The Faith Youth Group at Faith Crossing Baptist Church like Farts, SNOT and Trash, now wait before you throw your nose in the air, cast judgment and have to repent, keep reading and let me explain.
At Sunday School nearing the end I shared one of the verses the Lord used to work on my cold, hard heart in bringing me to Him…when out came a small poot! Followed by silence as all the eyes were directed in the direction of that small poot (thankfully, it wasn’t in my direction). Then as the eyes begin to look back and forth at each other, laughter erupted, students begin to bounce in their chairs, some tears were even present! It was such a moving experience! When the friend of the Pooter (who happened to be a guest) picked up his chair and moved away. No joke! I didn’t think we would ever stop laughing. Then the Pooter looked at my husband and said, “I’m sorry, I feel asleep!”. Which brought on a whole new wave of laughter, in which my husband said, “See what happens when you get comfortable?” Yes, when we get comfortable little things slip out. After we all quit laughing including the Pooter we did our best to assure him and make him feel okay; after all, we all poot! I am not sure what that says about this small piece of my testimony other than it puts people to sleep; but I’d like to think it was because I have such a soothing voice. God’s Word is true “laughter is good medicine” but as I have mentioned I have difficulty remaining focused for too long, so as our Pastor was preaching on the Cross, the pooting incident kept replaying through my mind resulting in me trying to hold in laughter…no I didn’t poot, but resulted in my shoulders bouncing up and down, somewhat uncontrollably. Bouncing so much, I had to have a talk with myself! This is what I said, “Dione! Pay attention! Stop laughing right now! We’re talking about the cross! Think about blood not pooting!”. Do you ever have to have a talk with yourself, a talk like what you would have with your 2 or 10 year old? Probably not, it’s just me.
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| Fall Break Weekend - Missing Alex and Aaron! |
Fast forward to Sunday night when we remembered the FART and celebrated SNOT, don’t you wished you were in our youth group? I am not talking about the SNOT that is the gooey, gross, slimy junk that irritates us, but SNOT that sticks together, involves green and is healthy. What a great riddle! So what is SNOT? Ready? SNOT is an acronym that stands for Sunday Night Out Together, isn’t that obvious? I love that! So creative of the former Faith Family Youth Ministers (Scott & Kim) and it obviously fits perfect working alongside youth. SNOT is a time to break bread with each other usually at a mutually agreed on restaurant, green - because you need money to eat and healthy because assembling together creates unity and love for one another. Well unity for the most part, if you think trying to agree on a restaurant with your spouse is difficult, try 8 to 10 youth!
But after celebrating the FART and before indulging in SNOT, we went dumpster diving! Yes, literally. We (well some of us) dove in to the big dumpster. Why would anyone dive into the depths of a dark dumpster? Hellllloooo? Youth looking for unopened boxes of iPads! No, we didn’t tell them though we thought about it! Of course it was to get coupons!! Joking, again. One would think I have a lot of experience in dumpster diving, but actually my experience is being pulled out of the dumpster…that is the hellish dumpster of a corroded life of sin and death. Actually, our physical dumpster diving did have a purpose, which was to salvage unbroken bricks to either sell on Craigslist or build a fire pit on the land to sing Kumbaya Okie style of course. Fortunately, there was no rotting food or anything foul smelling; it was mostly dirt, tree limbs and bricks; but yet it was still a dumpster.
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He huffed and he puffed but he could not blow the house down! |
There is nothing more sexy (insert my kids saying “ewwwwwww”) than my husband sharing his heart and the Word of God with young people. On with the theme of Trash to Treasure, Darryl spoke about building our lives on the one and only true foundation. How Christ removes the dirt and filth of our sin, pulls us out of the dark pit of death and cleans us up and makes us into a new person with a new heart, new desires, new outlook, new future, new everything! While we abandon and throw things away that are broken, dirty and useless, Christ never abandons or throws away His creations. Rather, He continually is calling us to be a people who, have been reclaimed and re-made. Christ doesn’t waste anything, He doesn’t look upon us and see all our imperfections and discards us, but He sees possibility. He sees life. He sees hope – all because He loves us!
Just like Jesus’ calling of fishermen - stench, fish guts, and all, dumpster diving took me down that familiar path of memories and hurt of being looked down on and used. It brings to the surface a dark truth about the prevalence of perfectionism that shackles so many in our prosperous society. Living in a world that tells us often that our outsides don’t measure up…we don’t dress right, we aren’t skinny enough, we’re too dark skinned, not educated enough or not pretty enough is cruel, but even crueler is when the church jumps in on the attack. Judgment and criticism in the church is sung about often by Casting Crowns, a few phrases of their lyrics is proof that it is probably an epidemic “lofty glances from lofty people”, “judgment looming under every steeple”, and “plastic people under plastic steeples”, I know in the past decade I have been wounded and I have witnessed heartbreakingly others wounded by fellow “Christians”. Our challenge is not to find “a church that shows no favoritism”, but to become the church that extends favor to all through love and acceptance, by doing life together regardless of any outward appearances. Because with God, He shows no favoritism, but extends favor to us by His grace and because of His truth we should strive to live up to His character. He doesn’t look on the outward appearances, He looks at our hearts. I want to be that follower who sees the true value and worth of all that I meet, not tossing out any, because they don’t measure up to our idolatrous ideals. God doesn’t make junk. And He doesn’t promise prestige or prosperity, but He has given us the perfect gift of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
We are so excited for what God is doing within the Faith Family and the youth group. We agreed to serve as interim youth ministers for three short months and that time will be gone by the end of November. In the beginning the class was quite small, about four regular students and the past two weeks we’ve been running between 8 and 10 and Wednesday night we had 11, with no empty chairs. We’ve had visitors in the youth group every week. Students are inviting friends and the gospel is being shared. God is so good, I marvel at Him! Sure, there are still many students in the youth ministry and visitors that don’t know Him personally, yet; but, that is our calling to be fishers of people, and a true follower of the One and Only True One who did the ultimate dumpster dive from the heights of His throne to the earth, to the cross, ultimately to the grave, and back to His righteous position on the throne. All to rescue me out of my sin. To put a new heart, life and purpose in me. He has captured me and I am forever His.
On Sunday one of our youth, stepped up and asked if we could meet earlier on Wednesdays to pray! No joke! So arrive early and pray we did and we will continue with a goal to not grow weary in seeking His face. God is moving and we are praying that the Lord will indeed move in the lives of our students and church family in tangible ways that we can see and only attribute to Him.
“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12 –
Good stuff!!
