Day 5. A thing of Beauty

Last night was simply amazing. A wonderfully fun & energizing night...simply known as "The Night that Never Ends" in YL.

Yesterday morning we had club where our high school friends heard the truth of Sin and it's consequences: eternal death / separation from God. It was really hard. Our cabin time was full of frustration, confusion and probably a renewed distrust on their behaves.....that's exactly where we might hoped hey would be. If we don't camp out here for a bit, then to truly gain understanding of Jesus' love and the message of His death on the cross....cannot be fully attained. Well, I suppose it cannot ever be FULLY attained, but apart from understanding our Sin we cannot begin to grasp our hope of Salvation through Jesus Christ becoming our Sin on the cross.

We left cabin time to enter a day of fun, of beauty, of contemplation internally. After an early morning horse ride and a cowboy breakfast, we also rode the ridge runners (think go carts on steroids). We played a massive game of ultimate frisbee. Then on to the night 4 festivities: dinner, ding alongside, old fashioned carnival, an opera (program finale) followed by square dancing and dancing all night thru the ages of song and dance. It's too much to type here on my iPhone..suffice it to say it was a thing of beauty.

Today.....after the mourning, after the message of Sin. We will hike a mountain. We will point to the heavens, the mountains and the glory of God....revealing the hope in Jesus. We will hear the message of the Cross tonight. We will have this incredible opportunity to see kids and be with them as they perhaps cross over from death to Life...in Christ.

Pray for us. Here's to the joy of the Lord!

-ao

This place is magical

 

That’s what you hear from folks….kids, campers…leaders – all in one way or the other will talk about the beauty and the awesomeness of Crooked Creek Ranch.  They will drop their jaws over the splendor and grandeur of God’s creation so wonderfully displayed in a 3D view right here at camp. It cannot be helped….but to simply notice the magnanimous wonder that God has put on display.  It is a part of His story unfolding in the lives and hearts of kids that are here. After all, I am here because… for whatever reason, the Lord has decided to use me as part of his scripting in their lives….one way or the other. So, I will be here, I will go forth and trust in His call. I sure need to….I am thankful for the joy that comes from the Lord…the joy that He gives me and that is the same joy that Jesus experiences in his relationship with the Father…I get to have that in my heart and my life because of Christ in me. That is beauty that no Rocky Mountain view can compete with!

Last night, we had a “rodeo” at the coral followed by the best barbeque meal in Young Life…..it was incredible. Next up was a wild YL club where James, our camp speaker, talked about God becoming one of us – that He put on skin, that he, like a daddy playing with his children, “got down on the blanket” to be with us and to reveal himself….for you, for me.  Kids were able to consider the question, “What do you think about Jesus?” and “What do you think about God becoming one of us?” They could also reveal their doubts and questions, too. All that takes place in what we call “cabin time”. 

After cabin time, we went to the “Western Revue” – similar to an old timey “variety show” with fun, songs, and skits and games. It was a hit….especially when the Summer Staff brought out 400 ice cream sundaes for a fun and sweet night cap! I loved being with our high school friends and seeing the look on their faces when all this happened.

My eyes are slowly healing….the redness is dying down and the swelling is all but gone. Please keep praying and please keep praying for our high school friends, that they would be open to hearing the gospel and receiving whatever God might have in store for them. There is much more….so much more for them to hear and to get a chance to unpack what is going on within their hearts. One of my friends, he’s a senior and he is clueless on the love of God. He does not know the Love God offers him….he does not really care, he simply lives his wild life with no regrets or consequences in his mind. I am so thankful he is here and so hopeful that God might open up his heart to reveal Himself to my friend. 

Today is Day 3.  In my time with the Lord this morning…here are some things I read:

“The joy that Jesus offers His disciples is His own joy, which flows from His intimate communion with the One who sent Him.  It is a joy that does not separate happy days from sad days, successful moments from moments of failure, experiences of honor from experiences of dishonor, passion from resurrection.  This joy is a divine gift that does not leave us during times of illness, poverty, oppression, or persecution.”

                                                                        -Lifesigns, Henri Nouwen

“Joyful persons do not necessarily make jokes, laugh, or even smile.  They are not people with an optimistic outlook on life who always revitalize the seriousness of a moment or event.  No, joyful persons see with open eyes the hard reality of human existence and at the same time are not imprisoned by it.  They have no illusion about the evil powers that roam around, “looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), but they also know that death has no final power.  They suffer with those who suffer, yet they do not hold on to suffering; they point beyond it to an everlasting peace.”

                                                                       -Lifesigns, Henri Nouwen

 

“And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

                                                                         -Nehemiah 8:9-11 ESV

 

Today, as I am choosing the Joy that comes from Christ….and praying over and playing with and leading my high school friends….may I recognize the joy of the Lord is my strength…nothing else. That I choose Him. Choose His love. Choose His comfort and joy. His glory.  I just get to come along for the ride….oh, that I would really believe this and live it.

Blessings,

-ao

Camp day 1….joy over distraction

 

It’s day 2 at Crooked Creek Ranch. Last night, I experienced something different than I have ever done before at YL camp. I missed it.  I was absent.  After months of fighting and tugging with kids and their wallets and their circumstances to get them to camp….for “the best week of their life” – I show up at Crooked Creek Ranch and my allergies decided to show out and flare up. My eyes reddened, my left eye swelled and the pain and distractions began.

Thankfully, we have enough YL leaders here from our schools that our guys were not left high and dry, but it was tough to remove myself as I could only lay down with my eyes closed. I missed dinner. I missed club.  I missed the talk.  I missed an amazing obstacle course with our guys. It was tough…I felt weak and as if I was pulling away from our guys and all I could do was listen….as my eyes were closed and seeing wasn’t really an option.  After a great night one cabin time, I was able to go to bed and sleep. Waking up today has been quite amazing.  My eyes feel so much better. My left eye is still swollen and still tender. I have seen the doctor, the nurse, and am taking some medicine to help.  Here are some excerpts from my time with Jesus this a.m.

 

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

  -John 15:9-11 NIV

“Shout with joy to God, all the earth!2 Sing the glory of his name;make his praise glorious!3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.4 All the earth bows down to you;they sing praise to you,they sing praise to your name.” 5Come and see what God has done,how awesome his works in man’s behalf!”

-Psalm 66:1-5 NIV

I can sing praise to God. I can choose his Joy. I can choose abiding in His love….that He is abiding in God….and within me.  No matter my circumstances…He is unchanging….His love is Joy and is infinite. I can honor God even in the midst of my “condition” and can serve Him and walk with him as we invest in kids’ lives and share the gospel with them.

I am excited to see what God is up to in the lives of our high school friends…and certainly excited to experience what He is up to in my life, too!

Thanks for praying.

Blessings,

-ao

To encounter an experience of that which is God

The gospels are full of people. They are full of “stories” – true events which occurred in history depicting the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. They are full of encounters. People encountering one another….encountering the son of God – coming across and interacting and learning from (encounter) Jesus. People encountered the love of God and stared into the mirrors of their souls (and still do….due to these encounters today) because of these encounters which then allowed them a divine experience that would forever mark them.
Forever marked by the love of God.
That sounds like an experience that many would hope for. I believe I hope for this type of encounter on a regular basis. I also believe that I am a part of this divine experience via my relationship with Christ on a daily scale. Every. Day.  Today, I will load up a bus of high school friends and drive into YL camp at Crooked Creek Ranch in Fraser, CO. Our hope is that they might see Jesus in that place. That they might be forever marked by His life and love and pursuit of their hearts.
That which is God.  Look around….."that which is God” is absolutely everywhere. We will see that today as we drive in to camp. The rocky mountains and the snow covered masses of rock and hills…..deep crevices and towering trees with run off streams and droves of wildlife all in one symphonic chorus chanting and singing every mile along the way.  It’s like a scene from “The Polar Express” where the boy receives a bell from one of Santa’s reindeer on Christmas Eve. It was the moment all had waited for….the moment of celebration for Christmas to be here….for all cheer and joy to be ecstatic and abounding.  Yet, the boy could hear nothing as all around him were shouting for joy and chanting along with the bells of Christmas – this boy could hear no bells.  He did not believe in Santa.  Then, in this beautiful moment, he whispers, “I believe….I. Believe. I believe!!” and everything changes….Immediately, Santa shows up behind him and said, “What did you say?”  See, once he believed, everything changed.  He saw and heard things differently than before and consequently lived (we are lead to believe) his life differently because of his encounter and experience at Christmas.
What am I saying? My hope is for my high school friends to experience the love of God. To hear the bells chiming together as they look around at YL camp and hear the story of the gospel of Christ told anew in their hearts and minds. That they would believe, perhaps for the first time, and would then begin to experience God and His love in massive ways such they would never ever be the same. How could they be!

“Only the one who has experienced it can know what the love of Jesus Christ is.  Once you have experienced it, nothing else in the world will seem more beautiful or desirable.” (The Signature of Jesus by Brennan Manning)

Here we go……get excited. Wish you could see it!
To encounter an experience of that which is God….

Blessings,
-ao

Just thinking

The Love of God sinks in. It simmers. It soaks up all that is...not, and it restores. His love naturally points to Himself, His character and care. A God-given diffuser of anything not of His own. To know God is to be drawn in to all things that are out of this world and everything it and we were designed to be and feel. To know the Son of God...is to know God Himself

Knowing Jesus is everything my life stands for. Apart from this knowingness...this guy, myself, a rotten and lousy guy. I suppose I'm still that way, it's this relationship that keeps me ticking in a manner worthy of the goodness of God. He can't help it.

He simply draws us in..deeper and nearer to Himself. It's His magnetic nature to restore and bring near all that seemingly wants to repel...that is to go against the grain. Because, you see, running the other way is not at all natural nor the way of His design.

Guide me this day, Father.

Blessings,

-ao

The Scripture for me this a.m.

"There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we all know you’re a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God–pointing, God–revealing acts you do if God weren’t in on it.” Jesus said, “You’re absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—to God’s kingdom.” “How can anyone, ” said Nicodemus, “be born who has already been born and grown up? You can’t re–enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born–from–above’ talk?” Jesus said, “You’re not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind—hovering—over—the—water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit. “So don’t be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next. That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.” Nicodemus asked, “What do you mean by this? How does this happen?” Jesus said, “You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics? Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God? “No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up— and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one–of–a–kind Son of God when introduced to him. “This is the crisis we’re in: God–light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God–light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God–light so the work can be seen for the God–work it is.”
-John 3:1-21 (MSG)

To allow God's Word to sink in. To trust in His guidance...listening again to the message of Jesus is a for sure reminder of not only my desire but my always present need for Christ.

I need you, Jesus.

-ao

Sometimes a story is told

 

There are days where I wish I had more time. Days that go by and I wonder what happened to the time….some days will linger yet others will be gone in an instant. There are times that I wish I had a pen and paper….or my Evernote App on my phone to write down the idea that spawned in my mind, telling a story or a thought that was triggered, reminding me of what I needed to say or do. Most days, it’s little ideas….little thoughts of these quick glimpses of my life that, when put together or when the pen touches the pages, they tell a story. They write themselves. It makes me want to set up days where I get in front of my computer, I sit with my journal, or I jot down outlines of ideas so that I might one day put them together. The other day, my grandmother asked me if I had written any more. I told her I did here and there but no books…just a desire to tell a story again along the way. I sometimes see Donald Miller post about some form of writers block, or he’ll mention it in his books…and he talks about forcing himself to go through the motions at times so that by the movement of his fingers on the keyboard his brain begins to function in a way and more story is told. More ideas flood in….more information for the repertoire.  More ammunition for another day. I like that. It puts it into a desirable discipline in my mind.

What if you wrote from your place? From within the depths of who you are…who’s you are…and who’s you long to be? What if you wrote about your life….telling your story – we all have a story. There is our version and the version that is told by actually telling our version.  A lot of times I sit with people who discredit their own lives or their own story because they feel their “version” of life is not valid enough…that they’d need to have gone through some great chasm or ridiculous event in life to have a worthy or desirable story to tell. They want something that grabs people…but the truth is – we all like a good story. We all weave in and out of this labyrinth of life and the turns and stops and decisions abound…..telling of this or that. What is your story? Which turns, what part of the maze do you remember most….which one would you rather have not seen?  Have you talked about it? I think that many times, by telling our stories..by being vulnerable enough to communicate the good, bad, and ugly – God shows up. Well, God….He was there all along and He is still….here. He makes himself more attractive in our versions as we unpack the winding road of our life. 

But, whom would I tell…and who would listen?!  You might be surprised. It’s not about flaunting YOU or bragging about your experiences…but living out of the place that you are currently in.  It’s about acknowledging the presence of right now and living and speaking out of that place.  No need to fix and move on…just move in and exist….as time unfolds, perhaps new life will rise.  Tomorrow we cannot control nor contain…but what we have is all we are….right now.  What we have is all that we have seen – it’s our “past” – it’s our life treasure chest. We hold the keys to all we have seen and done. It’s true. You did it. You said it.  Perhaps it’s time you put it together and painted a picture with it. Could it be used? Would God say something to you…..to me, or someone else….with your story? Maybe. 

What’s the danger?  At worst, you’ve stood in front of the mirror and begun to unpack who you are and all you have been – acknowledging the right-now within you.  I bet you just might encounter the love of God.  Remember – He never left. His love is infinite.  His existence is abundantly immense and ragingly intimate.  So, go ahead, consider taking a look at God by taking a look at…..you.

 

Here’s to writing and thinking out of where we are.

Blessings,

-ao

Today...Holy Saturday

It's Saturday. The day before Resurrection Sunday. The pre-culmination of Holy Week. A reminder of the distance...the weight carried...the burden..breadth of His love. Saturday. The day of the burial. Death, followed by burial, typically brings images and emotions of such finality. This day is different.

May today bring an Awareness of anticipation. The anticipatory preparation of why Easter is a celebration, why there is Salvation in Christ, upon that which our burdens and all that is wrong became that which was never any of it...our Sin was taken up. It was sent away from us for always. Separated from you and me as far as the East is from the West.

Today. It's Holy Saturday. It is simply one more reminder of the grandeur of God and His furiously relentless love. Odd. But....as we look and long for the stadium rocking shouts of celebration tomorrow, may this day be lived well in its presence. Lived well: in obedience to the call and commands of God.

Community. Family. Love. All around us being soaked-in to honor the One. May I live in a way that brings Him honor.

Yes, today is good. It is a good reminder, do not quickly miss its beauty.

Blessings,
-ao

Today: Good Friday

Sometimes it's helpful to take a second look. In the NFL, we have instant replay. In life, we rarely get that opportunity; however, God didn't see this to be His case. He set a course to re-cover His creation with unfathomable mercy. He gave away His love and power to fulfill what only He was worthy to become. He became my Sin. Today is a reminder of this Divine embrace.

"The altar from which God gives us the gift of himself is not for exploitation by insiders who grab and loot. In the old system, the animals are killed and the bodies disposed of outside the camp. The blood is then brought inside to the altar as a sacrifice for sin. It’s the same with Jesus. He was crucified outside the city gates—that is where he poured out the sacrificial blood that was brought to God’s altar to cleanse his people."
-Hebrews 13:10-12 (MSG)

His love is infinite. His pursuit: wreckless abandon. His attitude is relentless. Tis the furious love of Father, Son, & Spirit for you. For me. I'd call it crazy.

"But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed."
-Isaiah 53:5 (MSG)

Read these verses as stand alone statements. Then read as a whole. For me, they carry even more of a powerful blow when done this way. Let them sink within you.

"We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him, on him."
-Isaiah 53:6 (MSG)

Still, there's more of God's radical poetry, only it is His prophecy...His promise...His covenant for us.

"He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn’t say a word. Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in silence. Justice miscarried, and he was led off—and did anyone really know what was happening? He died without a thought for his own welfare, beaten bloody for the sins of my people. They buried him with the wicked, threw him in a grave with a rich man, Even though he’d never hurt a soulor said one word that wasn’t true. Still, it’s what God had in mind all along, to crush him with pain. The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sinso that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life. And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him."
-Isaiah 53:7-10 (MSG)

Today is "Good Friday". Maybe we would do well to consider our own troubles, our own brokenness...and can see our Condition: Sin. Then, perhaps after a good and long look in the mirror we could see. Truly see. I think we probably already do. Our hearts yearn for wholeness. Jesus became the Sin of us all...precisely that we be made whole for the good pleasure of our Father in Heaven.

Thanks be to God. My heavens...you chose...me!

Blessings,
-ao