Pharisee Syndrome or Lack of Contentment

In February, I listened to Dan Jessup from Young Life, ask this question while talking to a lot youth workers in Colorado Springs,

"Can you know Jesus, but not really know Jesus?"

What do you think?

I believe the answer is yes.

I have believed this for years. I believe that there are a lot of people who know about Jesus, but don't really have a relationship with Jesus. I believe that this is a huge problem in many churches in America today, but that's another post for another day.

Dan went on talk about how this happened with Jesus' twelve closest followers on Earth. One of them named Philip asked this of Jesus in John 14:8, "...Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."

To paraphrase Jesus' reply, He says, "Seriously Philip? Don't you know after all this time with Me, that if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father? Don't you know by now the Father and I are one?"

How is it possible that after walking around with Jesus for three years, that Philip, and most likely some of the other disciples, didn't know Jesus was God? I mean Philip would have watched countless miracles, and heard Jesus talk about this numerous times. How is this possible? How is it possible today? I mean we have the Bible and history to learn from?

It's possible, because we get caught up in doing things for Jesus and following rules, and the relationship with Jesus gets lost. I call it the Pharisee syndrome. The Pharisees were so caught up in being religious and holy, and following all the rules of the OT, that they forgot that God wanted a relationship with them.

We are usually quick to judge the Pharisees, point fingers at them, and say things like, Jesus was proving to you that He was God and you ignored it, denied it, and then you killed Him, dumb Pharisees. I know I have been guilty of this.

Dan Jessup said this and it rocked my world, "Read the New Testament like you are a Pharisee."

He said that reading the NT this way will make it come more alive, it will be more convicting, and it will create humility in your life that you never had before.

My first thought, was wow! The way Jesus talked about the Pharisees, I don't want Him to feel that way about me. But I started to think about it, I have been thinking about it, and Dan is right. Some of the passages I have read many times have been coming to life in a different way for me.

I think that if a lot of us are honest, there are times when we are a lot like the Pharisees. There are times when we get so caught up with things in life that we forget about our relationship with God, we deny it, ignore it, and we try to do things on our own.

Sure we may not be hung up on the over 600 laws of the OT, because many are not relevant today. But I will tell you this, if your life is anything like mine, life is so busy that Jesus is competing with a lot of stuff for some of your time. I believe that this is how slowly, over time, people know a lot about Jesus, but don't really know Jesus.

Dan went on to say that he believes that many people lack joy in their relationship with Christ and this contributes to people not really knowing Jesus. He said that gratefulness and generosity come from joy in Christ. When we are grateful, we don't whine, and we become more generous. Gratefulness and generosity create contentment, and the Bible teaches us to be content.

People in America do not know how to be content. I believe this was part of the Pharisees' problem as well. They could never be content with how well they were doing following the rules.

The solution to this problem of lack of contentment is that we need Jesus. We need Jesus to rule over every area of our lives. We need Jesus to completely invade every area of our lives. Only then can we know true joy, become grateful and generous people, content in our lives, and our relationship with Jesus.

How about you? Where is your contentment level? Do you need more stuff, more time, more something?

I have been working to change some priorities in my life, because I want to be filled with the joy of Christ. I want to be more generous. I want to be grateful for all that God has given me, and recognize all the blessings in my life. I want the true contentment that only Jesus can give me. Maybe you will join me on this journey?

If you took the time to read this blog, thanks! Please pray for me, and I pray that you will seek God, and allow Jesus to rule over all areas of your life, and that you will find joy and contentment in Him.

Blessings.

Oh The Depravity...

So I am getting up on my soap box for this post, and speaking to fellow Christians who say silly things like this,

"Our State just made it legal to carry a tiny amount of Marijuana, our world is getting so depraved!"

or

"There are people who want to let gay people get married, our world is getting so depraved!"

or countless other similar ignorant statements.

NOTE: Now let me say this right away, I am not interested in debating whether or not legalizing weed or gay marriage is good, bad, moral, or anything else. If you want to debate these things with someone, that's great, but I WILL NOT ENGAGE WITH YOU!

What I want to address is the ignorance and harm of making a statement like this, because here's the deal, this so called depravity is not new, and it makes you seem hateful.

Please go study some history, and you will find that hundreds and even thousands of years ago there were cultures and societies that were just as, if not more depraved than ours. America or anywhere else.

Let me give you an example, first Century Rome and Roman culture. If you're not sure, that would be around the time Jesus was walking around Earth over in what we now call the "Middle East."

At any rate, here are some things you could see pretty regularly there: drugs, prostitution (male and female and at the temple or what we call church today), sexual slavery, public baths and brothels with orgies going on, rape, murder, stealing, burglaries, extortion, corrupt government leaders, oppression of other people groups, work slavery, extreme racism, women were treated like possessions not people, etc.

You see what I am getting at? First century Rome and Roman culture was extremely perverse, I would be willing to bet even more so than modern day America.
 
Here is another example, go even further back, thousands of years before Jesus' time on Earth, and read the book of Leviticus in the Bible. There are over 600 rules that God gives the Israelites, His chosen people. These are rules to live by. If you take Leviticus Chapter 18 for example. This chapter contains all kinds of sexual rules, things like don't have sex with your mom, dad, sibling, or an animal.

If people had to be told not to do these things, that means, you know...they were doing them. That's some pretty messed up or depraved stuff.

Even further back in history, do some research on why God flooded the Earth in the time of Noah. You will find that it was because people had become so depraved that they were beyond saving, so God wiped them all out.

Here is my point in all this ranting: since sin entered the world people have been doing things that are considered "immoral" or "depraved," and they always will. Even a casual reading of the Bible or study of history confirms this.

So with all that being said, here is where I take issue with statements like the ones I posted at the beginning of the blog for three major reasons:

1. It's untrue. Depravity has and will always be around until Jesus returns to fix the world.

2. It comes off as hateful to people who are gay, or smoke weed, or whatever other sin they are talking about.

3. We all sin. Most people who say stuff like that use it as way to get out of their obligation to love people the way Jesus does. They act like someone else's sin is somehow worse than theirs, because it's a different sin. Thus, they say, "those people," are going to hell, so I can't be near them. This is what the Pharisees did, and why Jesus was at such odds with them.  In the good ole USA, I see this most often directed towards the gay community. Many American Christians are very hateful towards the LGBT community and this HAS TO STOP!

In conclusion, people who don't know Jesus and need Him, don't need Christians telling them that they are causing the depravity of society. The truth of the matter is, that if society is getting more depraved, it's all of our fault. As Christians we should be known by our love, not thought of as hateful. So please, please, please, think before you speak!

Ok I'm getting off my soap box now!

If you took the time to read this blog, thanks. I hope and pray that you doing your best to live in a way that leads people towards the eternal hope, freedom, and love that Jesus provides.

Youth Pastor Down...

Found this draft of a blog I wrote back last summer, but I never posted. From July 2011:

I just need to get this off my mind and what better way than on my blog that very few people read. Anyways, I love youth ministry and I love to network, encourage, and help other youth pastors. Lately many of my friends in youth ministry seem to be getting beat up. By who? The leadership of their churches (i.e. Senior Pastors, Executive Pastors, Elders, Deacons, Parents, etc.).

I hate it that many of my friends in youth ministry are treated so badly by the leadership of the churches they work for. Honestly, it breaks my heart. I believe this poor treatment of youth pastors is the reason for the high turnover rate of youth pastors at most churches. This is an epidemic in churches today.

Many youth pastors are treated like second rate, junior varsity pastors. They are often overworked, underpaid, under resourced, and under appreciated. Yet they persevere, because they love letting God use them to change the lives of middle and high school kids forever.

I know several youth pastors who have quit from a church, are very close to that point, or have been let go. The sad part is that most of the time this has nothing do with their youth ministry itself. Most of them are doing a great job, they are seeing numerical and spiritual growth. However, they have quit or are close to quitting, because they are being treated poorly by the leadership of the church. Too often there are unwritten and unspoken expectations of youth pastors that they get hassled about. Many times people in leadership don't have their youth pastor's back.

I can tell you from experience, that their job is stressful enough with out that kind of crap. It's truly heart breaking how many of my friends in youth ministry have struggles with their church leadership.

If you are reading this and have a youth pastor at your church (especially if you are a parent with kids in the youth ministry) please treat them well. If you can help them please do, they need it! Support them, care for them, and pray for them, encourage your church leadership to do the same.

If you are a pastor/ elder/ church leader and happen to read this, remember that your youth pastor also needs to be pastored, mentored, loved, and cared for, just like anyone else in your church. Remember that God calls us to be faithful to Him first, our families second, and everything else (including our job/ ministry/ role on church staff) after that.

We really need to treat youth pastors better in the church, and then more of them would stick around long term which is better for them, your church, and the Kingdom! Think about it...

Thanks for reading. May God bless you as you seek to do His will!

Safari Time: SA Trip Days 9, 10, & 11

On Monday morning, we got up early to make the drive to Kruger National Park. It's an enormous chunk of land in the north east corner of South Africa left alone from development. There are lots of wild animals doing what they do in their natural habitat, it's like a zoo on steroids. As soon as we entered Kruger we began to see animals, it was awesome. We saw a lot of impala, giraffes, elephants, zebras, & various birds. This was all before even getting to our lodge or going on a game drive (safari).

Once we got to the lodge we would be staying at called, "Little Jock" (part of Jock Safari Lodge), we were greeted by our hosts David & Ilana. They had pretend champagne (fizzy apple juice) for us. They took our luggage to our rooms, and we signed a form that said if an animal hurt or killed us on a game drive they were not liable. They also took our lunch order. I had a Kudu filet that was very tasty!

After lunch and settling in, David took us on our first game drive. It was simply, amazing! We tracked some lions, but never saw them. However, we did see rhino, elephant, giraffe, impala, kudu, water buck, duiker, bushbuck, warthog all kind of birds (we saw one bird catch a frog), and we had snacks in a dry river bed.

As it got dark we saw a beautiful sunset over the bush. It was fiery reds & oranges, just awesome! The game drive doesn't end when the sun goes down, because our guide used a spot light to find some various nocturnal creatures like jackal, serval, African wild cat, white-tailed mongoose, some bats, and birds. Our first game drive had a good variety of animals and was an incredible experience!

It got pretty cold, and as we got back to the lodge after our first game drive they had hot chocolate and coffee waiting for us! Then it was dinner. We were all pretty tired and went to bed shortly after dinner, good thing too, because we had to get up early the next morning.

5:30 AM. That's when the wake up call came. Thank goodness for coffee! You get up early to see the animals as they get up and maybe catch a few of the nocturnal ones heading to sleep. This morning we got to see a male leopard stalk a warthog and almost have a nice big breakfast. Unfortunately, the leopard lunged into a bush and the warthog got away, but it was a thrill to see that!

It was a great start to the morning, and made being cold worth it. We also got to see a beautiful sunrise. As the game drive went on we got to see many of the same animals we already seen, and add hippo, crocodile, some dwarf mongoose, and many new birds to our list of animals seen. It was a good morning. When we got back to the lodge they had hot drinks and a breakfast starter buffet (fruit, yogurt, muffins, etc.) waiting. As you nibble on that they take your order for a hot breakfast. I had a delicious omelet.

After breakfast, just the guys (Paul, Ryan, & I) went on a "Bush Walk." We had three armed guides and walked around in the bush for about two hours. We learned about trees, dung, came close to a couple of warthogs, and saw a cape buffalo. It was a nice informative walk, and made Ryan and I want to camp or do a backpacking trip through the bush.

After the walk, we had a high tea, which is a smaller lunch consisting of finger foods and drinks. Then it was off for our evening game drive. We saw a lot of the same animals as other game drives, and added blue wildebeest, nile monitor, bushbaby, genet, steenbok, sable, banded mongoose, cape hare, pearl-spotted owl, eagle owl, and some other new birds to our list of animals seen.

We all really wanted to see some lions, we heard a lioness in the distance at one point, but never saw her. At one point we ran into several rhinos blocking the road. They are very territorial animals, and for a little bit it seemed like we might get charged, but it all worked out fine.

After the game drive we finished the day with an outdoor dinner under the stars and by the fire. It was another great day!

We got up at 5:30 AM again, and headed out for our last game drive. We added vervet monkey, spotted & brown hyaena, and a few new birds to our list of animals seen. It was a cold morning and our slowest game drive for animals spotted. Although we still got to see a lot of animals just not many new ones. We had no luck seeing a lion, although some were spotted that morning, they were way on the other side of Kruger. After the game drive we had breakfast and then had to pack up and head back to Pretoria.

Being at Kruger and the safari lodge was one of those things you get to cross off your bucket list. It was such an incredible experience, and we all had a ton of fun. I could have stayed for several more days, but time and money get in the way of that.

As we were leaving Little Jock & Kruger, we got stuck in the middle of a huge heard of Elephants crossing the road. A momma elephant got agitated at us, and we thought she might come after us. But we backed up to let her know we were not trying to get to her or her babies. After a bit of a tense situation, she moved on. As we got up to that spot we saw what seemed like hundreds of elephants at the river bed drinking and cooling, not to mention the several that had already passed in front of us. It was crazy. On the way out of the park we also saw a civet, that was the last new animal we got to add to our list.

Then it was about a four our drive back to Pretoria. Our time in South Africa is coming to an end and that's sad. It's been a great time and adventure, and I'm so grateful to get to have these memories and experiences! We have a few things to do in the morning, and then we start the long journey home tomorrow night. The time has gone by so fast.

FYI: Saw a guy possibly eating cat food, so I might have a "District 9/ Prawn," sighting. Still not sure though as further recon is required.

Market, Elephants, & Church: SA Trip Days 7 & 8

Saturday & Sunday were fun days, but very different. Saturday started by going to the Irene Market in the Pretoria, SA area. It's a very popular market and the thing to do twice a month on a Saturday morning. Thousands of people stroll the hundreds of vendors items. It's kind of like a flee market in the US. There is a large variety of new and used things. There is also a big food vendor section as well. Mom wanted us to try the South African pancake/ crepe which came with just cinnamon and sugar on them, they were tasty. I also got a muffin filled with chocolate, it was very yummy. As a side note my nine year old nephew Josh is very good at bartering! He bought a couple of things and got good prices on them, it was very funny to watch him do that.

After getting some food and most of us buying some stuff at the market, it was off to a town called Hartbeespoort, to the "Elephant Sanctuary."

Hartbeespoort is a beautiful lake town with a really cool dam. You drive over it, but it's only one lane at time. While you wait you are bombarded by locals trying to sell you stuff. They walk down the street with items in their hand yelling at you through your car windows. It's funny & annoying at the same time.

Once we got to the Elephant Sanctuary we did a three hour program in which we got to learn all about elephants, as well as touch, feed, get a kiss from, walk with, and ride the elephants. This sanctuary rescues Elephants from bad situations. It was such an incredible experience, to be so close to such an enormous and majestic creature, just surreal. Words fall short of how fun, incredible, and unforgettable this experience was. I am so grateful to Mom & Dad McCool for taking us to do that, what a gift!

After leaving the elephants we had dinner at a SA chain steak restaurant called "Dros." It was good. I had a steak in the Dros Sauce (a cheesy sauce with bacon & onion), which was tasty. Ask Sarah about ordering the peri, peri sauce (it was very hot and made her burger more spicy than she anticipated).

Sunday, we got up and went to Eastside Community Church. It was an enjoyable church service, and of course lots of people wanted to to meet us. After church we had the Pastor & his family over lunch. We made fajitas, which was new to them, because there is very little Mexican food in SA. We had a fun time eating & fellowshipping with them.

After that we just hung out at the house and got packed for our trip to Kruger National Park/ Game Reserve. There, we will be going on game drives/ safari. We are hoping to see lots of animals we would normally only ever see in a zoo. Should be a lot of fun!

Well more updates to come when we get back from Kruger, and as always thanks for reading.

FYI: "District 9/ Prawn" update, it's possible that some of the peddlers and/ or beggars we have seen the past couple of days are part prawn, further investigation is required before we can say either way.

Feeling Blessed

Have you ever gone though a period of life where you where felt kind of lost, confused, or uncertain, while at the same time you still wanted to trust God? This could sum up my last two years. Over the past two years I have struggled with my purpose, my value, my career choice, I was uncertain about a lot of things. The hardest part of this was also knowing that I was doing what I am passionate about and feel called by God to do, serve as a youth pastor at a church.

Over the last few months of 2010, I found myself feeling more and more empty, and more uncertain about what I was doing and why. I didn't know it at the time, but as I look back now I can see the journey that God was taking me on and the things He was teaching me. Through all the struggles and uncertainty I did my best to stay faithful to God and I believe that He has rewarded that.

As I left the job I had been at for five years at the end of 2010, I had no idea what the future would hold for me. I spent almost three months trying to find a job and getting nowhere. Even though it was beginning to get hard on me, I felt like I was following God's leading, and I trusted that God would provide something for me. Then in mid-March, a job came to me that I wasn't even searching for, and it landed me doing the thing I know best, youth ministry.

I started this new adventure this last week and I feel so blessed by God. I'm really enjoying life and living it to the fullest. I share all of this to try to encourage any of you who might be going through a similar situation. In the struggle I thought a lot about Jesus words in Matthew 6:25-34. Jesus tells us not to worry, but to live each day in the moment, making the most of it. The reality of that passage in Matthew 6, is that Jesus is saying He loves us, He will take care of us, and provide for us. Living and embracing this truth is what helped persevere through the uncertainty.

Whether things are going great or you're struggling, know that Jesus loves you unconditionally, and will provide for you if you seek first His kingdom and righteousness! If you took the time to read this blog, thanks. I pray that God blesses you and your family more than you can even imagine!

Give More, Collect Less!

I don't really make New Year's resolutions, but Sarah and I have made this quasi resolution; Give more, collect less.

I have been thinking about stewardship a lot lately. This started in December when I was studying a parable Jesus told in Matthew 25:14-30 for a sermon. It's commonly called, "Parable of the Talents" (if you have time, read it).

I have read this parable many times, heard several sermons on it, and even taught on it myself. But I read it in a new light as I reflected on the definition of stewardship (which is about managing others stuff; money, property, affairs, households, etc.). As I think about the application of this parable, I wonder if I am doing a good job managing all that God has given me?

This is what Jesus is talking about in the afore mentioned parable in Matthew 25. Do we use all that God has given us to invest in His Kingdom, His purposes, His will? Do we manage what God has given us well? I am not sure of my answer.

My wife and I give a percentage of our income to a local church, we have sponsor kids in third world countries though World Vision and Compassion International, we donate unused clothing and household items to places like Crossfire Ministries, Springs Rescue Mission, and Goodwill, and we give our time serving others and places in the community. We do all that with joy, but is that enough?

I don't say any of that to be prideful, because we also have a house full of stuff (closets full of clothing, furniture, 2 cars, a television, this computer I'm writing this blog with (and the list goes on). In fact, we have stuff sitting in the basement of our current rental house that hasn't been out of the box in years. We have moved it several times. I don't feel like we hoard stuff, but I also wonder what Jesus would say to me about all our stuff.

There is a place in the Bible where Jesus talks with a rich young man (Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30). This guy asks Jesus what He must do to spend eternity in heaven with Him. Jesus, replies that he must sell everything he has and give it to the poor. We never know if this young man does this. The text says he walks away sad, dejected, and Jesus goes on to talk about how hard it is for rich people to make it into heaven. The general assumption is that this wealthy young man couldn't let go of his stuff, not even to save his soul from hell. How tragic.

But let's put ourselves in this guys shoes. If you live in America compared to the rest of the world you are rich. There is no arguing that America is wealthiest country in the world. The general rule of thumb when it comes to wealth worldwide is this, if you have choices you are considered rich. For more perspective, one-third (more than two billon) of all people worldwide live on $2 or less a day. Most Americans have more than that in change in our car, or in our couch. Anyway...

What if Jesus came to you or me and asked us to sell all that we had and give it to the poor? I wonder, would I or could I do that? What about you, would you sell your house, your car(s), your computer, your cell phone, your clothes, the things you collect, everything? Could you give it all away?

In Matthew 6:21, Jesus says "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

These words of Jesus sometimes feel like a dagger in my heart. I see all the stuff my family has, and sometimes I wonder if our money and our things are our treasure. I don't think that they are. It's our goal to be more generous this year. We are aiming to give away more, and acquire as little as possible. We want to put more of our time, our stuff, our money, our resources, etc. into becoming like Jesus. We want our treasure to be Jesus. We want to spend eternity with Him. I hope that Jesus is your treasure as well!

If you took the time to read this, I hope and pray you are doing your best to give all that you have, and all that you are to following in the footsteps of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. May God bless you, and may you bless others, for the sake of Jesus' Kingdom!

Sabbath!

Today is an interesting day for me. If you know me or read my previous blog post, you know that I recently resigned from a youth ministry position I had for five years, without a job to go to. I have been gainfully employed for around 15 years. The last ten years of that I have been in full-time ministry. So, today for the first time in nearly 10 years, I slept in on a Sunday, that I wasn't on PTO/ Vacation. We chose to attend a church last night with some good family friends.

It does feel weird that I was not at church this morning, and that I didn't "have" to be there, because I work there. Here are a few things that I did not miss about being in church today:

1. Getting up really early on a Sunday morning. I wish there was a Levitical Law that Jesus quoted in the Sermon on The Mount forbidding being at a church building before 9:00 AM. Tony is NOT a morning person.

2. Having to be nice and smiley no matter how crappy I may feel. Pastors are people too, they get sick, sore, tired, upset, have bad things happen to them, etc. How about we cut our pastors some slack, and not always expect them to smile just, because we said hi.

3. Being distracted during worship services. I am usually thinking about what students, adults volunteers, other staff members, etc. that I need to talk to that Saturday or Sunday, or what I need to get done for upcoming events. I realize this is my fault, but ministry is consuming. Although, I also get distracted by people who talk to me, throw things at me, or text me during services.

4. Getting blamed for rowdy Middle & High School Students who run the hallways or are obnoxious during church services. Grow some courage, and go talk to those kids and/ or their parents, not your youth pastor. If you don't know who their parents are ask that question or follow them, but not in a stalker/ creeper way!

5. Getting asked questions that could easily be answered if people (usually the same ones from week to week & month to month) would check & read any one of the following items first; the bulletin, the newsletter, the various bulletin boards around the church, the e-newsletter, the website, or the facebook group page. Come on people, put in your due diligence.

I'm not trying to be cynical. I love the church, being in church, and being in ministry. There is nothing more rewarding than helping others connect with their Savior. I am merely pointing out for me, how glorious it is to be able to Worship & Sabbath! So today, and maybe several Sunday's to come I'm looking forward to a true day of Sabbath with Sarah and the kids!

If you took the time to read my thoughts in this blog, I pray that you find rest and peace in the arms of our Heavenly Father. May you find time to Sabbath and be renewed by God's Holy Spirit! I also pray God's richest blessings for you and your family!