1st Entry!

I know I have said before that I always wanted to start blogging but never really had solid interest in doing it. One moment I would be excited and the next I just wouldnt care but I decide that I'm going to do it. For what it's worth- I don't care if people read this and I don't care if people take interest or offense to any entries. I am hoping this can challenge me to be more open with my thoughts and perhaps help put things into perspective as I think through and reflect upon what I'm typing. Perhaps this could be a type of therapy as I figure out this thing called "life".

Last night we started a study with the Sr. High youth from Mike Yaconelli's book "Messy Spirituality". If you havent read it then I strongly encourage you to go out and pick up a copy. To sum it all up, I am trying to challenge my teens (any myself too) to follow Jesus without discouragement of trying to be perfect or meeting a standard that the church, soceity or peers may set for us. Mike describes how people may look at Spirituality: people who pray all day long and have an inside track with God, etc... He goes out on a limb to describe a "Messy Spirituality" in which most of us live but few will admit, it is unfinished, incomplete and inexperienced. I am quoting mike here when he says "...Messy Spirituality is a celebration of a discipleship which is under construction".

I am a youth pastor, I am an athletic director and educator at a Christian school, I am a soon to be husband and yet I can admit (and went out on a limb to be vulnerable last night) that I do not have it all together and I never will EVER!, I can admit I do swear on occassion, I do really really hate dumb drivers on the road (Why can't everyone be a good driver like me and stay out of my way?), I will admit there are people that I do not like, I have come to the conclusion that it's ok not to like people but we have to love them unconditionally as Christ first loved us, even knowing this- the abundant love Christ has for me- I still can go days, weeks and sometimes months on a dry spell where I do not read the Bible or pray as much as I should. I can go on and on.

But the idea is that we need to stay under construction and make the effort to seek Christ, this isnt a positon for us to be passive and do what we want for we know we wont be perfect so why try philosophy, it's not condemned, broken down or rusted. It is simply under construction, we are rebuilding, re-furbishing, re-painting as we try and figure out this thing called life and what living for Jesus is all about. I think most importantly it comes down to intent and heart intent, If it's my goal to seek Christ I need to take steps forward, will I take steps forward- Yes, but will I take some step backwards- you know it, but the point is that I keep striving, seeking and searching for Christ in the midst of my broken, messy life.

I will probably post each week after these studies, next week we are looking at Chapter 2 which discusss where Christ meets us in our messy lives, This is really speaking to me and for what it's worth I wanted to express an act of worship in expressing this to the Lord, in blog type format. So take it as you will- these are my thoughts- not yours hahaha!

Much love,
-Jason