Truth, as the Snow Falls

my road after the snow

     What is truth? How would you define it? And what things are absolute and what things could possibly have a little "wiggle room?" Can we really know if something is actually, 100% completely, without-a-doubt, true? This past week, I got in trouble with one of the church leaders/temporary vicar in the church here. As I always do before sharing a story from the Bible, I explained to my group of 4-8 year olds that the Bible is God's word. He inspired and told people what to write and it's 100% true and can be trusted. But later I was told by this church leader that I couldn't tell the kids this, because apparently it isn't true. Isn't true? 

     Sorry I'm not sorry, but if the Bible can't be trusted, what am I doing here? What are we all doing? Preaching from a word of make-believe and feel-good stories of the past? People, I'm not being a "naive, conservative, evangelical American," as some here have said. Unfortunately, this view of "taking the Bible at your own word" can be a pretty common practice in some Anglican churches. American churches are good at avoiding tough questions as we're often spoon-fed the Gospel and the Bible. But we can't take it in the complete opposite direction and ignore it! The Bible is relevant today, "living and active," Hebrews 4:12 tells us. But they say that Paul's letters and much of New Testament church doctrine can't be trusted. Excuse me? Let's look at that from another angle. We believe God is Sovereign, right? (If we don't, that's a whole other sad issue for another time) But if God is truly sovereign, would He really allow His Word to float around through the centuries with, not only a few typos - but huge theological errors such as this one, that only people with proper training and study could hope to understand? Did God pull a Brian Regan and say, "oops, I just meant it as a joke, but now they're all going out like that... oh well?" Doubt it. 

     2 Timothy 3:16 says that "all Scripture is God-breathed or inspired by God." Yes, all authority on Heaven and earth is given to Jesus, (Matthew 28:18) not Paul or any other apostle who wrote books in the New Testament. But even the four Gospels (including this verse) were written by Jesus' followers and not Jesus himself! So based on that premise, we couldn't even trust the Gospels! What's left that we can actually believe in and teach to others? 

     We're not meant to figure out God. Or understand His ways. We can't undercut the Bible just because it says things that don't make sense to us, are hard to believe, or that place boundaries and convictions in our lives. It's called #FAITH. If we only believe the part of the Bible we can understand, then we're pulling the majesty of God down to our level, a level humans can "get" so no one feels uncomfortable and we can all live happy lives of bliss in our own man-made religion. So we can worship ourselves. We can't just "pick and choose" the parts we want to believe and the parts we want to be true and then just disregard the rest! How arrogant to think we can know and understand the mind of God! 

     Needless to say, it's been a rather discouraging week but God has continuously reminded me of Matthew 10:

St Mary's Church in Nunthorpe

     "If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave. I tell you the truth, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off than such a town on the judgment day. Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." 

-Matthew 10:14-20

     This may sound a bit over-dramatic, I mean, these people are in the church. They're not really going to do anything to persecute me! And no, my safety isn't threatened. But I've been reminded this week of how Satan loves to screw things up, and loves starting inside the church. 

     I love the kids in the youth group, and I believe God will be calling many of them to Himself sometime in the future and I can't wait to see that unfold. But if this church (and other faith families around the world) aren't willing to change and actually stand for something...then man, judgment day is gonna be super rough. I know only God can melt their hearts. There's nothing I can say or no Bible verse I can throw at them to make them change their minds. Please pray for God to bring a hunger for His word and a longing for Him. Everything else is meaningless. And that's TRUTH. 

Constant Through the Trials and the Change.

Wow, it's been a while since I blogged. Like, I haven't written since last year! 

The London Eye

Ice Bar with Lindsey and Travis

     December was such a blessing. As the youth group term came to a close, I found myself going from super-incredibly-busy-i-just-want-to-cry, to having a lot a refreshing and rejuvenating time to spend out of Nunthorpe. I went to 

London for a few days with a friend, a very welcome birthday gift from my parents. I had a wonderful time, enjoying London with all its Christmas festivities. We went ice skating, walked around Camden (my favorite part of London), and enjoyed a seasonal Winter Wonderland theme park in Hyde Park. My favorite part had to be visiting an ice bar, completely made out of ice! It was sooo cold!

Boxing Day Dip in Redcar (Alan is in black)

     On Christmas day, I spent the night with the family who hosted me when I came on a short-term trip here, two years ago. What a blessing it was to spend Christmas with my English family; I'm so thankful they were willing to expand their family for a day! On Boxing Day (December 26th) we stepped outside to the beach for the annual Boxing Day Dip to help raise money for different charities. Although Alan (my host dad) was the only one in our group willing to brave the English Channel's cold, it was fun to watch hundreds of crazy people jump in the water to help support others. 

Susan and I in Warsaw

     God also sent me on a quite unexpected journey to Warsaw, Poland for New Years. My mom's college roommate has been a missionary there for the past 16 years and invited me to visit and see what God's doing in Eastern Europe. It was such an unexpected blessing to spend a week there be able to talk with her about what being a career missionary is like. 

Our group going to see The Hobbit

    Not only did I enjoy experiencing an entirely new culture and language, I got to spend a lot of time with some Americans, and it felt like home! We spent New Years watching people set off fireworks in the streets. And a few days later we went to see The Hobbit (my 3rd time) with Polish subtitles. I got to meet some new Polish Believers, and hear their stories of coming to Christ. What an incredible adventure!

     To start off this new year, our YFC team attended the Youth for Christ staff conference in Coventry, England. It was a great opportunity to grow closer as a team, worship God through music, and get some amazing spiritual insight from some wonderful speakers from around the UK and the world. I loved getting to socialize with so many different people my age who are passionate about you and passionate about taking Christ to the nations; it was such an encouragement! I learned so much from the different Bible studies and seminars they had available: 

Tees Valley Youth for Christ 2012-2013 at YFC Conference in Coventry

1. Tell Stories. Our culture is moving from left-brain society of text and verses to right-brain society. As the church, we need to recognize that the way to reach our generation is to speak in narrative, metaphors, stories, and examples. People don't really care what you're selling, they want to hear your story and know who you are. And our we just telling the story of freedom, love, hope, and justice? Or are we proclaiming the story of Christ and Him crucified? (1 Corinthians 2:2) If we only focus on telling His story and stop getting so caught up in figuring out how do "draw people to Him" we will rely on him and trust that He will do the drawing! Which leads to the next point I learned...

2. Let the Holy Spirit Guide. Our culture is always changing, and the only constant is the Spirit and His work in our lives. The Holy Spirit should be the director of the church, and we should do our best to follow. "Mission is seeing what God is doing and joining Him there" (John Taylor). The Spirit is a reliable presence, but completely unpredictable, and He is in the business of seeing the completion of things, the urgency of it all. Move from ministry strategies and what makes sense to discerning what the Spirit is headed. That's where the real fun begins and God works in crazy ways! Be weary/cautious if you thing God is calling you to something safe or comfortable or without risk. 

3. Adolescence is slowly shifting to the range of 11-27 year olds. Wow! So youth ministry really could last until the late 20s. Our generation is so focused on friendships. Because of broken homes, we've abandoned hope in family, and we're waiting longer to be involved in serious romantic relationships, so that leaves us with friends. Watch any current-running TV show to see this. Our friends become our family, because they're the only ones we can truly trust. Because of this, and so many other issues, our style of reaching out to this group must adjust. I'm inspired and encourage to not stop at 18 years, hoping that "they've got it," but to continue pouring into people well into their 20s. God's really put this age group on my heart recently, and I feel He may be calling me to this somewhere down the road in my life. 

4. One night we sung, "One Thing Remains," by Jesus Culture. A line in the song says that Jesus' love is "constant through the trials and the change." It's a great reminder because lately I've been distracted by the fact that my parents are moving to India to do full-time missions. I'm so glad they're going and couldn't be more excited for them, but I think it just hit me that their move signifies the closing of a chapter in my life. My family is transitioning to the next stage of life and I'm not a part of it. But God is constant in the midst of change. What a promise! 

   Anyway, I'm excited for what the future holds here in Nunthorpe and ready to take a step of faith by letting the Holy Spirit direct our steps!