I got back on Saturday from my week with our high school youth choir strangely energized. I had gotten very little sleep the entire week due to my determination to have video to work with for our homecoming concert on Sunday. Plus, I rarely will fall asleep on buses. It's just one of those weird things. But, I had all the energy I needed to work feverishly on the video and got a 4 minute clip ready for Sunday (and for those of you who don't know, I'm a bit of a perfectionist so it took a long time to get it just right).
I attribute all of this to a group of amazing high schoolers who showed me time and time again the love of Christ on this trip. This was the trip that left us wondering whether or not we could pull it off. Granted, we have a lot of faith but at the same time you can't help but wonder especially when you're planning on taking this group of 58 kids + 8 adults to New York City. But it went well, drama was a minimum, and God is good!
The high of the week for everyone was at the Interdenominational Church of God in Gaithersburg, MD. It was a black church near DC that had hosted us in the past. And the Holy Spirit was alive and well in that congregation as we found out right away when we started. I was a part of the choir for the week so I got to experience this all firsthand. Someone would say a profound line like God would say, "Let me handle the truth" and you'd hear "Amen's" and "Hallelujahs" called out from the audience.
Now mind you, even though Christ Lutheran is a pretty contemporary church and we can get people clapping with a little effort, I'm guessing most of us have never experienced anything like this before. But it gave us that little extra and all of a sudden we were all feeling it. We knew that they got it, that they were feeling God through what we were doing, and all of a sudden we were feeling it more too because of them and their reactions. It brought everything to a whole new level. We weren't performing anymore, we were worshipping with this congregation that is so different than our white suburban congregation. We got it, we were all on the same page and suddenly what we were singing took on a whole new meaning. Granted, I'm sure many of believed what we were singing before but now we got to feel it in a whole new way. There's really no good way to explain it but I'm positive that every single one of us felt God that night.
The funny thing is after the show as we were talking and interacting with the congregation they kept on thanking us for being such a blessing and we were turning around and telling them that they were the true blessing for us. I felt like they had given us so much more than we had given them. They had showed us God in a whole new way that night and had also allowed us to see God in ourselves and in what we were doing. And that was perhaps the greatest gift anyone could have given to us, to these high schoolers. They were hopefully able to see that they could make a difference, that what they said and did mattered to these people and what mattered the most was that they were telling the story, they were proclaiming the Gospel. They all have the potential to be Christ to their neighbor. The church had done it for us and had shown us that we could do it as well.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
The Power of Prayer
Tomorrow I leave for a wild adventure. I'm heading to the NE with our high school youth choir for our tour. There are nearly 70 of us all together and it's quite the group. They also have me singing in the choir with them. I feel a bit like a ringer. I'm 25 but could pass for an 18 year old (I've actually gotten carded for R rated movies here, seriously!) and I have a decent musical background behind me including 4 years in one of the best if not the best high school choir program in MN.
Now planning a trip like this takes a lot out of a person. The funny thing is, I'm just in the background. I'm thankfully not the one running this whole show. But throughout this whole process we've had plenty of drama. Two churches have dropped us and we've had to find replacements very last minute. We're not sure if we can find host homes for everyone. Trying to plan an entire day in NYC with 70 people isn't exactly an easy task either.
And there there's the whole thing about the show. We have dress rehearsal tonight and people still don't know the music. There are too many bugs to work out in the program to list. Part of the reason I'm singing in the choir is the alto section can't be heard.
But the other night we were reminded in a big way that God has it all under control. One of the girls who is coming on the tour, a senior with a great voice, wonderful smile, and bubbly personality to boot found out that she wouldn't be able to come on the tour because of immigration issues (she's from the Congo). It was a huge blow that was felt by everyone. There were hugs all around and tears and she left practice after making the announcement. And I have no doubt that there were countless prayers lifted up for everything to work out, including by me. We went on with practice, filled the hole the best we could, and kept our spirits up.
At the end of practice one of the adults got a phone call and made the announcement that things had changed and that this girl could come on the tour!!! There was a collective cheer!!! God had an incredibly fast turnaround! There was a great feeling of joy in the group and when we practiced yesterday and she was back, you could hear something extra in her voice when she sang her solo. She knew and I think we all knew this was an incredible gift.
As we get ready for this tour and start to worry about how this all could possibly come together, we were given an incredible reminder of God's faithfulness last night. How all of this works out on tour in unknown but God is going to be there with us every step of the way. He already worked on miracle and I have no doubt that others will happen as well.
And as I look ahead, to the end of my internship and the beginning of, well, who knows, I know that God will be there. Whether I've only been praying for an hour or for six months, God is up there listening. I don't expect nearly as fast of a turnaround for my future but I do know that it will all work out for the best and I hope I can be as grateful as Rachel was and that this gratitude can shine forth in my life like it did in her voice last night.
Now planning a trip like this takes a lot out of a person. The funny thing is, I'm just in the background. I'm thankfully not the one running this whole show. But throughout this whole process we've had plenty of drama. Two churches have dropped us and we've had to find replacements very last minute. We're not sure if we can find host homes for everyone. Trying to plan an entire day in NYC with 70 people isn't exactly an easy task either.
And there there's the whole thing about the show. We have dress rehearsal tonight and people still don't know the music. There are too many bugs to work out in the program to list. Part of the reason I'm singing in the choir is the alto section can't be heard.
But the other night we were reminded in a big way that God has it all under control. One of the girls who is coming on the tour, a senior with a great voice, wonderful smile, and bubbly personality to boot found out that she wouldn't be able to come on the tour because of immigration issues (she's from the Congo). It was a huge blow that was felt by everyone. There were hugs all around and tears and she left practice after making the announcement. And I have no doubt that there were countless prayers lifted up for everything to work out, including by me. We went on with practice, filled the hole the best we could, and kept our spirits up.
At the end of practice one of the adults got a phone call and made the announcement that things had changed and that this girl could come on the tour!!! There was a collective cheer!!! God had an incredibly fast turnaround! There was a great feeling of joy in the group and when we practiced yesterday and she was back, you could hear something extra in her voice when she sang her solo. She knew and I think we all knew this was an incredible gift.
As we get ready for this tour and start to worry about how this all could possibly come together, we were given an incredible reminder of God's faithfulness last night. How all of this works out on tour in unknown but God is going to be there with us every step of the way. He already worked on miracle and I have no doubt that others will happen as well.
And as I look ahead, to the end of my internship and the beginning of, well, who knows, I know that God will be there. Whether I've only been praying for an hour or for six months, God is up there listening. I don't expect nearly as fast of a turnaround for my future but I do know that it will all work out for the best and I hope I can be as grateful as Rachel was and that this gratitude can shine forth in my life like it did in her voice last night.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Planning Ahead
One of the perks of being a "pastor" is that people like to send you free stuff. Free books, free samples of Bible studies, free videos. Usually, this all goes to the senior pastor. Thankfully, my supervisor/the senior pastor of my internship congregation is a generous guy. Yesterday I got the chance to see a preview screening of the movie "Evan Almighty." It doesn't come out till the end of June but they were looking to promote it to churches and pastors in the area. I enjoyed it and had some good laughs.
My favorite part of the movie was a scene in which Evan (Steve Carrell) is talking with God (Morgan Freeman). Evan is a newly elected Congressman and is looking to make an impact and "change the world." God wants Evan to build an ark. Of course, Evan is not happy about this and protests telling God, "I have a plan for my life!" In response, God starts laughing hysterically.
I watched this part and couldn't help thinking that Evan was me and that God was still God, laughing hysterically at the "plans" I have for my future. I learned a long time ago to not make long term plans when it came to my life. I thought about becoming a high school biology/environmental science teacher originally and I ended up going to seminary to become a youth pastor. I thought I should do my internship in Las Vegas and I ended up in Charlotte instead. Now here I am, finally thinking I know where next year is going to head at seminary. But it's not that simple. My future does not necessarily depend on my decisions but instead depends on the decisions of those around me. And someone's impending decision is about to throw my plans up in the air once again. Of course, this all could be a fluke and the decision could end up shifting the original way but it's still an open window that was a week ago firmly locked shut.
Despite all the ambiguity of the situation, I am grateful for God's hand in my life. After all, God's plans are usually much grander and well thought out than our own plans for our lives. I think of Peter, Andrew, James and John who probably were content to be career fishermen and instead found themselves as followers of Jesus and leaders of the Christian church. I think of my original plan to work with high schoolers through the school system and instead find myself being able to work with them on a whole different level, one that suits me better than leading from a classroom and not being able to express the most important part of my life, my faith. And now I find myself facing my future or at least, this upcoming school year, knowing that something big will happen, wherever I may find myself. And I trust that God will lead the way to wherever it is that I need to be.
My favorite part of the movie was a scene in which Evan (Steve Carrell) is talking with God (Morgan Freeman). Evan is a newly elected Congressman and is looking to make an impact and "change the world." God wants Evan to build an ark. Of course, Evan is not happy about this and protests telling God, "I have a plan for my life!" In response, God starts laughing hysterically.
I watched this part and couldn't help thinking that Evan was me and that God was still God, laughing hysterically at the "plans" I have for my future. I learned a long time ago to not make long term plans when it came to my life. I thought about becoming a high school biology/environmental science teacher originally and I ended up going to seminary to become a youth pastor. I thought I should do my internship in Las Vegas and I ended up in Charlotte instead. Now here I am, finally thinking I know where next year is going to head at seminary. But it's not that simple. My future does not necessarily depend on my decisions but instead depends on the decisions of those around me. And someone's impending decision is about to throw my plans up in the air once again. Of course, this all could be a fluke and the decision could end up shifting the original way but it's still an open window that was a week ago firmly locked shut.
Despite all the ambiguity of the situation, I am grateful for God's hand in my life. After all, God's plans are usually much grander and well thought out than our own plans for our lives. I think of Peter, Andrew, James and John who probably were content to be career fishermen and instead found themselves as followers of Jesus and leaders of the Christian church. I think of my original plan to work with high schoolers through the school system and instead find myself being able to work with them on a whole different level, one that suits me better than leading from a classroom and not being able to express the most important part of my life, my faith. And now I find myself facing my future or at least, this upcoming school year, knowing that something big will happen, wherever I may find myself. And I trust that God will lead the way to wherever it is that I need to be.
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