slow moving, un-sexy but beautifully intimate

Last night I ran across some scratchy notes from Young Life’s New York Metro Region Leadership Weekend. I can’t remember who it was speaking that weekend, all I know is that I have never experienced better training for relationship ministry than through my years with YL. If you’re not connected and you want to learn how to do well in the slow-moving un-sexy but beautifully intimate trenches of daily reaching the lost, you should make the time to sit in on your local Young Life area’s leader training times for at least 6 months. They would love to have you even if you’re not going to volunteer as a leader for them.

Special thanks to TK Kennedy, Mac McNally, Bill Paige, Joe Paolella, Mark Shull, Bryan Reaume, Tim Vickers, and Paul Coty for your years of example and teaching and leadership.

 

I’ll share some of the notes as best I can. I was barely 19 at this time and just being hit with some of these basic and profound principles for good ministry. I’ll just add what my notes said which will be mostly incomplete and lacking.

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James 3:13-4:10

Two Kinds of Wisdom

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 4

Submit Yourselves to God

1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4 You adulterous people,t don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”t

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

-What will it take for you to give up on this calling?

Train with the mentality that today or tomorrow could be full on war

Tools

#1- be a man of God’s Word  -read the word with the eye of a lover not the eye of a critic — how can you have such a treasure that people die for and yet you ignore it??

#2- be a man of prayer

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EPHESIANS 4

Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ

1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all………………

 

BODY OF CHRIST

Humility, gentleness bear with one another

4:4 there is but one God… *guard the unity of the body

Speak about anyone without them being around means that there is a chance you will gossip about them. Safer just to not talk about who is not present

-How important is it to teach new believers about not speaking down or being selfish or gossiping so that their friends will see them as different?

4:15 if you don’t speak the truth in love in your team, spiritual immaturity sets in.

-some of us need to learn to speak the truth

-some of us need to learn to love better

Matthew 15:18

16 ”Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them.17 ”Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body?18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

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Strategy-

The core = Jesus (time spent with Jesus)

Prayer!

Relational = Incarnational   —-> “the word became flesh …”    be as a spy for Christ sent here moving within

John 2 – Wedding             Jesus thought it worth a miracle to keep the party going

 

Contact work- different levels

being visible—>having conversation—>invite them to club (outreach meeting)—>invite them to camp (quality time away from distractions, more intimate)—>campaigners (deeper discussions about this life with Christ)—>Discipleship (mentoring relationship 1-on-1 time, Elijah/Elisha, Paul/Timothy)

 

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

so don’t know if this is helpful to anyone at all. This was not an attempt to train anyone for ministry via wordpress, just wanted to take some time to dwell on the awesome men of God that I have had to privilege to call friend and also to hopefully not lose these notes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A mighty current

This past Sunday was a first for me. On Sunday mornings I am usually up front during the service because I am the pastor of worship at my church. But this Sunday I woke to the news that my pastor was under the weather and needed someone to till in for him for preaching.

Sunday mornings, he has been preaching through the gospel of Luke. This Sunday was chapter 7 verses 11-17.
As I read and began to pray and write sermon notes I was so excited for this scripture. Jesus brings a widows dead son back to life. Just like my Jesus to go and do that.
But now I have these thoughts and prayers about the power of God that flowed through Christ and brought a dead young man back to life again. What a flow of power. The move of the Holy Spirit of God is an unstoppable current. If Gods Holy Spirit moves against death, death will bend. If the Holy Spirit wants to make a 100 year old man slam dunk a basketball or make the moon fit in my pocket it could. But thankfully for this boy, and for us, He moves in us to make us live.

It is summer camp season and I remember the camp trip to younglife Rockbridge camp. We stopped in west Virginia on the way to go white water rating. It was so intense.
I remember thinking I knew better when the river guide was telling me what to do in order to stay safe if I go overboard. I thought I was man enough to not go over.
Little did I know that the river we were on is one of the top ten white water locations in the world. The first rapids were only a class 2, and all I remember is trying to paddle but instead being launched through the air and then getting very wet.
After I realized how buoyant I was not in the midst of white water, I noticed that it did not matter what I wanted at that moment or where I wanted to go. The mighty current of the river was in control and I was going wherever it wanted.

When Jesus came to earth and said “follow me,” the dudes who followed jumped all the way in. They probably didn’t have a clue how powerful the current of Jesus is until they were in it, but they learned quick to trust that even though they didn’t know what was coming next or how deep the water was or where it was going, they learned that this current was going to take them somewhere very good, and that along the way they were having amazon adventures and Jesus himself would keep them from drowning. (some times literally.)

Soil I keep thinking about this… the mighty current of God. The one that wherever it flows dead things come to life. READ EZEKIEL 47.

I don’t want to live life on the bank of the river watching other people get all the way in. And I don’t want to convince myself that being in knee deep or waste deep is good enough.
I want the full life that Jesus offers (john 10:10) and I want living water welling up inside me to eternal life (john 4)

So I’m praying and examining myself. Am I holding onto control? Am I in the current?

Are you living in the deep waters? I’d love to hear about it.

2 Timothy 2

¹You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.²And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

just thinking, missing NY, praying excitedly for this Yakima, WA

¹¹Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
¹²if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
¹³if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.

a prayer in a time of intrspection

Master and Almighty,
you created all that is. Nothing is, that you don’t rule over.
And yet I struggle… With faith? Maybe… Trust? No… HOPE

Savior! My hope is built on so many things but you when I am weak. How can my pride go so unchecked? Your Holy Spirit lives in me and somehow I can hide things away inside? … I guess not for long.

I hate the lies that lead me to hope in things other than you. My Intellegence, my strength, my charm, my forsight, my talent. All are foolishness.

Oh and then I ask for Holiness tonight and you allow me to feel the truth of my tiny stature in light of spiritual truth. Truth like the evil one seeking to devour. And what is my first response, rest on my physical strength, reach for earthly weaponry.
How fickle I am.

But you have marked me with the rest of the saints and royal priesthood. Thank you Father that it doesn’t rest on me. And so you come God as the comforter and shine the light of real truth into darkness fanning the flame that burns with a cage of human rib called Glenn, Called Beloved, Called Redeemed.

So “I will both lie down and sleep in peace (tonight) for you oh Lord make me to dwell in safety.”

I will rest in you and I will rise in you. In your strength I will face my tomorrow. I could strive further and longer, but you have called me your own and I have learned the better way.

Guard my heart and my mind as I sleep.

My Hope is YOU
AMEN

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

2010 the year everything changed!

I bet that’s how i’ll remember it.

lets see…

I started this year in the middle of planning a wedding and also in the middle of traveling with my Jenny to interview for jobs. I was also moving in and setting up the Long Beach Ocean view apartment (I don’t know how you pulled that one off God)

my birthday hit on Jan 30th -Jenny wasn’t with me, I wasn’t even home, i was leading worship for the weekend.

one week later Jennifer showed up. We had to finish her dress get the apartment ready for her family and friends to come in and buy decorations for the apartment

Feb 14th- The first day of the rest of our lives as Mr. and Mrs. Snyder! so great

Feb 17th- we pack into a van full of teenagers for a discipleship weekend at Lake Champion! (we stayed alone in the super sweet cabin)

Feb 23rd- we spent a week at a special secret location in vermont for skiing (thanks FRIENDS!). we were snowed in 5 straight days 40 inches of snow!

sometime between then and april 24th i kept running YL Club the sweet Long Beach YL Squad THUG LIFE (yea right) and also went 5 times to the DMV for licensing

Spent a week in Haiti with my wife. was blessed heavy. met more of the body. grew a ton

march 15 found out we are moving to washington

May- bought a van, said goodbye, led worship for work week at lake champion

June- 2nd drove to D.C., Chicago, Omaha, sioux falls, wall drug, bad lands, mt. rushmore, crazyhorse, tetons, yellowstone, old faithful, spokane, yakima!!!

Since the road trip started i have:

become a member of AAA

lost a cousin to the angel of Death

moved in with my in-laws

leased an apartment

applied for jobs

successfully acquired a legal drivers license

given my bicycle away

Prayed a lot!

boarded a flight to NYC

Hopefully that wasn’t too overwhelming to read through. I may have mixed up some of the dates or order of things.

Ohhh… i also watched USA pull a draw on the pitch vs. ENG… hope i get to watch some more of the World Cup

so here’s a recap of what changed this year (mostly for my own sake)

-I was single, now i’m marrieid

- i used to live in NY, now i live in WA

- I used to have no license, then i had a restricted use license, now i have a WA license

-i used to live near my parents, now i live near Jenny’s parents

One thing Jennifer and I keep saying to each other is “look what our God has done!” These past few months have been full of blessings. Hard and easy blessings, but i’ve been met by God and driven to His feet so much through all of it. I’ve also been inspired to worship more than I have in a long time. To

“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;

bring an offering and come into his courts.

Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.

psalm 96:8-10

I feel that some time this weekend there will be a post on the more philosophical things. Lots to process when you drive across America with no radio and your best friend and wife as your co-pilot.

Once i’m not in an airplane and can turn on my BB, i’ll upload as many pictures as i can from the road trip and the past 6 months.

Am i even a Christian anymore?

it’s 1 am

i’m lying in bed thinking about how my night went

i had the privilege and opportunity to stand up in front of 50 or so high school students and explain the cross of Jesus Christ. To explain to them why they have an opportunity to be in a relationship with the living God and live for eternity in Heaven once their time here on Earth is over.

I’ve been thinking deeply about Colossians chapter 1

²¹Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²²But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

IF??? if what? continue in faith, established and firm.. oh yea, don’t be moved from the hope of the gospel. which is that Christ’s righteousness can be mine at the final judgement

I think Paul himself gives a few pictures of what it is to be a christian. die to self, be crucified with Christ, present yourselves as a living sacrifice.

for me though, this is the most clear and simple explanation, even if it’s not expanded fully.

so to be a Christ-one, i need to

• continue in faith  being established and firm in faith
• don’t be moved from the hope of the gospel

i’m not about to have one of those nice squared away conclusions.

i think i’m established and firm in the faith, and i can’t think of times that i’m moved from the hope of the gospel.

maybe those times that i care more about making sure others think i’m awesome than i do about spending time with Christ. but those times don’t really mean that i’m moved from the hope of the gospel. Although it does kind of mean that i’m hoping in my own strength, or in my standing here on Earth …dangerous

i don’t know, maybe i’m just not spending enough time with my savior lately, maybe i’m neglecting the one who loves me best in this entire universe. maybe Jesus bought for me expensively a relationship with Him and i’m taking it completely for granted.

i thought i was going to write a bunch of witty thoughts about the difference between being a believer and actually living as one with Christ and how the word christian in this blogs title really was referencing that.

it seems though to have turned into a confession about my lack of enjoyment of Christ, which is the thing i’m most to do.

Jesus’ blood bought me the right to enjoy my creator fully as was originally intended from the beginning, but i’m doing a really bad job at that right now.

maybe i do have a conclusion.(for myself at least) it’s two questions… how long am i willing to put up with that? what am i willing to sacrifice if necessary?

p.s. to make things really clear… yes of course i’m still a christian.

i love Christmas in NY

This is a great instrumental christmas cd that i’ve listened to for years as the soundtrack to wrapping gifts or drinking hot chocolate.

ok i said this post isn’t about Christmas, and i isn’t… so………

How strong are you? how trustworthy are you?…am I?

A question worth asking lately, and one that God seems to be not letting me skirt.

7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)

how many times this week… today, have i not allowed God to show himself strong because i wanted to strive hard enough.

Or… when i failed did i give up and hide and not allow God to rescue me and be the hero.

is it possible that i even have the ability to stop God from glorifying himself? no, not really… but it’s possible for me to miss out, to stop him from glorifying himself in my own life. (at least for a time)

How much of God am i missing out on in these moments? usually in moments of trying to do and striving for him? how ironic and sad.

but i don’t think God would have me defeated and without confidence, constantly saying “well i can’t, i’m just weak, or man” or “i’m just going to fail again”

no he wants me to have the confidence and victory and joy in saying “well i can’t and i’m weak and i’m going to fail again…. But the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. (2 Chronicles 16:9)

one thought that confuses me is the struggle about how elementary and how “gospel” this is… Haven’t i been walking with and serving and growing in relationship God for almost a decade?  but then… we never ever “graduate” from the Gospel of Jesus Christ do we? In Paul’s letters it is so evident. In the first 2 chapters of the letter to the church in Colosse Paul reclaims, reexplains the gospel at least 7 times fully and more than that in short reference.

God help me to “win myself to the cross of Christ every day” as C.H. Spurgeon says it. God help you too. Especially in this season that is so often distracting and overwhelming.

via blackberry #1

It’s late and I should be sleeping. instead I’m typing my first blog via my BB. Finally figured out how to d/l wordpress’ App (which doesn’t show up in BB appworld) anyway I hope this works, because it’s my last chance at being connected on the go since my laptop power chord gave up working for me.
I’m currently in the heaviest growing/pressing/learning/ugly/revealing process of my last 5 years. And it’s amazing and exciting. I’ll write more about some things I’m learning when I’m not typing on my bb. But (how much time can I waste redundantly explaining my bb blogging) most of that specific blogging will be happening over at www.theglenniferwedding.wordpress.com it’s new. So if you’re interested, go check it out.

Time for bed

P.s. What is with all of the christian conferences? I knew therre were a lot, but since twitter holy crap that’s all I hear about anymore. I’m not saying I’m better than that, but if all the church does is send it’s workers to conference after conference, when will the church actually get to bring the good news? There are just some people that make it there job it seems to go to every conference and twitter about them all day. What is that?

What I have learned from being engaged for 11 days

 

I think i’ve been growing in this mindset in my own personal life… no way nearing perfection. But i believe that there are certain aspects of our own personal sanctification that God allows us to clearly see. I believe HE in His perfect love allows us to hear little mini “well done” encouragements along the way. And personally for me there have been a small number of those in that area of my life. But in the beginning stages of planning to tie my life to my fiance’s, i’m learning quick that I need to start dying and dying FAST to myself even more and totally.

I’ll let that vague explanation stand for what it is.

 

for now… the HS has a home hockey game. i have to break out the cowbells and go cheer on the LB!

more thoughts to come…

 

I’ll close with this… getting engaged (and i suspect getting married) are probably going to be the best things i could do for myself to have to trust God more

computer was broken… lets see if i can start a streak of posting

This is just a quick blah post… I finally have a computer again that works, and has internet.  So we’ll see if this works. Here’s hopin’