O LORD,
I am a shell full of dust,
but animated with an invisible rational soul
and made anew by an unseen power of grace;
Yet I am no rare object of valuable price,
but one that has nothing and is nothing,
although chosen of thee from eternity,
given to Christ, and born again;
I am deeply convinced of the evil and misery of a sinful state, of
the vanity of creatures,
but also of the sufficiency of Christ.
When thou wouldst guide me I control myself,
When thou wouldst be sovereign I rule myself.
When thou wouldst take care of me I suffice myself.
When I should depend on thy providings I supply myself,
When I should submit to thy providence I follow my will,
When I should study, love, honour, trust thee, I serve myself;
I fault and correct thy laws to suit myself,
Instead of thee I look to man's approbation,
and am by nature an idolater.
Lord, it is my chief design to bring my heart back to thee.
Convince me that I cannot be my own god,
or make myself happy,
nor my own Christ to restore my joy,
nor my own Spirit to teach, guide, and rule me.
Help me to see that grace does this by providential affliction,
for when my credit is god thou dost cast me lower,
when riches are my idol thou dost wing them away,
when pleasure is my all thou dost turn it into bitterness.
Take away my roving eye, curious ear, greedy appetite, lustful heart;
Show me that none of those things
can heal a wounded conscience,
or support a tottering frame,
or uphold a departing spirit.
Then take me to the cross and leave me there.
- an old Puritan prayer of confession
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Columbine: Ten Years Later
Yahoo News has a fascinating look at one survivor of the Columbine shootings that took place ten years ago today. It's good to hear of the good things that came out of such a horrible tragedy.
I was a youth minister in Colorado at the time, and although none of my students went to Columbine High School, a couple of my students lived nearby and went to middle school with a couple of the victims. My wife was working at a middle school a few miles away at the time, and when news reports started coming in about the shooting, they locked down all the schools in the area and I couldn't get a hold of her. It was a scary moment because there were rumors that other schools were also being attacked and I didn't know if it was true or not.
The next day our church held a service to deal with the shock in our community over the tragedy - the fact that it happened in a relatively wealthy area of Colorado made some people realize that anything can happen anytime and anywhere.
It's amazing to think of all the things in my own life that have happened in that ten-year span: I've lived in four different states, had six different ministries (yikes!), and have had a ton of experiences. But I will always remember what took place at Columbine ten years ago.
I was a youth minister in Colorado at the time, and although none of my students went to Columbine High School, a couple of my students lived nearby and went to middle school with a couple of the victims. My wife was working at a middle school a few miles away at the time, and when news reports started coming in about the shooting, they locked down all the schools in the area and I couldn't get a hold of her. It was a scary moment because there were rumors that other schools were also being attacked and I didn't know if it was true or not.
The next day our church held a service to deal with the shock in our community over the tragedy - the fact that it happened in a relatively wealthy area of Colorado made some people realize that anything can happen anytime and anywhere.
It's amazing to think of all the things in my own life that have happened in that ten-year span: I've lived in four different states, had six different ministries (yikes!), and have had a ton of experiences. But I will always remember what took place at Columbine ten years ago.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Pretty funny...
As someone who has been a victim of identity theft, it's amazing I can still laugh about that kind of stuff. This is funny though!
Hospital Visitations
Yesterday, I was the only official "minister" available to do some hospital visitations, and so I went to two different hospitals (thankfully at two different times) in order to pray and encourage those who were in the hospital.
It's one of my biggest struggles as a minister.
I think hospitals remind me of two things: (1) when my mom was suffering from cancer, she was in the hospital a lot and being in a hospital brings me back to 1987-1989; (2) my own trips to the hospital for brain surgery. I am totally out of my comfort zone when I'm in a hospital and have to really pray for courage and peace of mind when I'm in one.
Hospital visitation at a new ministry position is even harder.
In both instances yesterday, I had never met those who were in the hospital. And I had no idea if they had seen me or been to worship since I've been at the church. Which means there was a good chance that I would be wandering around each hospital calling out their name. Thankfully that didn't happen. But it was still awkward.
It only makes it even more awkward when you feel like you're the third string minister who is showing up because the first two can't make it (one was out of town, one was sick). "Hi, my name is Adam, you might have seen me on a Sunday morning, and by the way ________ and _________ couldn't be here, so I hope that having me here brings some encouragement."
Yesterday, as I was leaving the second hospital, I was reminded of a time in my own life when I was grateful for someone visiting me in the hospital, someone I had never met before. When I had my first brain surgery in Arizona, I was on the church staff (as an intern), and I had the entire church staff and eldership show up at the hospital to pray for me before surgery. Four months later I had to have the surgery again. This time I was no longer employed by the church (I was supposed to take a college internship at a large church in the Phoenix area, but because of my second brain surgery, that fell through so I was in between ministries) and I guess staff and elders at the church I had given my all for a year decided I wasn't worth visiting a second time, so I was all alone. About fifteen minutes before I was going to be whisked into the surgery room, a Baptist minister was walking by. He stopped in my room and said he was walking through the hall asking patients if they wanted him to pray for them, and he asked if I wanted the same. I told him yes. He prayed for me, shook my hand and left. Even though I had never met this man, I was so thankful that he showed up.
And hopefully the people I visited yesterday, even though they had never met me, even though I was the "third option," felt the same way.
It's one of my biggest struggles as a minister.
I think hospitals remind me of two things: (1) when my mom was suffering from cancer, she was in the hospital a lot and being in a hospital brings me back to 1987-1989; (2) my own trips to the hospital for brain surgery. I am totally out of my comfort zone when I'm in a hospital and have to really pray for courage and peace of mind when I'm in one.
Hospital visitation at a new ministry position is even harder.
In both instances yesterday, I had never met those who were in the hospital. And I had no idea if they had seen me or been to worship since I've been at the church. Which means there was a good chance that I would be wandering around each hospital calling out their name. Thankfully that didn't happen. But it was still awkward.
It only makes it even more awkward when you feel like you're the third string minister who is showing up because the first two can't make it (one was out of town, one was sick). "Hi, my name is Adam, you might have seen me on a Sunday morning, and by the way ________ and _________ couldn't be here, so I hope that having me here brings some encouragement."
Yesterday, as I was leaving the second hospital, I was reminded of a time in my own life when I was grateful for someone visiting me in the hospital, someone I had never met before. When I had my first brain surgery in Arizona, I was on the church staff (as an intern), and I had the entire church staff and eldership show up at the hospital to pray for me before surgery. Four months later I had to have the surgery again. This time I was no longer employed by the church (I was supposed to take a college internship at a large church in the Phoenix area, but because of my second brain surgery, that fell through so I was in between ministries) and I guess staff and elders at the church I had given my all for a year decided I wasn't worth visiting a second time, so I was all alone. About fifteen minutes before I was going to be whisked into the surgery room, a Baptist minister was walking by. He stopped in my room and said he was walking through the hall asking patients if they wanted him to pray for them, and he asked if I wanted the same. I told him yes. He prayed for me, shook my hand and left. Even though I had never met this man, I was so thankful that he showed up.
And hopefully the people I visited yesterday, even though they had never met me, even though I was the "third option," felt the same way.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Phil Wickham Live
Enjoy...
This last one is one of my favorites, but I couldn't find his live video. Oh well! You can still hear it.
This last one is one of my favorites, but I couldn't find his live video. Oh well! You can still hear it.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Where's Waldo?
Can you find him?
Last week Rutgers University students broke the Guinness World Record for the "World's Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Waldo" from Where's Waldo. They held a charity event, and a whopping 1,052 people showed up wearing red and white stripes.
Last week Rutgers University students broke the Guinness World Record for the "World's Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Waldo" from Where's Waldo. They held a charity event, and a whopping 1,052 people showed up wearing red and white stripes.
How Decisions Are Made
Or as I should really phrase it, how MY decisions are made.
I was thinking about this today when I went into the closet in my home office looking for something and found a big piece of paper that Noelle drew. My thoughts led me to this question:
In all the decisions in my life - major ones, that is - have I made each decision more with my head, or more with my heart?
My answer is really easy, actually. And I can point to the last major decision (besides getting this new job as worship minister) as the perfect example.
In September of last year, we were living with friends. Down in their basement. Which wasn't actually that bad. And we had a good time with them. We had just found out that my position at the church plant I was at was going to be reduced to a part-time position. Our house that we had watched go up before our eyes in Colorado was sold to someone else because our house in Ohio didn't sell. However, even though my pay was getting cut, we thought we could make ends meet because the friends we were staying with offered to pay Debby to watch their three-year-old rather than having him go to a daycare all day. With her salary and my part-time (plus me getting another part-time), we could make it work, with the hope of selling our house in Ohio. All logical conclusions pointed towards staying in Colorado. Although we had a house in Ohio, I had no job outlook. We had made the decision to make it work in Colorado when we first moved there, and this was an opportunity to continue that decision.
One night I got home and my daughter was drawing on a huge pad of paper on an easel. It looked like a house with some things inside the house. I asked her what she was drawing, and she said, "Our house in Ohio, with you, me, Mommy, Minnie (our dog), and Zoe (our cat) inside."
We moved back to Ohio.
And it all worked out.
I wish I could say that all my decisions in my life have been rational decisions that have been well-thought out and reasoned through. But I would have to say that most of them, including the decision to move back to Ohio, have been made with the heart rather than the mind.
I was thinking about this today when I went into the closet in my home office looking for something and found a big piece of paper that Noelle drew. My thoughts led me to this question:
In all the decisions in my life - major ones, that is - have I made each decision more with my head, or more with my heart?
My answer is really easy, actually. And I can point to the last major decision (besides getting this new job as worship minister) as the perfect example.
In September of last year, we were living with friends. Down in their basement. Which wasn't actually that bad. And we had a good time with them. We had just found out that my position at the church plant I was at was going to be reduced to a part-time position. Our house that we had watched go up before our eyes in Colorado was sold to someone else because our house in Ohio didn't sell. However, even though my pay was getting cut, we thought we could make ends meet because the friends we were staying with offered to pay Debby to watch their three-year-old rather than having him go to a daycare all day. With her salary and my part-time (plus me getting another part-time), we could make it work, with the hope of selling our house in Ohio. All logical conclusions pointed towards staying in Colorado. Although we had a house in Ohio, I had no job outlook. We had made the decision to make it work in Colorado when we first moved there, and this was an opportunity to continue that decision.
One night I got home and my daughter was drawing on a huge pad of paper on an easel. It looked like a house with some things inside the house. I asked her what she was drawing, and she said, "Our house in Ohio, with you, me, Mommy, Minnie (our dog), and Zoe (our cat) inside."
We moved back to Ohio.
And it all worked out.
I wish I could say that all my decisions in my life have been rational decisions that have been well-thought out and reasoned through. But I would have to say that most of them, including the decision to move back to Ohio, have been made with the heart rather than the mind.
Friday, April 03, 2009
March (and April) Madness - Remembering Basketball's Founder
Christianity Today magazine had an interesting article a couple of weeks ago on James Naismith, the person who brought us the game of basketball. Who knew that Naismith trained to be a Presbyterian minister and who developed the game of basketball at a YMCA? I didn't.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Frozen Four
As those of you who know me know, I'm a huge fan of hockey. This year has been tough for my favorite team, the Colorado Avalanche, so I'm turning my attention to college hockey for now. My favorite college hockey team is the Denver University Pioneers, but I also am rooting for the Miami University Redhawks, who have consistently over the last several years have had a good hockey team. However, this year they actually made the Frozen Four (think of the Final Four, but hockey instead of basketball) this year and will play in the semifinals against Bemidji State (who?) to get the chance to go to the finals. Ironically, Miami beat my Pioneers in the first round of the playoffs to get to where they are now, but I'm not holding it against them. I'm just glad Colorado College had a bad year. :^) (DU's rival)
Go Redhawks!
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