitchen to start working and Chap found 3 other guys to come help me. But, before the guys got there, one of the kitchen staff members came back to talk to me. He said that he really appreciated what we were doing but also, how we were doing it. Our work was not done half way; it was done over the top. He asked me why I wanted to do dishes so much and I told him that because we were washing dishes, others could serve for God. In turn, by us serving others, we were really serving God. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit for the deeds done because in the end, all of the glory goes to God.

After dinner, our group got the chance to go to a Cerebral Palsy center. We got the chance to meet 10-12 patients and got to entertain them and the staff that takes care of them. We sang every kids song that we could remember (Jesus loves me, Father Abraham, Hokey Pokey, Head shoulders knees and toes, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, Ole Macdonald, Twinkle Twinkle little star, the wheels on the bus etc…) and we acted out the story of David and Goliath. We had the chance to then see a few of the patients that were in their rooms but could not come out. It was then that I got a little bit emotional. I met a girl named Nicole. Everyone walked up to her bed but then kind of left. Most of us did not know what to do. So, I leaned down and held her hand and sang the one lullaby that I know. I must have sung that song 50 times in a row before we had to leave. I could almost see in her face a little bit of peace come over her while I was singing. I thought about the fact that she was someone’s daughter and that one day, not long ago, my mother might have sung a similar song to me. I started to wonder what this girl’s parents must have had to go through when their child was diagnosed with this condition. It really put the whole day into perspective.

NYC Mission Trip: Day 2, 03/13/2011

This morning we went to Brooklyn Tabernacle for church. I wish everyone could go there at least once. The people and atmosphere even before the service started were amazing. Then as the choir began to lead us in worship I could just feel the presence of God come in the room. The choir sang this one song in particular that just got the whole room on their feet and everybody looked like they were having one of the most glorious moments of their life.

Pastor Cymbala got up to preach and I could just tell that the message that he was going to talk about was powerful by the way he started. He talked about Joseph and the life he lived and how his brothers sold him into slavery and yet years later it was Joseph who showed mercy and love towards them in a time of need. He said that through the Old Testament you can continually see Jesus. Joseph was beaten within an inch of his life, sold into slavery, thought to be dead and had every reason to hate his brothers. Yet, when he was placed into a position of power and had the ability to do whatever he wanted, he showed love and compassion to his brothers. He did not shame them or charge them with what they had done to him. He revealed his identity to them and said, “Come closer.”

Jesus has done the same thing for us. He has every right to charge us with our sins. He was made fun of, beaten and killed for what he said. He took the blame for our sins. When God reveals Himself to us, He does not condemn us, He tells us to draw near Him.

Later in the afternoon our group had the chance to go to the house of a cadet who also goes to VMI and lives in NY. We got to go to the beach while the food was being prepared and run around like crazy kids. When we went back to the house we ate a great meal of pasta and garlic bread. After eating we sang a few songs, listen to a testimony and then something special happened. The group started to really feed off each other. One person after another would rise up to share something with the group. It was really great to see our group come together and bond. It is amazing how people from such wide backgrounds can come together around Jesus and become a family. I can’t wait to see what happens this week.

NYC Mission Trip: Day 1, 03/12/2011

The drive up to NY has already produced fruit resembling the possibilities of the future week. We met a man named Charles at the gas station in NJ and got to talk to him about his life and family. When we told him that we were on a mission trip to NY he seemed pretty excited. He told us about one of his friends that lived in a tool shed the last couple years of his life. He said that you can tell when someone who is down on their luck is not going to make it when they lose their hope in life. When you lose hope, you lose life.

I was in Chap’s van and he told us a story at two different times. Both times, I felt as if I should have a piece of paper out writing down everything that he was saying. He has so much experience and advice to give and I feel lucky to have the chance to receive it. He first talked about marriage and how he met his wife and the process that they went through. He went on to explain what he thought were some of the keys to marriage and dating. His second story was about a trying time he had when he became a battalion commander in the Army. When he got the job he prayed to God that he could be used to bring glory to God. As he went on to explain, God used some pretty hairy moments to prove His faithfulness and power. By the end of his time serving in that position, his men knew that if he went for a walk that he was praying and that everything would be okay. Powerful.

Tonight, when we got finished with our meeting in NYSUM we decided to pray before we went up to our rooms. Chap said, “Let’s pray.” We all bowed our heads and immediately I felt like God was saying that He was going to call on me to pray and so I started almost willing Chap to call on me to pray. Sure enough, ten seconds later, Chap asked me to pray. I know that the moment was simple and yet it had a profound effect on me. A passage from the book Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult, which I just finished, sums up how prayer is starting to feel to me.

“His words run over me, catching on all the rough patches and wearing them down. Prayer is like water-something you can’t imagine has the strength or power to do any good, and yet give it time and it can change the lay of the land.” (Page 358)

You see, not many people go to God when things are going well. Not many people cry out to God unless things look so bad that we can no longer rely on our own abilities to control the situation. No wonder many people find that their relationship with God grows exponentially when they are going through a rough time in life. It is when we are left without any other option that we learn to fully rely on God. When all else fails in life, we pray. When our world gets turned upside down, we trust the Creator. But, what would happen if we prayed like this no matter what was going on in our life? What if we prayed for God to move greatly in our lives even when things are going well? I pray that this week will not only be a week where God gets to use me to reach others but that God can use others to teach me what He is truly about.

Christian Kung Fu

It’s not the sin you do
It’s the way you do

The way you ignore what’s true
Walking around without a clue

Look at the grass’s dew
How birds going south just flew

Every animal from dog to emu
Seems to claim what is so true

Why do you claim to be some guru
Just because you’ve sat in a pew

Like you’re trying to throw a coup
But you’re in a river with no canoe

You claim to know Christian Kung Fu
Do people really buy into you

Why don’t you learn what’s true
The time is way overdue

Why don’t you get a clue
Not like this is a complicated haiku

Realize what God did for you
Sit down and let it stew

You know what He claims is true
Jesus Christ died for you

Side Effects

A person in my life has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and with that comes the medications that doctors recommend. These medications could have some really good effects on him but there is the possibility of some side effects. He said that one of the things that can really get him down in life is when he reads all of the side effects that the medication might have on him. When he said this, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. What if instead of look at all of the possible bad side effects that could happen in our life we looked at all the benefits that might come to pass?

As Christians we can be plagued by the “What If’s” and endless possibility of death and destruction that can cause serious chaos in our walk with God. What if we do what God says and die to ourselves and live for Christ? You would no longer care that you might fail. You might change the world for God’s glory. We would no longer worry so much that we miss the greatest opportunities of our lives. Because when you really think about it, the “What If’s” in life can not only handicap us but they can paralyze us.

The Bible says that in order to save your life, you have to lose it. The enemy will make you doubt yourself, God will set you free. Trust God, He will show you what to do. Have no worries. When God sets the plan for your life, all it takes is a step of faith towards him and His ways for you to start to feel the fullness of His love. He loves you and if you truly believe that, then you know that He will never make you go through something that is not good for you in the overall scheme of things. God lets you experience trials in life so that you learn to have faith in Him. When God tells us what to do, why do we question it?

Our entire lives could be spent looking at all the bad things that could happen in our lives because of the choices that we make. But, think of all the good things that might not happen because we were too scared of the bad side effects that might happen.

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. Trust God and know that the good benefits will always outweigh the bad side effects that might not even happen at all.

Grateful for my Job

The job I have is not the highest paying or the most noteworthy job in the world. But, it is a job and for that, I am grateful. In this economy and considering the current unemployment rates, having a job is definitely a blessing.

On the other hand, my job is not the job I want for the rest of my life and it is a job that almost no one aspires to have as a career. As I go through my day, there are times when I find myself thinking about what other people most think of me because of the job I hold. I can almost feel their judging looks pierce through my skin and scorch my heart. I mean, not everyone gives me that kind of look but at times, my mind imagines that they do. I find that I have to constantly and consistently remind myself that it is God Himself who has allowed me to have the job that I have and that He has in fact blessed me with this job.

You see, unfortunately, in this life too many people think that just because they don’t have the ideal job or even one that somebody else might want, that they are wasting their time. This is just not true. God can use us in any situation that we are in and in any job that we hold. In fact, it is when we least expect that God can use us that He usually shows us how much we are being used for His Glory. Maybe He put you in your job so that you could witness to a particular person that you work with. Maybe He gave you your job so that you would acquire a certain skill that you will need in the future. Maybe He is letting you see the world from a different perspective then you normally would so that when you are on the other side, you won’t forget where you have been. You never know where someone has been or what has led to them getting a certain job. Life throws a lot of different circumstances at people and most just try to cope the best they can. Frankly, the job they are working is putting food on the table and a roof over their head and sometimes that is exactly what someone needs.

I am grateful for my job right now. I have free time to read books, do Bible study, listen to music and write as much as I want. My job is giving me a much needed break from school and in a way that has been a huge blessing for me. I have learned that having the right perspective can change everything. So cheer up. Look on the bright side of life. Don’t judge people by their job but by who they are. You never know when you might be in there shoes.

Honorology

Over the past two weeks I have had the privilege to watch the sermon series Honorology that Elevation Church has been broadcasting through their website. It is a subject that I feel has indeed been skipped somehow by my generation. I feel like the points that Pastor Furtick makes are spot on and are sermons that every person should have to watch.

1) The devil is in the details of dishonor.
2) Honor is a language and a lifestyle.
3) True honor is never mechanical or manipulative.
4) We don’t have to wait until someone is dead to honor them.

Honor just is not in our society today at all. If it is ever seen it is considered to be old fashioned, a thing of the past. What people fail to realize is how powerful honor really is. It is amazing how one act of honor can and does affect everyone who is a part of it or witnesses it.

There are simple things that it seems that parents have forgotten to teach their children that show honor to everyone around them. How to say, please, thank you, you’re welcome, excuse me, etc… How to respect adults no matter what the age difference is and for that matter how they should have a certain level of respect for everyone in general. They have even forgotten to teach their children the kind of respect that they should have for them as parents. One of the main commands that God gives children is that they are supposed to honor their mother and father. I cannot tell you the number of times I have been embarrassed by what someone I know says to their parents. If I said that to my parents…..never mind…..I would not even think of speaking to my parents in the tone of voice that I have heard kids speak to their parents with. I know that when I was a kid that I probably was never perfect about it but when I did mess it up you can be sure that my parents let me know about it. But, nowadays, it is common place. No one even seems to notice. Frankly, who would want to be a parent anymore? Talk about built in birth control reminders.

In the same sentence it should be mentioned how there is a lack of honor shown from parents towards their children. As a parent, you owe it to your kid to raise them to the best of your abilities. One of the main ways that I think that parents can honor their kids is to teach them to be the best human beings that they can be. Teach them respect, honor, how to speak properly, how to read, manners, independence, money management, how to eat right, how to take care of themselves, self-confidence and basic hygiene. When you become a parent the next 18+ years of your life are now about raising that kid to become a well adjusted functioning adult. You honor them by honoring your commitment to raise them like they should be raised.

One of the places that honor seems to have completely left is dating relationships. From the very start of some relationships it seems like having an honorable relationship is the farthest thing from the mind of either party. When did it become okay for a girl to ask a guy out? If a guy does not have the guts to ask a girl out, then how will he have guts to do anything else farther down the line? When did relationships become solely about the physical and not about whom it is that you are possibly going to marry? A man should not only want to protect his own honor but also that of the woman that he might possibly be courting towards marriage. When did men stop opening doors for ladies, paying for their dates or asking their father for permission to date/marry their daughter? These things might seem simple yet they are game changers in relationships. The man is the head of the household and more men need to step up to the plate and get their families on the right path from the beginning of the relationship.

When did our generation forget that an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work was a good thing? It should not matter how low a job it is that you are doing, do it with honor and the people around you will notice the difference.

Honor is not a thing of the past. Like everything else in life, it comes back in style. Live your life with honor and show other people the way. Honor someone today.