A couple days ago I came across an article that someone shared on Facebook. This particular article talked about traits of youth who didn't leave the church after high school. It focused on three traits of those of us who stayed connected with a church. (Here is the article: http://www.faithit.com/3-common-traits-of-youth-who-dont-leave-the-church/#.U9cNAFwS0Zk.facebook) These were the traits they focused on:

1. They are converted

2. They have been equipped, not entertained

3. Their parents preached the gospel to them

After reading through the article I just had to share it because what it said resonated with me. Since I was on of those church kids who was there as much as I could (basically anytime the doors were open...), I could have easily fallen on either side of things based on home life and such. Yet here I am at 21 years of age serving in a year long internship position at my church here in Illinois where I moved to for school. I stayed connected with the church even though I was frustrated with it when I left for school. As I read through the article I couldn't help but think that these reasons that were stated were a big part of the reason why I am still connected and serving in and alongside a church. 

The first point is a big one. So often students proclaim that they are Christians and they attend all of the events and are at the church every Wednesday night and Sunday morning. Yet I have to ask...How many of those students are truly converted? How many of them have truly given their life to Him and are seeking daily to follow Him? How many are hearing what we say but in reality are not letting it change them? I'm going to take a guess that the number is higher than any of us want to admit. Yes, the events are fun and it is awesome to have a great attendance, but are they learning and growing while they participate is the question. We need to be teaching them and talking to them with the intent of conversion. We need to pray that God would do a mighty work in their lives and bring them wholly to Him. We can teach them and preach to them week after week and at event after event, but what good is it if they don't experience that true conversion. We should want them to be hungry to know more about Him and to want to serve Him, which is what happens when they give their lives to Him.

This second one really hits a note with me. So often the focus of youth group is merely to entertain the students for an hour or two and maybe throw in a short Bible study time. Nothing to fancy or in-depth, but enough to make it seem like we know what we are talking about and that they are getting something of substance. We get focused on the number in attendance instead of the learning and growth that should take place. Growing up in a church that had activities going on year round both locally and on the district, I am totally an advocate for having good times full of harmless fun and pure goofiness!! Yet I have seen and experienced first hand what happens when we take the focus off of equipping students and put on the fun. How can we expect students to go out and stay connected with a church or share the gospel when we don't equip them with the tools to do so? Once a student has converted and has accepted Him it is our job to help disciple them and teach them so that they can go out and do the same with others. Students should be leaving our ministries knowing how to study their Bible, how to read their Bible, and how to disciple others to become followers. If they don't know these simple things, what good are we doing?

This last one is where I could have went either way when I left home. My mom was a Christian but my father wasn't. So the messages were mixed at home. Yet my mom made us go to church and participate in the various ministries. Did I always enjoy it? No. Did I learn and grow from it? Absolutely. She shared about Jesus at home and faith focused conversation was commonplace. My mom worked in children's and youth ministry, my grandpa was our pastor, and all of my extended family worked or served in ministry to some degree. So as my mom has said, I had no choice. I grew up in it and have now found myself getting a ministry degree in college and serving in various ministries in my church. My mom made sure that the gospel was a part of our lives, whether at home, at church or elsewhere. This is such a key part of raising children who walk with Him faithfully. 

Sadly, so many youth are walking away from the church. This happens often once they have left high school and are on their own. I think that if we want to start keeping our students in the church as they become young adults we really need to make sure that these three things mentioned above are a key part of their lives. For some students the various aspects of this will look different because of life situations, but it can still happen. Students come out of youth group often times lacking the basic knowledge of how to share their faith and what it really means. This alone causes many problems. Throw in lack of support or lack of information coming from home, a church environment focused on attendance and lack of a true conversion...suddenly things are a mess. 

We can so easily fix this for our students. Am I saying it is easy? Not at all. Am I saying that it would be worth it? YES. For us and for them. These students need us to step in and show them what it means to be a true follower. We don't have to have it all together or have all the answers. We just need to be genuine with them. We need to teach them what the Bible says and show them ways to share their faith. As they are leaving home to go to college, especially out of town, we need to encourage them and maybe even help them to find a place to plug in. 

One other aspect, we need to teach parents how to share their faith in their homes. We can do all of this with students but if they are getting a different message at home it makes things so much more difficult. Helping parents to grow in their faith and learn how to disciple others, especially their children, can make a huge difference.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with the points or disagree? How do you think we can best help our youth? Have you seen something done in ministries at your church that have helped this?

God Bless!

Currently I Am:

Making: Cute little wrapped gifts for volunteers at church and new blog posts!
Cooking: just finished making Raspberry Fudge Zebra Brownies. Yummy!

Making the Zebra Brownies with Caitlyn!

Drinking: a nice big, caffeinated cup of Pepsi
Reading: Our Last Great Hope: Awakening The Great Commission by Ronnie Floyd
Wanting: to see one of my most favorite people ever, my bestfriend Mike whom I haven't seen in a year and a half :(
Looking: like a tired hot mess. But for real though.
Wasting: precious time I could be using to sleep or do something productive to make work tomorrow easier...
Wishing: that I had a car, Nebraska wasn't so far away and that I was already done with college.
Enjoying: getting to finish the first season of Arrow!!
Waiting: for some things to happen and for them to fall in place in the best way possible
Liking: having some other college students finally around for more than just Sunday mornings.
Wondering: Why my body seems to want to go to bed but every time I try to get ready i'm suddenly wide awake again? Why, oh why must this happen night after night?!
Loving: friends and church family who have opened their arms and welcomed me into their homes and their lives.
Hoping: that I will be able to "catch up" on sleep...although it is likely impossible
Smelling: like a man. Good ol' Old Spice deodorant.
Wearing: my absolutely favorite Steve & Barry's hoodie that says Unathletic Dept. across the front and has holes in the sleeves. Most comfortable thing I own!
Noticing: that even at 21, these late nights sure do start to take a toll...I'm getting old lol.
Knowing: that God has a plan for me and for the summer that will far exceed anything that I try to plan out
Thinking: that i'm gonna hit the hay soon. And it's only 11:05pm...What?!
Giggling: about memories from this past school year :)
 Feeling: like a mix of different, random emotions. Also, like a zombie.

So, What are you up to?

This Weekend // Memorial Day

It's been a good weekend, but it has definitely felt like an extremely long one even in the midst of a lot of good. There were a lot of things that happened, although only a few were actually related to my internship.

 

 I had the day off Saturday, so I went to the Kankakee Farmer's Market with Bev and enjoyed wandering around the market, eating some great homemade pastries, and listening to some live music. On our way home we stopped by a very large and extremely busy greenhouse to get some flowers. I then enjoyed some time just reading and watching a movie. Then we went out to dinner at Lone Star Steakhouse and then Bev and I went to the movies. We saw Mom's Night Out and it was awesome!! Such a great movie! The cast was wonderful and I absolutely enjoyed it.

We then had an early morning of set up for church, although we didn't get there until about 7am. We did set up and ended up having a bit of a bare bones service due to a number of people being gone. It was still a good morning of worship. That evening I helped with JourneyKids and it was quite an interesting end to the year. It always amazes me the variations of Bible stories that the children come up with!

This morning Andy and I spent time doing some work in town and then came back home with everyone for a Memorial Day cookout/lunch. We had a great lunch of grilled salmon and grilled pork, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, croissants, and fruit salad. Then a really good apple tart dessert. It was a good day just hanging out and relaxing. This afternoon I took the time to make the dessert for small group tomorrow night and used some of Caitlyn's help.

I made Raspberry Fudge Zebra Brownies, although the topping recipe I followed wasn't the greatest, but we made it work. Caitlyn was pleased with herself for cracking an egg without getting any shell in the bowl! 

 

The brownies turned out pretty good! It was fun to be able to do a little baking and to have Caitlyn's help. It definitely made things go a little faster. We were listening to and singing along with the Disney station on Pandora and the boys were complaining that it distracted them from watching baseball two rooms away! :) Silly boys! 

A quick and easy dinner was in order after such a long day and then a movie and some more relaxing. It was a good weekend and a nice day to kind of get a little bit of rest before the week starts and the rest of the interns officially start. It was a good kick off to the summer!

 

Happy Memorial Day! 

Thank you to all of the service men and women in all the 

different branches of the Armed Forces. I am truly grateful for 

all that you do to allow us to have the liberties that we do!

Crying...Screaming...Or Something

This is me.

When I get upset or something really just hits too close to home, I close up.
I turn myself off emotionally and almost completely mentally as well.
I put up walls to keep people out because it hurts too much to talk about all of it.
So I just sit there and think through it all.
I process it slowly and in my own time.
In some cases I even find myself dwelling in something because I get so lost in thought I can't get out.

People always make it seem like I should be having an emotional breakdown or something. Yet I don't think that that is the right way for me to handle any of it. This whole thing with putting up walls and shutting down is something that has been a survival mechanism for me. I started using it during 5th & 6th grade and I have just perfected it over the years. Sometimes I am able to use it more effectively than others and some people (although only a few) have gotten to know me enough that they can see through it. Yet despite these factors, I often find that this is my best survival skill. This often includes putting on a smile and saying things like "I'm fine" or "Everything is good" in order to make people believe me. Sad thing is...people rarely see through the smile and semi-false statements. It can make things difficult, but I have to remind myself that it is only difficult because I make it that way.

While this has been an easy way to get by without having to deal with emotions in the presence of others, it has also become a hindrance to my roles in my church and in ministry in general. So much of what we do as a church is relational and that means that we are sharing our lives with others, both the good and the bad. That whole shutting down thing can kinda put a dent in that whole relational part of everything. I am good with talking with them through their issues and problems, but I don't find it easy to share anything beyond the surface of my issues and problems. I try not to deal with the emotions around others, but building relationships often times means that I need to share emotions with others even if it is hard for me.

And let's not sugar coat it....It is very hard for me to deal with emotions around others. VERY hard.

It always has been. I won't say that it always will be because with some help from family, friends, and God I can learn how to share those emotions with others in a positive way. It is something that I have been working on in the last year or so and something that I will definitely be continuing to work on this summer. The fact that this particular issue of shutting down has been pointed out a couple times now is what really has the whole issue on my mind. It is a very prevalent issue right now in my life and I am trying to figure out how to fix this habit.

I know that God will help me get to where I need to be in this area and while it is most likely going to be a rough road & a struggle, it will be worth it in the end. His plans are always better than our own. I know His plan likely does not include room for me to shut down and hold all emotions inside of myself. He wants me to build those relationships with people and that means that I have to be real with people. This includes being real about how I feel about different things and situations.

Have any of you dealt with this issue? What helped you get past it? How have your relationships with others changed since you became more open? In what ways has God helped you in this area or how has He worked through you despite this issue?

Church In The Park

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!

The weather today, while cloudy & overcast, was absolutely gorgeous!

I was blessed to be able to spend the morning having church outside at the State Park.

It was a wonderful day to have church outside at the park.

From left: Mike, Nate, Malik, & Andy

The guys put together an awesome acoustic set for this morning.

They played some of my favorite worship songs this morning which just made it that much better.

Only a few songs were played/sung, but it was perfect.

Chad then preached a short sermon/message.

Kallie bug listening to Pastor Chad.

After the message we had a cookout.

Hotdogs & hamburgers, chips, cookies, and an assortment of other food brought by various people.

Cooking up the burgers & dogs

 Some of us adults walked a handful of the kids down the river.

One family brought their dog and he was enjoying the cool water in the river.

A prayer was said and lunch was eaten.

It was a great time of fellowship with the church family.

After lunch one of the girls from youth group, Erin, wanted to go on the trail, so Andy and I hopped on bikes and went with her.

It was a lot of fun.

Lots of silly moments followed by laughs and silly comments.

It was definitely a good time.

When we got back we said goodbye to Erin, her sister Emily, & Emily's boyfriend Andrew.

We then started to pack things up & we headed to Pastor Chad's house.

We hung out for a bit and then had dinner at Aurelio's.

Now i'm relaxing and watching some movies by myself.

All in all it was a great day with an awesome church family!

I am so blessed to be a part of such an awesome church & to get to share these moments with them.

It was a great way to spend the Memorial Day Weekend.

Tomorrow there will be some more festivities.

Looking forward to spending the day & evening with everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful & relaxing Memorial Day Weekend so far!!

God bless!

**Pictures taken by Rachel Ozee.

If Only...

What if?

We often ask this question every day in regards to something that has been said or done at some point in out lives.

Maybe we ask it in regards to little things, such as "What if I had roomed with someone else Freshman year of college?" or maybe we ask it in regards to big things, such as "What if I hadn't yelled at & degraded my significant other?".

This question can take on many forms and it can range from extremely little things to extremely large, life altering things.

Sometimes we can find ourselves getting lost in our thoughts as we question "What if..." in regards to different aspects of our lives, whether we could have altered it or if our "What ifs..." are really what it would have been like.

We can become so consumed with trying to figure out what could have been if we did something differently, that we often times find ourselves unable to keep ourselves from making decisions that leave us with more "What if..." moments.

On a personal level, I ask myself "What if..." on a regular basis in regards to things that have happened.

What if I had chosen to go to bed early the other night?

What if I hadn't ordered pizza for supper two nights this week?

What if I hadn't reacted that way to his simple inquiry about how I was doing?

What if I would have stepped out of my comfort zone and asked what his intentions were?

What if I would have opened myself up to let him into my heart?

What if I did not have trust issues?

What if I had had a father who was active in my life?

What if I had had a father who was a positive presence in my life?

What if?

I could go on and on with this list, but I think this makes my point.

I ask myself these questions about multitudes of things on a daily basis.

As much as I hate to admit it, I often find myself dwelling on these "What ifs" and it ends up affecting my mood & my life.

It is not that it is always bad for me to wonder, but when I let that affect the way I live now...that's when there is a problem.

I cannot change what has happened and it can be damaging to me to dwell on those things.

God does not want me to dwell on those things.

He wants me to focus on my present so that I can try to limit the number of "What ifs" I have later on.

When we focus on our past and the "What ifs" that come along with that, we are likely to end up having "What ifs" about how our lives are going now because we were so worried about the past.

We need to seek God's help in accepting the past and working on doing our best to remove "What if" moments from life.

We will never be able to completely avoid "What if" moments, but we can do our best to limit them.

There is also a part of us as humans that feels the need to talk about these things with someone, but maybe we're afraid.

But as members of a Christian community, we always have people to talk to who will not judge us.

Seek out those people and ask them to talk with you and pray with you, even hold you accountable to handle things differently in similar situations in the future.

If you're not a part of a Christian (Church) family/community, then look for a friend who you feel you can trust or look for a church and get to know someone there and talk to them.

The family of God is our support system, whether Christians or not, and that does not just mean on the good days.

They are there on the bad days and through the tough times.

It is so much easier to go through these things with people by your side.

I encourage to find someone to talk to or to talk to God.

I also encourage you not to dwell on the "What ifs".

Do not let them control your life.

Put them behind you, put them in God's hands.

He has far greater things for you!!

***NOTE: My pastor has been doing a series on this topic at church on Sunday mornings and you can find recordings of these to listen to on our website... Journey Church

Just Needed To Share Something

Ok, so I just wanted to share something and thought this was the perfect place.

This week we are doing Block Parties at parks throughout the community.

We have been joined this week by a missions team from Arkansas (about 30 people).

Patrick had quite a day yesterday organizing everything with the team throughout the day as well as getting things ready for the Block Party last night.

So after he came and got me we headed back to the park.

We get there and the mission team is out there just having a blast with everything.

They had different booths set up with various things.

They had a tent set up where Faith was doing balloon animals (and other things) and Naomi and some of the other girls were doing face painting.

Jerry was all about doing the cotton candy. Well at least he was when he wasn't going around to other booths and talking with us and the kids that were there.

Justin had a game set up and so did Jessica.

There were hot dogs, popcorn, and sno cones.

There was music going. (And some dancing every now and then as well.)

It was a great time getting to talk with some of the people from the neighborhood and even getting a chance to get better acquainted with the mission team from Arkansas.

Being me, I was watching the different people come and go and kinda watching how long they were lingering around and talking to people.

There was one couple that was there who i'd been watching, and apparently so had some of the Arkansas mission team.

This couple had gotten there when it started and they were definitely lingering.

I grabbed a card with some of our info and a little map of our location and then headed on over to talk to them some more.

I sat down and got to talking with them again.

Made some connections with them through Olivet, as well as through where we were from.

We then got to talking about some random things and then he asked me how I got connected with Journey Church.

So I told him how I started coming and how I really started getting involved.

I talked a little about the summer mission team.

And then he surprised me by sharing some of his church history.

As he shared that and I talked to him a little more about Journey, it was clear that he was interested in Journey and thinking about coming to church.

They both seemed very interested in the church and said they'd really like to check it out.

Talk about the whole crazy day being worth it.

And like Patrick made a point of, those two people may never have even considered going to church, specifically speaking ours, if we hadn't sat down and talked with them for two hours.

That process of building a relationship with them and building trust with them is what opens the doors to get them interested in the church and interested in learning more about God.

It was such a great opportunity to get to know them!

Seeing them warm up to us and to the possibility of coming to church as we were sitting there talking was incredible.

I'm praying that God will be working in their hearts this week through the seed that we planted last night.

And even if we don't see them at church, at least we know that we made an impact in there lives.

And that is why we are doing this.

That is what we are all about.

The devil may have tried to tear everyone down all day, but in the end God prevailed.

God was moving and He will continue to move this week!

 

Some Things Are Not As Dead As They Seem

I'm really not sure how to go about starting out this post.

I have some good things to share and some not so good as well.

I guess I will start with the good.

God has blessed me tremendously!

I have a church family in Illinois that has accepted me as I am and where I am.

They have more than opened their arms to me.

They have wrapped me up in the church family.

I feel like I am truly accepted by my church family and I haven't felt that way in a church in many, many years.

(Yes, I call them my church family. This may seem weird to those of you in Nebraska, and maybe even to a degree it may seem as though I am turning my back on you all. I still love you all, but this is a new chapter in my life and I have my own life in Illinois and this includes my church.)

God has placed me amongst a church family that is truly amazing.

Without them this summer would have been a very long, lonely, boring summer.

They have made Bourbonnais feel like home.

I couldn't have ever asked for what they have given me.

I appreciate it all and I am extremely thankful to everyone for what they have done for me.

I have to talk about the Mission Team again.

They are all amazing and I am grateful to have this summer with them.

I have to focus on the guys because I have spent the most time with them.

These guys are such a great influence in my life and I think God has put them in my life for a reason, possibly multiple reasons.

These guys blow the phrase "Chivalry is dead" out of the water.

They never fail to go out of their way to make sure the females that are with them at the time are taken care of first or put first in general.

This is something that I haven't grown up with and am not used to.

I have to make a conscious effort not to chastise them about it because I know that they are doing exactly what they are supposed to and it is my job to encourage them as their sister in Christ.

I may not have grown up with it, but it is something that I am slowly getting used to.

It is becoming something that I expect.

These guys have been such a positive influence in my life in how I view men.

I have never had this example of chivalry or of guys being gentleman before.

It is nice to know that there are guys who are still being raised with those standards.

It just makes me hope that I will end up marrying a man who is like this guys and who will be the example of a true chivalrous gentleman to any kids he is around or helps raise.

The guys on the mission team have no idea how high they have made me raise my standards.

They're just making it that much harder for a guy to get me to date him.

I appreciate all of their influence more than they can imagine.

I am and have been truly blessed by these Godly men on the mission team.

My boys.

I got to spend time with two of the boys that I have babysat since they were born.

I took them out to dinner this evening and then we watched some AFV and cuddled on the couch after we took a ton of pictures.

I love those boys like crazy and hate to have to say goodbye.

It's hard to say goodbye and watch them get mad because you're leaving again.

It makes it really hard.

I cannot wait until October when I get to come back and see them again.

Ok, so now for the lengthy section of not so good stuff.

I grew up in the Nazarene church (I got to a baptist church now).

I grew up in the church my grandpa pastored.

When I was a kid I loved going to my church and I loved all the people there.

This lasted until probably around 5th grade.

At this point I realized how much the church and those in leadership positions were concerned about the politics of the church. Most of the time the politics of the church were viewed as more important than the church itself.

Now maybe it's just me, but I don't think that that is how God wants the church to be.

I learned a lot of lessons from the church and the people in it over the next 7 years.

Although I have to say that the majority of them were not positive like you might expect.

I learned a lot of lessons I figured I would learn from the world rather than the church.

Some of the things that I learned are:

-People are not necessarily to be trusted (with personal matters or otherwise)

-People  will tear you down and rip you apart to get what they want

-If you don't suck up to people then you mean nothing to them

-People don't really care what you have to say or what you think

-Emotions are also highly overrated

-If you are a child of a pastor (senior, youth, etc.) you're automatically held to a much higher standard than everyone else and the slightest slip means you get looked down upon by everyone

-And many other lessons could be listed.

As you can see I didn't really learn anything positive from the church here.

It's hard to come home and go to the church here.

I feel like I should be excited to come back here and see everyone at church, but in all honesty I have a hard time even making myself go to church here.

I haven't had a connection with anyone here in years.

I hardly even went my last two years of high school.

It wasn't that I didn't want to go to church, because I really did.

Rather I didn't want to go because every time I was there I felt like I was being stared at and judged by everyone there. It didn't feel welcoming at all.

And ever since I left for school last August, the only people from the church who have contacted me at all are the parents of the kids I babysat.

No one else contacted me at all, but they were constantly talking to and conversing with the other college students from the church.

I can tell you why that is but I will refrain because it would end up being a rather lengthy description.

It was just hard being at church this Sunday because I felt very much like people would have even noticed I was there had it not been for the 3 adults that actually did care and make an effort to keep up on how I am doing while i'm in Illinois.

I really just wanted to leave within minutes of being there.

Had it not been for one of my boys coming and sitting with me during service it would have been a very long morning.

It also helped when I got a text from McKenzie.

After asking about the trip back here, he told me that everyone at Journey was asking where I was.

People have no idea how much that means to me.

The fact that they noticed that I wasn't there since i've only been going for about 5 months is something I wouldn't have expected.

The church here that I went to for 13 years didn't even ask that the first Sunday I was away at college. Not a single one of them.

Journey has been a blessing and I hope to stay apart of the church and their ministry for the next few years at least.

Now to get to family stuff.

If only I could share everything that is on my mind relating to this topic.

I can't do so because some of it shouldn't be shared and there is just far too much on my mind regarding the subject.

The main thing right now has to deal with my mom.

I like to come back here to visit for a few days, but it is very hard to come back.

When i'm at school my mom encourages all of the things I do and has not an issue with any of it.

Soon as i'm back here she treats me like i'm in middle school still.

I'm going to be 20yrs old in 6 months.

I am an adult but she treats me like a kid all the time when i'm home.

It makes it really hard to come back here to visit.

It's making me really consider just staying in Illinois for the summers and for a while after graduating.

I don't know that I will come back to Nebraska to live.

I love Nebraska but I just can't do it anymore.

Well, that is as far as I am going to go into those topics on here for the evening.

I really just wish there was someone I could talk to.

I feel the need to just have an actual conversation and discuss things face to face with someone.

Oh well, I do not have that opportunity at the moment.

It's going to be a long night of packing, listening/singing to music, and praying.

God has gotten me this far and I have no doubt that He will get me through whatever is coming.

It is through Him that I can do all things!!

My Jesus Would Never Be Accepted In My Church

Before reading farther into this post, please take a minute to watch (or rather listen) to this video.

Take the 6 minutes, play the song and close your eyes and listen.

 Ignore all of the distractions and focus on the lyrics.

I promise you that it is worth it.

(Just in case anyone wants them:  My Jesus by Todd Agnew Lyrics )

Have you ever taken the time to realize who Jesus really is?

Who the Jesus that you serve, worship, and praise truly is?

Have you ever stopped to figure out whether you are truly following Jesus or rather a Jesus that fits your world and your life better?

Which Jesus do you serve?

Do you serve the Jesus that people paint pictures of that is perfect with brown hair and blue eyes?

The Jesus that makes you feel comfortable?

Or do you serve the Jesus that makes any others feel uncomfortable because He isn't picture perfect?

Are you following the Jesus that was beaten, whipped, and hung on the cross?

The first sounds like the Jesus that would fit our worlds her on earth, but the second sounds like the Jesus that I want to serve.

The sad part is that many Churches prefer to stay with the first.

The second is not welcome in most Churches.

There is just one problem with that.

We cannot pick which side of Jesus that we want to follow and serve.

Following and serving Him means doing so wholly.

It means that we follow the comfortable and the uncomfortable.

Ephesians 5:1-2

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

We are supposed to live lives that are honoring to God. 

According to Ephesians, we should be imitating the God we say we serve.

We should be doing it everyday, all day.

Yet how many times do we go about our lives without even taking the time to think about the way that God would want us to go about our lives??

If you stop to take a look around then you would realize that our world is centered on materialism.

Even worse is when you look around and see that the church has become centered on it as well.

We want to have the big building with the fancy windows, elegant molding, and the best furnishings that can be bought on a church budget.

We are so focused on the appearance of the church that it seems as though we forget about the Church itself.

(To clarify, the church- the building and Church- the family of believers)

What would happen if we actually spent time following Jesus' footsteps and caring for the poor, the disabled, and those that can't help themselves?

What if we stepped out and conversed with, even possibly get to know, those that many in the church/Church would refer to as 'sluts', 'prostitutes', or 'hookers'?

What about the alcoholics, the drug addicts, or porn addicts?

What do you think would  happen if we started spending time with those that most consider to be less than themselves??

 It may be uncomfortable for us at first, but the difference we could make if we were to step outside of our comfort zones could be astronomical.

So why are we not doing it?

Why are we idling sitting by?

If we want to make a difference we need to have a desire to be like Jesus.

We have to be willing to be uncomfortable if that is what it takes to follow His will.

Stepping out in faith and following Him.

That is what it takes.

 (I want to go on with this but I do not want to drag it on and risk being redundant. A post in the future based on the same topic is possible though.)

What does it mean to be fearless??

To many of us to be fearless means that we are not afraid of anything.

We're not afraid of spiders, storms, flying, the dark, public speaking, and many other things.

But I want to change up the question a bit.

What does it mean to be fearless in living out your faith?

That changes things a bit.

Many of us may not even take a minute out of our lives to think about what it truly means to live out a faith and be fearless while doing so.

It doesn't mean we can't be afraid of the things I mentioned above, but rather that we are not afraid of standing up for the faith we believe in. It means that we should not be afraid of the outcomes

that we may face because of our faith. We cannot let ourselves be afraid of what others think

or might say about us because of our faith. We should not be afraid of being persecuted

for our faith or being called out because of it. 

Being afraid to share our faith and to live it out in our day to day lives.

People in other countries are being beaten, burned to death, shot, murdered, imprisoned, and being persecuted in many other ways because of their faith and their willingness to live it out daily.

These people do not denounce their faith or try to hide it in order to make their lives easier.

They do not try to pretend that they do not believe to protect themselves.

These people are living out their faith fearlessly.

What are we doing?

How are we living out our faith fearlessly?

Are we even challenged to live it out fearlessly in our society?

We are extremely lucky to live in the United States because we have the option to worship freely in public arenas, public schools, even public parks.

We are not restricted to underground churches that constantly have to change location.

We do not have to worry about our church buildings being raided.

We do not have to worry about law enforcement coming into our place of worship and arresting us.

We are free to live out our faith in every arena that we are in.

Yet for some reason we do not.

We do not truly live out our faith fearlessly.

We have gotten so comfortable in our little churches and going to services and doing our mission trips to various geographic ares.

We have let ourselves settle into routine.

We are comfortable.

I think it is time we made ourselves uncomfortable.

We need to step outside of our boxes and outside of our comfort zones.

Some of the most amazing opportunities to share our faith is in those moments where we are uncomfortable and outside of our little bubbles.

If God wanted this life to be easy and comfortable He would have made it that way.

But I do not think that He wanted this life to be easy.

What would be the point of it all if life was easy?

Life is hard but that is the beauty of it.

And living out our faith fearlessly is not easy.

It is not going to be easy.

But God wants us to do it anyways.

We need to be fearless in our faith so that we can advance His kingdom, so we can bring many more people to Him.

We have a mission and being fearless in our faith is the way we will succeed.

We can do all things through Him who gives us strength.

God will empower us if we have the desire.

It is time to live fearlessly.