admirer or follower?

Steven James in Story shares this quote from Soren Kierkegaard, an existential philosopher:

The difference between an admirer and a follower still remains, no matter where you are. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, gives up nothing, will not reconstruct his life, will not be what he admires, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires.

Am I really a follower or Jesus, or am I just an admirer?

James goes on to write...

We prefer dragging our nets onshore with us so we can have the best of both worlds. But of course that never works - you can't follow Jesus while you're dragging your old life along behind you. If you try to, you'll end up losing out on both. Every once in a while I get caught doing it - trying to pursue both what Jesus has to offer and what the world has to offer. But it's useless because they lie in opposite directions.

James writes this on sharing our faith...

Jesus approached evangelism quite differently than most churches today. Too many twenty-first century churches treat sharing Jesus's story like a marketing campaign. They try to make Christianity seem as appealing, plausible, relevant, and easy to digest as possible by emphasizing the benefits of belief. But Jesus almost never did that. Typically he emphasized the cost of following him, not the rewards. Here's what he hold the crowds who had started following him: "Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it goodbye, you can't be my disciple. (Luke 14:33 Message)

There's no fine print in Jesus's call to discipleship. "This is what it's gonna cost you," he says. "Everything. Family relationships, possessions, dreams, comfort, time - you can't be my follower unless you give up everything. You have to leave your nets behind. So what do you say? Will you follow me, or just keep admiring me?"

On Sunday night, we invited our teens to leave a mistake they've made at the cross. It's amazing to see God working in their hearts as they consider what it means to be more than an admirer of Christ. And in middle school and high school, being a follower of Christ isn't easy. These teens are incredible.

just love them

Read a good post on what happens when we turn youth ministry into something that looks just like the rest of culture. Check out the post here.

This is what I wrote as a comment. Thought it summarized how I feel about youth ministry right now.

It's tempting to get caught up in the facility and stuff. I still catch myself thinking teens care more about that than they do.

But then I look around at my teens who are inviting friends who keep coming back because they all feel loved by adults and each other. I'm reminded every week that it doesn't matter that our couches are falling apart, our media computer's internet rarely works and there's popcorn embedded in the carpet. Our teens don't see that. All they know is that someone wants to hear about their week. Someone cares enough to give a hug and encouragement. And someone sees something in them they always hoped was there.

I love my job. And personally, I'm glad it's real, simple and raw. Don't get caught up in the hype. Just love them and point them to God.

online discipleship for teens

This post is for all my youth pastor friends. This past fall our teen leadership team tried to decide how best to help our teens get into their Bibles during the week. We thought about using DevoZine but it was too expensive. Then we wondered about writing our own daily devotions and putting them in a book to give out. We couldn't get enough teens to help write it at the time.

Then in November I wondered if we could put the devotionals online and have teens check in during the week. Duck Duck Jesus and the Dirt were born!

Naming the Sites

A teen randomly said we should call the online discipleship thing Duck Duck Jesus. I thought it sounded playful and caught people's attention. We also used an image of line of ducks following the big duck. Could be used as an illustration for discipleship and following Jesus.

Last weekend we took our sr high on a retreat and talked about sanctifying grace on the last day. They each got a cup of dirt as we talked about growth, weeds, Miracle-Gro and working on our hearts & relationship with God. We decided to change the sr high version of Duck Duck Jesus to the Dirt. It's the place our sr high teens take seriously their relationships with God.

Websites

I set up two separate networks on www.ning.com for free. Duck Duck Jesus is for 7-8th graders at www.stillwaterjrhigh.ning.com. The Dirt is for 9-12th graders at www.stillwatersrhigh.ning.com. The site is set to a variation of private so they can request membership and I can approve them. Then they're able to set up a personal profile and access the Discussion area.

Content

Every Monday - Friday, I post a Scripture text, 2-3 questions and an action step. I give a link to the NIV and Message version of each Scripture. So far I've used the Message/Remix Solo Devotional by Eugene Peterson for the majority of postings. I've also used Creative Times with God by Doug Fields to break up the rhythm. Tomorrow I'm having them watch this YouTube clip to start the discussion on happiness vs. living a full life. We've only been at this several weeks so I'm excited to see how we expand the content!

Response & Adult Involvement

Each teen is encouraged to do the reading and questions and post their responses in the forum. They interact with each other and with adults. We have 4-5 adults who are members of both groups. They have a group of teens to remind and encourage to check in.

Reminders

Each teen who signs up is aware this is a high accountability group. They must be ready for a bombardment of text messages and Facebook messages during the week. :) We set up fan pages for each group on Facebook so we send reminders from there as well.

What I'm Learning

Our teens are digital natives and very much at ease with new technology. They'll sign up for just about anything I put in front of them. I've noticed they'll sign in and comment on each other's walls and change their status but won't do the Discussion for the day. They're also not afraid to share when a Scripture is tough and doesn't make sense. Our adults do a great job of asking questions and pointing them in a good direction.

#1 Goal Right Now

Many people are simply scared to open their Bibles for fear they won't understand or know what to do. These online discipleship groups are an interesting first step. My hope is that teens will see themselves in the pages of Scripture. They'll believe these stories can help show them how to live. I want them to fall in love with the God of the Bible. God is not boring. God is a mighty, risky, crazy, loving and intimate God.

Our church is thinking about using this model for adult online classes. If this is something you try at your church, shoot me an email to jkbsmith@gmail.com. I'd love to hear about it!

When God is silent

A good friend gave me a copy of "Story" by Steven James. I've loved every page. Great freshness to the Biblical narrative. Explained in a new way. I've told many teens this is a book that will help them connect to God in a new way.

I'm sharing a selection on the silence of God for my teens. They long for a close intimate relationship with God. And it's very difficult when we feel silence on the other end.

____________________

Every generation has had people who have questioned whether or not God is real, but few people have ever questioned whether or not God is silent. There's not a whole lot of questions about that. God's silence is all too real. It's a deafening roar in our souls. Martyrs die whispering his name and receiving only death in response to their faith. Children helplessly watch their parents lose tough with reality through Alzheimer's, begging God for a miracle that never comes.

Where is God in those times? Why is he so silent? If God really loves us with an everlasting love, with an unfailing and enduring and magnificent love, then shouldn't he be more visible? Shouldn't he splinter the silence more often?

Welcome to the riddle of the universe.

King David, the person God called "a man after his own heart" (! Samuel 13:14), wrote these words: "My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me? Why do you remain so distant? Why do you ignore my cries for help?" (Psalm 22:1).

And you may remember Jesus echoing those words 1030 years later when he yelled them from the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46).

It's such a big question, even Jesus didn't know the answer.

When a man named Job asked God why all the bad stuff was happening in his life, God was silent for thirty-seven chapters of the Bible. Finally God told him, "Who are you to question me?" And Job shut up rather quickly (see Job 38-40).

We yearn for God's presence. We call to him. We scream at him. And we hear nothing. He answers our longing with silence. Sometimes his silence is unbearable - especially for those who choose to keep believing in him.

These words were found scrawled on the wall of a concentration camp:

I believe in the sun, even though it doesn't shine,

I believe in love, even when it isn't shown,

I believe in God, even when he doesn't speak.

God's silence offers us the choice - faith or sight. We can either abandon our faith or learn to trust in the dark. God leaves that choice up to us. And all the while he's more interested in our faith in him than our ability to decipher his silences. The poet Coleman Barks wrote, "The only way we know the play of destiny and free will is to dance the mystery and die inside it."

Jesus, Job, David and that man in the concentration camp danced the mystery.

I can't think of a single place in the whole Bible where God actually explained his silence. I can think of lots of times when people asked him to, but I'm not sure he ever did. I don't know why God is so silent. I really don't know. I do know that none of these men - David, Jesus or Job - gave up on God. And God never gave up on them.

When you listen to a song, you only hear the harmony because of the emptiness between the notes. If the song is too full of notes, it becomes nothing but noise. To hear the harmony you have to let the silences have their place in the song. It's like each note is a pearl upon a necklace and the silences are what strings them all together.

Maybe God knows that without his silences in our lives, we will never hear the melody of faith.

2009 in pictures

On the last day of the year, it seems natural to look back and remember my favorite moments from the past year. And since I'm a big picture person, here's my favorite shots and memories from 2009...

Justin & Lauren visited over New Years last year. We always have a blast together!

I went to Jacksonville, FL with Dad for a UM conference

Aaron and I walked all over Seattle for a couple days. Had a great trip!

We added Zoe to our family in March :)

Taught confirmation at two of our campuses in the spring - so much fun to see teens question, challenge and deepen their faith

I got to see my sister graduate from college in May! She's a great teacher

My favorite shot from the summer! Taken at a cookout to celebrate the beginning of summer :)

Went to Indianapolis with a great group of teenagers on a mission trip

We went to Gatlinburg with Aaron's family in June. Great week! We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary that week :)

I love being an aunt to Kade :)

I didn't get to be there but my dad's last Sunday at St. John UMC was in June. I love that church.

My sister got married in July and we had a blast all being together!

I spent a week in Nome, Alaska with a group from my seminary. Great experience!

We went on a cruise to Mexico with Justin and Lauren in August :)

Got to know a great group of young adults at Exploration 09 :)

We hosted my whole family in Ohio for Christmas!

Happy New Year!

christmas 2009

It's been a particularly meaningful Christmas this year for me. My birth family all made the trip to my house for a week. They made many sacrifices to be together. One brother spent over $1400 on a plane ticket. Another brother just had ACL surgery and hobbled around on crutches the whole time. My sister and her husband drove 20 hours from South Dakota. My parents paid for a cabin in Hocking Hills, food for 8 for a week and a last minute 4 wheel drive car rental. :)

I'm in awe of the sacrifices people make for people they love. I'm so appreciative that my family works hard to keep our relationships a priority. Great relationships don't just happen. I love hanging out with my family! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time :) Now my husband and I get to spend a week with his family! So grateful for time with all our family.

lately...

I've been writing so much for other projects that I haven't felt led to update much on here. This past month has been filled with papers & projects for schools, commissioning questions and fun projects at church.

I keep wanting to add up the number of pages I've been writing for various things. It's got to be over 50 by now. I sit down at my desk at home each morning, light a candle, turn on a space heater near by and go to town. It's actually been a fun rhythm. (Shh...don't tell anyone!)

Right now I am focused on two things. I get to preach at one of our Christmas Eve services this year. First time for that. I've been thinking a lot about what to say and not say. What God wants people to hear. The best way to convey that. Thinking about what different types of people who come to church on Christmas Eve might be going through. This obsession led me to mobilize our UMC Young Clergy group to host 30 minutes of prayer on Thursday, December 17. I'm looking forward to lifting up prayers for those who will attend and lead worship.

If you want to join in, here's the details.

The other thing I'm focused on is experiencing Christmas in a different way this year. We're going through Advent Conspiracy with our teens. I want to spend less on gifts and spend more time with people I love. But I struggle with the desire to still give a physical gift that represents that love.

I'm very excited to have my mom, dad, sister and her husband and one of my brothers coming to our house for a week during Christmas. When I moved out of Alaska, I didn't think we'd ever be together on Christmas Day again. It just doesn't happen in pastor's families. So I'm very aware of how special it will be for Aaron and I to experience Christmas with both of our families this year.

May God's decision 2,000 years ago be real in your life in a surprising new way this season.