Special PFD Note!!!!!
I know PFDs are out because the stores are crazy and the banks are crazy and my inbox is filled with ads and my e-mail is filled with requests. I am not going to try and yell louder than everyone else to grab a piece of your check. However, if you have been thinking that you want to give to Joel's Place but it just hasn't worked out yet, now might be a good time. The bar on the right side of the screen has a list of ways that you can contribute. Thanks for all your support!
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I have a son who is 7th grade now. Along with the growing and the eating and the raging hormones comes the opportunity to be involved in our church's youth group. I, having a few years of experience working with teenagers, went into the pastor's office one day and said that I would be happy to help out with the Jr. Highers if they wanted me to do anything. One thing led to another and somehow I ended up in the youth room this past Sunday night with over a dozen teenagers talking about Creation. I handed out playdoh to everyone and told them to make something...as long as it was not a snake, a worm, a snowball or something of that difficulty level (1st rule of leadership: know who you are working with). As they worked we talked over the accounts of creation from Scripture and I had them share about what they had made. We talked about how God formed them, shaped them with the same focus that they had making these sculptures. We talked about how just as their fingerprints were all over the clay, God's fingerprints are all over us. I told them that God crafted them just as they are, taking delight in how he had made them...and no matter what they hear from others, they are not mistakes or accidents or epic failures. They matter. A lot.
Some of it sank in. Some of it bounced off. It's teenagers...that's the terrain you are working with. Towards the end of our time, I asked if they had any questions that they want to make sure that we touch on this year. The one that sticks out to me right now was, "Why did Jesus talk in Parables? Why not just be clear?"
I love that question. Partly I love that question because I know the answer. But I also love it because the question is the answer itself! See, we love to know stuff. Or at least we hate to admit that we don't know stuff. Especially guys. Especially teenage guys. They will blow up the car before they admit that they don't know how to turn it on. When Jesus taught, he used stories...really simple stories. If he had taught with theological manifestos, the religious academics would have had opportunity to debate lexicon or just argue about his word choice. The heart of the lesson would have been missed. Instead parables would give the listeners a taste of the deeper meaning and an invitation to investigate. Those who were convinced of their own insight and intelligence would wander away, probably scoffing at how overrated a teacher this Jesus was. Those who were curious, those who were passionate for the truth, those who were desperate to find answers would seek out Jesus and ask him to explain. That was when he would open up the mysteries of heaven.
I am convinced that we are surrounded by parables in our daily lives. We have reflections of God's nature and His kingdom presented to us every day. Often we are so sure that we already know all that we need to know that we don't stop to look, listen and learn. But sometimes we are curious or passionate for the truth or desperate for the answers and we use these parables to come closer to Jesus to see what he will tell us. Nature is filled with God's fingerprints, speaking to those who choose to listen. I see parables everyday in watching a mother with her baby or witnessing the seasons change from Fall to Winter or watching young men and women navigate the rocky transition from childhood to adult life.
Living Parables surround us and invite us to draw closer to God so that He can whisper the secrets of eternity to our hearts.
Some of it sank in. Some of it bounced off. It's teenagers...that's the terrain you are working with. Towards the end of our time, I asked if they had any questions that they want to make sure that we touch on this year. The one that sticks out to me right now was, "Why did Jesus talk in Parables? Why not just be clear?"
I love that question. Partly I love that question because I know the answer. But I also love it because the question is the answer itself! See, we love to know stuff. Or at least we hate to admit that we don't know stuff. Especially guys. Especially teenage guys. They will blow up the car before they admit that they don't know how to turn it on. When Jesus taught, he used stories...really simple stories. If he had taught with theological manifestos, the religious academics would have had opportunity to debate lexicon or just argue about his word choice. The heart of the lesson would have been missed. Instead parables would give the listeners a taste of the deeper meaning and an invitation to investigate. Those who were convinced of their own insight and intelligence would wander away, probably scoffing at how overrated a teacher this Jesus was. Those who were curious, those who were passionate for the truth, those who were desperate to find answers would seek out Jesus and ask him to explain. That was when he would open up the mysteries of heaven.
I am convinced that we are surrounded by parables in our daily lives. We have reflections of God's nature and His kingdom presented to us every day. Often we are so sure that we already know all that we need to know that we don't stop to look, listen and learn. But sometimes we are curious or passionate for the truth or desperate for the answers and we use these parables to come closer to Jesus to see what he will tell us. Nature is filled with God's fingerprints, speaking to those who choose to listen. I see parables everyday in watching a mother with her baby or witnessing the seasons change from Fall to Winter or watching young men and women navigate the rocky transition from childhood to adult life.
Living Parables surround us and invite us to draw closer to God so that He can whisper the secrets of eternity to our hearts.
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