#tt (Thiefin' Thursday)

Time once again for the best I've read this week on someone else's blog. And this week's post comes, once again, from Jon Acuff's 'Stuff Christians Like' blog. The post is about "that guy" who won't scoot at the end of the pew. We've all been there. Enjoy!

Witness-Killing

I potentially hurt my witness in the town where I live this morning. I was driving down Main Street on my way to the Christian school to speak at chapel (irony of ironies, right?) and this guy in a big pickup truck pulled out in front of me. Like, RIGHT out in front of me. And to top it off, he stuck it right on the speed limit which I... um, *cough... usually obey. So I did what I think most of us would have done - I rode his behind all the way through town. Man, I was really showing him! I'm sure he realized what a jerk he had been because of how big of a jerk I was being TO him now. Yeah...


Then he pulled over and let me pass him. Oops... Now he was looking at MY car, probably memorizing my license plate, or the sticker I have on my back window. Oops...


It occurred to me then that if this guy ever visits our church, or sees me doing some service project around town, he's going to see the back of my car and turn around and drive the other way. I have probably killed my ability to ever minister to this guy, and probably his family, too.


Not my best moment. Sorry, sir, whoever and wherever you are. I was supposed to show you Jesus, but I showed you my sinful nature instead, and I'm sorry.

Knowing God's Will

One of the phrases that Christians like to use a lot is "God's will". And for good reason. In Mark 3, Jesus says that the people who obey God's will are his true family. Paul writes in Romans 12 that we should offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God so that we can know His will. So, God's will is definitely an important thing to know.

So how do we know it? Yeah, yeah, I know that we can know God's will through prayer, studying scripture, quieting our lives to listen to His voice, etc. I've got that. What I'm asking is, how do we know that what we believe to be God's will is actually God's will? Have you ever wondered about that?

When I came to my current ministry, it was a series of things falling into place neatly and perfectly that led me to believe that it was God's will for me to be here. I was finishing up college and needed a job. The pastor was someone that I had interned with at his last church. He called me up out of the blue to do a summer internship the summer before my senior year. He and the elders worked all throughout my senior year of college to exhort the congregation to increase their giving so that they could hire me full-time. The congregation responded. It was truly a 'perfect storm' of all the things happening that needed to happen, all at the right time. It was pretty clear to me that God had called me here.

But what if it's not the same story in your situation? What if you're faced with two or even three choices that all seem equally good (or equally bad)? What if God is calling you to something that isn't comfortable, or doesn't 'all fall into place'? What if you've prayed and prayed, studied and studied, cancelled your cable so that you'd be less distracted from God's voice, and you still don't have certainty? 

I'd love to hear your answers to those questions, because I don't have any foolproof ones. I'm just as human, just as uncertain, just as foolish as anyone else when it comes to the things of God. But it's important for us all to know God's will and calling for our lives, so we have to keep striving towards knowledge and understanding.

Random Randomness

Another thing I'm going to thief(v.) away from someone else's blog is a semi-regular posting called 'Random Randomness'. The idea comes from Kurt Johnston's blog, which I read regularly. Random Randomness is exactly that - short, random quips about stuff that's happened or that I have thought about. Here goes!

-Right now I'm watching 'From Russia With Love', the James Bond movie from 1963. He just slapped the Bond girl around. It seems like every time I watch a bond movie, I like his character less.

-I've recently reconnected with some old friends through the miracle of technology. It's refreshing to see the positive potential of social media in action, instead of focusing so much on the negative, narcissistic tendencies of Facebook and Twitter.

-I always find myself singing 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year' in October. Think about it - postseason baseball, college football, pro football, hockey, and basketball right around the corner (for those of you who like basketball). No other time of the year has that much great action going on.

-In line with the last point, it's been a bit of a frustrating period to be an Atlanta/Georgia sports fan. The Braves missed the postseason, the Hawks always stink, the Thrashers are showing potential but are unproven, UGA is playing poorly, and GA Tech is good but not great. It looks like all our sports hopes must be pinned on the Falcons, who look pretty good right now.

-I'm glad these last two weeks are over. Last Sunday I taught Sunday school, led worship, and preached. There was so much work on top of all my regular responsibilities that I just felt drained all this week. Yesterday afternoon and today are me-and-wife R&R time. So, I better quit typing and get back to her!

Thiefin' Thursday (#tt)

Ahhh... The first in what will be a regular series of posts here on the hopefully-soon-to-be-name-changed '???' I am active on Twitter, and have grown to love #mm and #ff (music monday and friend friday, for you non-Twitterers). So I thought it would be cool to do my own version on Thursdays, which I will call Thiefin' Thursdays. These will be posts where I take blog posts that I have read throughout the week and put links to them here. Thus, I thief(v.) their post and have a successful blog post based entirely on someone else's work.

Today's #tt comes from a blog that I just found recently, but has already made its way into my regular reads. It is called 'Stuff Christians Like', and it is awesome. Here is the link to this week's #tt post, titled 'Booty, God, Booty - Remix'. Enjoy!

Why?

If I'm remembering correctly, this is now the 5th time I've started a blog. That means that there are the carcasses of 4 previous blogs out there somewhere in the ether... Even as I sit and type this, I have serious doubts as to what will happen down the road with this one.


My last blog was called 'Images and Words'. The description below the title said that it was a place to dialog about life and ministry. The problem was that I almost never posted  anything about either life or ministry. In general, I posted about whatever was running through my head that day. Sometimes it was a deep thought. Sometimes a rant. Sometimes a look at something that may or may not have been part of the human experience. I did regularly recap each episode of American Idol last season (after Hollywood week was over). In the end, I think that's part of the reason that I let Images and Words die. I looked back at 6 or 7 months worth of blogging and felt like it was all pretty meaningless.


Is it that I don't have anything important or interesting to say? I like to think I'm a pretty interesting person. My wife thinks I am. And I certainly like to believe that I've got important things to say. I'm a youth pastor, for crying out loud. I'm part of a group of people who have the MOST important things to say, when it all comes down to it.


So why? Why do I have four failed blogs floating around the internet? And why did I just create a fifth? "Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you persist?" I don't know. The title of this blog was initially 'Life and Ministry'. My intention was to post things that are relevant to one or both. In my head, I see myself posting about things that have happened or are happening to me, lessons that I've learned, struggles that I'm going through, joys that I've experienced, and other stuff like that. But maybe that's been my problem all along. Maybe my scope has been too large. Maybe I don't know enough, or aren't settled enough, to even nail down a scope at all.


Here's what I know for sure: I talk a lot. I don't always talk about important things, but sometimes I do. I'm no great communicator. I love people. I love stories. I love God. I'm a youth pastor, but I'm not experienced enough or awesome enough to regularly feel like I have much to pass on to others who are in ministry. I would love to pass stuff on to my students through this blog, but none of them read blogs. I don't think their parents do, either.


So here's the punchline - Right now this blog is titled '???'. At some point in the future, my hope is that I'll find a groove or a niche, and that a title will come from that. Because let's be honest, '???' is a pretty crappy blog title. God willing, I will find my place as a productive blogger. But if not, there's always meaningless culture commentary.


Season 9 of American Idol is just around the corner, after all...


Peace.