The Advent Conspiracy

Thanks to my friend Emily I have become aware of the Advent Conspiracy whose motto is Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All. The goal is for Christians to get back to the heart of Christmas Jesus, by giving to those who are less fortunate just as we were less fortunate so Jesus came to give himself for us. They highlight churches, colleges and individuals that give money to international organizations for global water and food needs, hosting fair trade sales, sponsoring gifts for the military, weekly offerings for food shelves, building in foreign countries and serving those in need in local communities.
So how can we be a part of the Advent Conspiracy this year? The same way we are each year by supporting our Adopt-a-Family program where we have the opportunity this year to serve 3 families that are currently served by the Cornerstone Mission. So join with us this year and bless these families!

Too Much Time

Too much time has passed since the last blog post. I have thought of several things in the past months that were blog worthy and never made it my priority to write them down here.

One that sticks out to me was watching the Chilean Mine Rescue. I held my breath (not literally or else I wouldn't be here) while the rescue cage entered the mine to reach the first miner. I was relieved when they made it to the men and then I had to hold my breath again as they started to bring him to the surface. I did this each time I saw the cage go down and prayed that the equipment would not fail and retain the men underground even longer.

As I watched and waited I enjoyed the commentary and how so many of the men swore that there were 34 men in the mine not just the 33 that we could see because God was with them. Amen! God was definitely with them in that mine as they were able to sustain for so long. I can't remember his exact number now but it may have been man 9 who upon reaching the surface and being released from the cage got down on his knees and prayed. I am sure he was thanking God for saving them and returning him to his family but his testament to the world as we watched was also great. He could have run straight to his family and the Chilean president but he knew that praising and thanking God should be first and that's what he did. Just like one of the ten lepers that Jesus healed this miner remembered to thank God for his wondrous work.

As we have come through the Thanksgiving season I hope that we all thanked God for what he has done in our lives in the past year. As we enter the Christmas season may we once again praise God for the gift of us son Jesus.

Sanctus Real

For those of you who were able to attend Hills Alive 2010 and see Sanctus Real you probably recall the lead singer Matthew talking about his baby boy Bowen who was to be born in September with a heart defect. I have not followed the story closely but heard an update on KSLT yesterday that little Bowen was on life support so I decided to look into what's been happening and it is truly amazing!
Bowen was born on September 9th and he, his parents and the doctors have been praying and working to sustain his life on this earth since that day. He has had surgeries and has been on life support. After watching a nurse sustain his life directly and the doctors go into surgery Matthew and his wife Sarah continued their prayer and shared this portion on their website: www.bowensheart.com "Father, if this is even a fraction of the pain that you felt when you gave us Your only Son…we thank You for letting Jesus die on the cross. Put into motion the redemptive and healing power of Your Son’s death to spare the life of ours.” Wow, what a prayer as you're watching your baby son fight for his life.
This prayer really spoke to me and made a tear run down my face but I love the comparison they give to their baby boy and the love they have for him in few short months compared to God's love for Jesus and for us and how he willing let Jesus suffer a horrible death so that we can live forever! How GREAT is our God!!!
Please pray for baby Bowen, Matthew, Sarah and their two daughters as they walk down this difficult road that God has placed them on.

Why We Do It?

Do you ever wonder why you come to youth group on Wednesdays? I know I wondered that in high school and realized that it was a place that I enjoyed going to because of the people and because of what I learned or how I was challenged. As I think of our Wednesday nights starting up again I have been pondering why do we do it? Why do we lead youth group? We can say that it started out of a necessity when Pastor Chris left but I can guarantee you it has not continued for that reason. I can truly say, I love doing it! For me Wednesdays, althought they require a commitment on my part (and Barry's) I love being around you guys and seeing what you have to say about your faith, about acting out your faith in public and seeing how you challenge both me and your peers in their faith.
There are times when I feel that I leave youth group on a Wednesday night having learned more than I feel I've taught and that's awesome. It's a great reminder that we're never to young or old to be a teacher or a learner and really we should strive to be both all the time. As we head into this year it is my prayer that you do question Why you do the things you do and that through questioning you come to a deeper understanding that includes because you love youth group, what we do, what we learn, and the people who are there each week!

A New Pastor?

Definately the question going around Zion is when will we get a new pastor. It's nice to have had a call meeting yesterday with a call extended to Pastor Nathaniel Schwartz of Lee's Summit, MO but it also a trying time. As we finish our 8th month without a full time pastor we may begin to wonder "when will we get a pastor", I know I've thought that from time to time. Then I am reminded that God is trying to teach me patience as he leads us through this process. He is also reminding me to "Be still and Know that I am God." Psalm 46:10
As I think about patience, something that is much easier said than done for many including me, I am reminded that God's timing is perfect. Then as I think of Psalm 46:10 I think of King David and I wonder what may have been going on in his life as he wrote "Be still and Know that I am God." He lived a life of being the youngest son wanting to be like his brothers. Then he entered the kings favor but that too faded and he had to run for his life literally. He encountered wild animals that he had to kill and he had to endure the death of not one but two sons. After looking at all of this I tell myself, if David can write "Be still and Know that I am God", then I should be able to endure the absence of a full time pastor.
Still, I do pray that Pastor Schwartz will accept our call so that we can continue to expand our ministry base here at Zion and so that we can once again have an earthly shepherd to guide us as a church.
Please pray for Pastor Schwartz and his family as they consider our call and seek God's guidance.

A Short Summer

If you're like me the summer has seemed incredibly short and at times you wonder if it ever showed up. We've had great weather, plenty of rain, no 100 degree days, we survived The Rally last week and the YWAP (Youth with a Purpose) made it to and from New Orleans without too much trouble and had a great time! Now our seniors are heading to college where they will once again be freshmen and I am left wondering, where did summer go?

However, I am excited for the school year to start up again because our normal schedule of meeting each week will be back in full swing! We have some exciting things planned and hope that you give us even more great ideas or maybe you will want to lead youth group one night, let us know!

September 24th we will have our first big event with the Bon Fire at church at 7:30pm. It should be a great time and come October we will have our semi-annual Chicken Run. I know I'm excited for that! Stay tuned for updates and we will see you again soon.

Pray for Pastor Asmus

This is a simple request for all to pray for Pastor Asmus and his wife Lisa as they travel to Rapid on Sunday. They will be visiting Zion as they consider the call to be the pastor here. We also pray that their time here will be blessed no matter what the final answer is regarding the call.

Congratulations Graduates!

It's June already and many of our Zion youth have graduated and the rest will graduate this coming weekend. Tonight we will be holding a special Baccalaureate/Senior Tribute night which will be a great time to celebrate the past 18 years and to look forward to what God has in store for each of you as you begin down the road of higher education.
We leave you with these words from The Sidewalk Prophets which definately speak to the heart of one parent at Zion whose senior is graduating.

"Three in the morning, And I'm still awake
So I pick up and pen and a page, And I started writing
Just what I'd say, If we were face to face
I'd tell you just what you mean to me, I'd tell you these simple truths"

"Be strong in the Lord and Never give up hope
You're going to do great things, I already know
God's got His hand on you so, don't live life in fear
Forgive and forget but don't forget why you're here
Take your time and pray, These are the words I would say"

"Last time we spoke you said you were hurting
And I felt your pain in my heart, I want to tell you
That I keep on praying, Love will find you where you are
I know cause I've already been there, so please hear these simple truths"

"Be strong in the Lord and Never give up hope
You're going to do great things, I already know
God's got His hand on you so, don't live life in fear
Forgive and forget but don't forget why you're here
Take your time and pray, These are the words I would say"

"From one simple life to another, I will say
Come find peace in the Father"

"Be strong in the Lord and Never give up hope
You're going to do great things, I already know
God's got His hand on you so, don't live life in fear
Forgive and forget but don't forget why you're here
Take your time and pray, Thank God for each day
His love will find a way, These are the words I would say"

A New Pastor

As you've probably heard Pastor Jeff Anderson will be remaining in Morton, IL serving Bethel Lutheran. As we continue in the call process please pray for our new pastor whoever he is and pray that we at Zion would continue to move forward as a congregation of believers. Also pray for Pastor Jeff as he continues to serve the people of Bethel.

God is Just

Often when we describe God we use words such as loving, caring, giving, forgiving etc. Then when things go poorly we blame God because he doesn't "live up to such terms" at least in our opinion. What we need to remember is that God is Just and being just does not mean that he does exactlyl what we want but what he has ordained for us. When bad things happen it's not because God allowed them it's because God made them happen. This does not mean that God is not loving or caring for us at the time but that his just will is loving and caring for us during our struggle.
Look at Jesus, when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed "Father, take this cup from me but not my will but your will be done." Jesus did not want to have to suffer the trails that awaited him, just like us. Yet, Jesus did it and God did not abandon him through his hours of suffering, God loved him, cared for him and was Just. This is exactly what God does for us during trials he leads us with love, caring for us, giving us what we need including the trial because he is Just. Giving us what he has ordained for us.

More on Forgiveness

After my ponderings and posting yesterday I thought I would share with you what happened to be a follow up on forgiveness posted on the Desiring God blog.

"Forgiveness of an unrepentant person doesn't look the same as a repentant person. In fact I am not sure that in the Bible the term forgiveness is ever applied to an unrepentant person. Jesus said in Luke 17:3-4 "Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying 'I repent', forgive him." So there's a sense in which full forgiveness is only possible in response to repentance.
But even when a person does not repent (cf Matthew 18:17), we are commanded to love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us and do good to those who hate us. (Luke 6:27) The difference is when a person who wronged us does not repent with contrition and confession and conversion (turning from sin to righteousness), he cuts off the full work of forgiveness. We can still lay down our ill will; we can hand our anger over to God; we can seek to do him good; but we cannot carry through reconciliation or intimacy."

This is definatley giving me more to ponder and I hope it does the same for you.

Desiring God

About 6 weeks ago I found a blog titled "Desiring God" the contributors are pastors at Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis. Some of their posts are informational about work their church or projects they are connected with are working on and others are truly thought provoking as they reflect on the Bible. Yes, sometimes I disagree with their theology but I overall the blog is well worth my time and is helping me grow in my faith.
The angle they approach some topics with makes me stop, look and think about the Bible in ways I have never done before. My thinking and beliefs are challenged and for this I am thankful as it causes me to learn and grow. Yesterday, Tyler Kenney posted on Forgiveness and Forgiving. It was actually a post that was an extension of a previous post. I was entrigued by this excert:
"If we tell others "I forgive your sin" even though they refuse to acknowledge their sin, we remove the very incentive the gospel places upon them to confess their sins and to seek forgiveness. If we take preemptive action by granting forgiveness of sin to those who do not repent, on what basis could the church ever follow the procedures of Matthew 18:15-17?"

This excert truly spoke to me as I have had several conversations with people where I talk about feeling wronged by another person and the response I receive is "you need to forgive them". While I do not deny the need to forgive them I tend to respond with "why should I forgive them if they've never asked for forgiveness? Aren't I telling them what they did was ok if they never had to say they're sorry?" For this reason the post made me feel a little better about my reaction to people when they tell me I need to simply forgive the other person. But it also causes me to reflect on the fact that the real missing element may be my lack of going to the person, calling them on their sin and seeing if they will repent so that I can offer forgiveness. That is the scary thought because it forces me to action when I feel wronged. It also puts me in a vulnerable position of making a situation worse.

So ultimately what do I take away. 1) that we should openly confess our wrong doings to people, say we're sorry and ask people for forgiveness 2) that we should offer forgiveness to people when they ask for it 3) we should follow the words of Matthew 18:15-17 by confronting people when they have wronged us in the hope that they will see what their actions have done to us and through that they can ask for forgiveness, we can give forgiveness and our relationship will be repaired and improved and our relationship with God will probably be even better too!

Prayer Requests

We had our call meeting today and now we must pray even more for Zion that our hearts would be seeking the will of God. We must also pray for Bethel Lutheran as they face the call process with their pastor and we must pray for Pastor Jeff that he may follow the will of God in his life and ministry.

Trusting Jesus

Last week we did trust walks which can for some of us prove to be very challenging. When we are asked to put on a blind fold and listen to the directions of another person we did not choose trusting that they will guide us carefully, keeping us from harm can be difficult. Then when we took the aspect of talking away the challenge increased. The level of concern definately rose when you heard running water and weren't certain what was being done, would I be pouring water over your head, running your hand under water or making you take a drink probably all crossed your minds. It was definately amusing to watch you try and drink the water which for some was very difficult! In the end you all did well and said that trusting your guide was not difficult.
Often our relationship with Jesus is this way. We make choices knowing that he is guiding us but also knowing that we are very uncertain and trusting what we believe Jesus wants us to do. Prayer and Bible study help us in this endeavor but stil there are times when we question what is going on because we do not see the path that Jesus is seeing clearly. At these times we need to trust through faith that God will continue to keep his promise to take care of us even when we doubt him. My prayer for you is that as you make decisions and face difficult times that you would seek God and his will for you.

Happy Resurrection!

Happy Resurrection to all of you! Holy Week definately ranks in my favorite of the holidays as it reminds of Christmas time when the hype is big. Holy Week is the same for me as it builds the hype for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday what an eventful 4 days in the church! I hope that your Holy Week was Christ filled and allowed for great times with family and friends. It was great to have so many of you over last Wednesday to hang out, enjoy pizza and enjoy Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. I don't believe I've watched a movie where everyone collectively made fun of it throughout, definately a high light. We'll see you tomorrow and hopefully many of you can make it to the voters meeting on Sunday. It will be amazing to see how God is working in us at Zion as we call a new pastor.

Evangelism

Wow, you guys continually amaze me! Evangelism isn't a "hard" topic but I think it's something that many of us struggle with but you guys were amazing. I know you enjoyed the Evangelism Line Backer and hopefully you won't forget about him, then again how could you because I may have to become that guy or girl I should say.
What really struck me the most was how open you were to talking and taking the lead last night in sharing points of learning with your peers. You were great at emphasizing the difference between "Freedom of Religion" and "Freedom from Religion". Remember, just because we live in an increasingly secular society does not mean that we have Freedom FROM Religion in this country. We have Freedom OF Religion. Thus we should step out, share our faith and let the world know that Jesus is their Savior. They may shut us down but the consequences for us not sharing are eternal and the Evangelism Linebacker may just take you out too. ; )

Our Beauty in God

Hey Girls, I am glad so many of you were able to come over last Saturday and hang out while we dug into Our Beauty in God. I also enjoyed decorating our cupcakes, making bracelets and simply chatting. I'm glad you enjoyed the surprise in your cupcakes and I hope you all had a great time! We'll do it again soon hopefully May or June. Then we can get outside too!

Signs

Last week we played a game called "Signs". Each of us had to choose a sign, much like baseball signs, that would be our signal throughout the game. When our sign was sent to us we had to perform our sign to show we accepted the signal followed by performing someone else's sign and then the game passed on to them. You could compare this to a game of Hot Potato. Throughout this process there was a person in the middle trying to catch the person "holding" the sign at that moment. Lots of laughs were definately had by all.

Some of us had very subtle signs that could be done with the person in the middle looking directly at us and still not notice what we were doing and others had very obvious signs. These obvious signs had to be done quickly to avoid being caught. When I reflect on the fun we had it brings me to think about the signs that God sends into our life, some are subtle, others are quite obvious and some are all together overlooked.

A rainbow is probably one of the most sporadic signs that God gives us. When people see a rainbow they tend to point it out to others and wonder at its beauty because we don't see them every day. But do we also reflect on the true meaning of the rainbow: "I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. All the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh." Genesis 9:15

Doves are another sign that most probably don't see often and probably don't seem like a great sign but with further investigation it is easy to see these simple birds hold great meaning. In Genesis chapter 8 we see that a dove is the bird of choice sent by Noah out of the ark to find dry land. Over the course of 14 days Noah sent the dove out 3 times. The first time it returned with nothing, the second time it returned with an olive branch and the third time it did not return because it had found dry land! The flood waters of 40 days and 40 nights were now gone, Noah and his family were saved and were about to receive the covenant of the rainbow. Another great encounter with the dove is at Jesus baptism. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove, what a wonderful site it must have been to see the spirit of God in such visible form.

The rainbow and dove are obvious signs of God that Christians throughout history have been able to see. Then there are other signs that are not so obvious but are around us every day. Fresh tulips in spring, the first robin in March, leaves falling in September, a paycheck arriving later than expected but the day before a bill is due, a card in the mail on an especially low day; these are all signs from God that we tend to overlook. So I challenge you, look beyond what you see and reflect on what it means, look for what God is trying to tell you and rejoice that sometimes he doesn't speak with a loud voice but a still, small one.

Love, Forgiveness and Sacrifice

Wow, last night at youth group was Awesome! I left feeling very energized and reveling in the fact that youth group is my favorite night of the week, being with you guys really brightens my week. To top it off 23 of you showed up last night, I was definately in awe.
As we looked at defining love, forgiveness and sacrifice your friends were a great help and a little confused as to why you were texting them asking such random questions. But it gave us such great discussion and hopefully made you think a little deeper about each word yourselves. Being done with our first full week of Lent it seems to be a great time to look at these three words and how they mean many things but the greatest thing they mean is Jesus. Seeing how he loved us so much that he was willing to offer his body as the sacrifice to forgive our sins is truly amazing. As we continue through this lenten season I hope that you can reflect on these words and feel God's grace surrounding you each day!

Some answers from your friends:
Love: Love is Jesus. Easy enough? Or something else?
2b in love w/some1 u 1st have 2b in love w/urself but just love would be just carin so strongly about 1 person that u would give up everything just 2b w/them
Love is not keeping score, running when things get rough. Love is caring deeply for someone and protecting them from pain and all hurts, love is forgiving, love is seeked by all, love is forever and never let go, love is communication, love is dependabel, love is honest even when u don't want to be, love is great, love can hurt but most of all God loves and we are to be like him, so love is a choice and a gift as well...
Ultimate trust commitment and devotion to someone...But idk I don't have much authority cuz I don't think I've ever been in it
Sacrifice: Bloody : ) Umm how about a payment made for something. Something given for another.
Endure the loss of
The act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure
Giving up something without need or want of anything in return
Forgiveness: Same way I define grace its something you don't deserve but I give it to you anyways and everything is forgotten and I don't see the mistake anymore
I think forgiveness is more about yourself. Forgiving the hurt someone has done to you and letting it go.

Prom Dress Sale

Yes, you read the title correctly, we're having a prom dress sale. So you're probably thinking that the dresses are really old, worn and definately something you would never wear huh? That is definately not the case. Some dresses have never been worn, many only once, and many are from this past fall. We anticipate having around 100 dresses, sizes 2-20, all styles and colors with great low prices.
Come check it out this Saturday at the church from 9 am - 1 pm.