fading glory

Our youth group just recently returned from our mission trip to Greenville, South Carolina, and I can say confidently that I have never seen God move more in one week in my life.  I invite you to come Sunday night at 6:00 to youth group, so you can hear all about it.  But that's not why I'm writing.  In a sense, this was a typical week of Christian camp.  We went, we were saturated with the Word of God and worshipping Him, and we all took at least one step closer to Him in the process.  That happens.  But do you know what else normally happens?  After drawing closer to God while away, we tend to fade at least a little further away from Him when we return.

In Exodus 34, Moses climbs up Mount Sinai and spends time in the presence of God.  He received instructions on how God wanted His people to worship Him.  When he returned to the bottom of the mountain, he realized his face was glowing.  He was radiating God's glory.  It was obvious.  But over time, that faded.  Eventually, he just had plain old Moses face.  The longer he was out of God's presence, the more it faded.  Our faces didn't glow when we returned from Greenville, but our spirits did.  Our demeanor was different and more reflective of God.  It can stay like that, if we continue to come into the presence of God on a daily basis, but it can also fade away, just as Moses' face slowly faded, if we do not choose to stay before God.

When was the last time you found yourself experiencing God's glory from being in His presence?  Has the glory faded?  Have you spent too long away from Him?  As Christians, we've been given authority to enter boldly before the throne of God.  Maybe we should spend more time there.  Don't do it one time a week or one week per Summer.  Make it a habit.  Make it a normal hang out.

I wish I could tell you

Last week was one of the most amazing weeks in ministry I have ever experienced.  It may have been the greatest week.  I wish I could write a post covering every good thing that happened, but I could not, because you may not read it.  It would be the longest post of my life.  Here's what I will tell you: I prayed specifically for some kids who I knew needed it, and God reached them.  I prayed specifically each day we were gone as I saw issues arising, and God took care of them.  We saw two students come to Christ, another five decide to recommit themselves to God, and twenty-five out of twenty-five people - including the adults - acknowledge that they had experienced God in a real way and had drawn closer to Him.

Starting next week, I will give you a glimpse into what we were dealing with by posting the devotions I wrote each day for church group devotions.  Sometimes unknowingly to me, what was said addressed specifically what someone was struggling with.  God just works like that.  You can also join us on Sunday night, July 29, to hear from students and leaders about how God moved in their lives.  The recap service will take place from 6-8 in the church's Theatre.

leaving on a jet plane (that's shaped like a bus)

Next Sunday night, the 2012 mission team is heading out for Greenville, SC, and we need your prayers!  First of all, if you'd like to come see us off, we'll be leaving the church at 10:00 PM.  You are more than welcome to be there and pray with our team.  While we are away, I ask that you pray about a few things:

• This is a new mission organization for us.  Pray that everything goes smoothly.


• Pray for right attitudes.


• Pray for team unity.


• Pray that the students and leaders would be drawn closer to God.  Pray for personal revival.


• Pray for safety.

It would be really swell of you to contact at least one student or leader while we are away.  All of their names are above.  Just a quick note to tell them that you are praying for them and encourage them goes a long way.  If you'd like to send an e-mail, you can send it to rebelyouth@mykcc.org, and I will print them one time each evening.

Thanks for your prayers!

finally a reason to run

If you were to call up my BFF right now and ask him my take on running, he would probably throw out one of two answers: Jeff hates running, or that the only good reason to run is to get away from someone trying to kill you.  That's been my lifelong take on running.  I still hold to the first part, because I do hate running.  But I have finally found a reason to run other than someone trying to kill me.  I ran (and walked, and climbed, and crawled) for clean water in Uganda in June. Below is my Active Water profile, because I am now I'm going to run for clean water in Cambodia, which is one of their projects.  Please take the time to read it, and pray and consider donating to the cause.

________________________________

I am raising money for Active Water's Cambodia project by committing to run in the Traffic Stop 5K on August 25, 2012. To learn more about that run and its purpose, check out this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/286732001368113/. I really do not like running - or more specifically, I do not like how hard it is for me to breathe when I run - but sometimes it's good to hurt a little bit for others. So what about this cause makes me want to run? I think it's good to work towards clean water for people everywhere, but this Cambodian project moves me. Cambodia borders Thailand. During the dry seasons, families send their children to retrieve water from a large river bordering Thailand, making them susceptible to human trafficking. The idea of young children being kidnapped and forced into sex slavery or other types of trafficking rips my heart. And it is amplified for me, because these children are Asian. My wife Sarah was an Asian little girl at one point in her life, and the thought of her being kidnapped and forced into that kind of life brings up emotions I cannot express. God used her parents, who adopted her, to protect her from dangers like that. I hope He can use my running to protect some young child who otherwise might suffer that fate. It's important enough to me to get me to run two to three times a week over the next two months to train for this race, which I hate doing, and I'm not asking you to do anything I wouldn't do. In fact, I am my first supporter on this page. I ask that you would pray about joining me in supporting this mission.

________________________________

If you'd like to donate to toward the cause, go to the following link: http://www.active.com/donate/ActiveWaterAsia/jeffselph

Thanks!

cause taping naps in your own bed stinks

Jakob isn't very interested in taking naps, and he's not afraid to say it.  Even when he's asleep, if you ask him if he wants to take a nap, he scrunches his face, shakes his head, and emphatically tells you, "no."  It's cute and hilarious.  When he's awake, when we ask him if he wants to take a nap, he will either tell us that he doesn't, or he'll ask if he can sleep in our bed. That's what he asked yesterday, so I said he could.  But then he wouldn't sleep.  It was family nap time, since Sarah and I both wanted to sleep, but Jakob kept getting up and moving around.  It was quite disruptive to sleep, so I sent him to his bed.  With great objection, he went.

When I woke up, I went in to check on him and give him a hug.  Only I didn't see him anywhere.  I went to make sure the door was shut and locked, as it should have been, and it was.  He was somewhere inside.  I just had to find him.

[caption id="attachment_1481" align="aligncenter" width="540"] No sight of him when I walked in the room.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1482" align="aligncenter" width="540"] His empty bed. Still no sign of feet sticking out anywhere.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1483" align="aligncenter" width="540"] I think I see something back there.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1484" align="aligncenter" width="540"] There he is! Cuddled up between the head of his bed and the wall.[/caption]

I guess he really meant it when he said he didn't want to sleep in his own bed. All options were better.

how I want to spend my Father's Day

I love Father's Day.  It certainly has its perks for me.  It's the one day when I'm lauded for my many contributions to the life of Jakob, or something like that.  So how do I want to spend Father's Day?

I want to go to church.
I want to eat lunch quickly.
I want to get home and take a nap.
I want to keep my pajamas on after I wake up from my nap.
I want to eat again.
I want to do as close to nothing productive as possible.
I want to be Garfield for Father's Day.  Somebody better warn my dog not to stand too close to any ledges.

the new intern

If the only person you're developing spiritually and in leadership is yourself, you're not doing anyone any favors.  You have to understand that you can and will eventually be replaced, and when you grasp that idea, developing someone who can do that just makes sense.  It's a scary idea to me, because I have trained people before in ministry, as God has directed me, and then God moved me along shortly after.  So when God put it on my heart to start developing someone again, I laughed.  I actually laughed out loud as I was praying and listening to God, because I thought, "Here we go again."  But I don't think I'm going anywhere for a long time, especially since God gave me a unique, young guy who doesn't want my specific job anymore than I want to give my job up.

[caption id="attachment_1468" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Chris signing his internship agreement[/caption]

This is Chris Johnson.  Yes, he is related to my boss, but no, that's not how he got this.  How did Chris come to be the Student Ministry Intern?  Well, he has been serving as a youth leader since my second Sunday in charge.  On my first Sunday, I sat next to him on a hayride and asked what grade he was in.  He gets this a lot, and from I can tell, it's not his favorite question to answer.  He informed me that he had graduated over a year ago, so I asked why he and his friend Brandon were there.  "We're just hanging out."  I let them both know that they would not be, as high school graduates, coming to YG to hang out.  As adults, they could come and be involved, or they could stay home.  Either way was fine.  They both chose to be involved.

Chris has been serving as a middle school small group leader ever since that time.  I can probably count the number of times he has missed youth group since then on one hand, and he's never just no-showed.  He comes early, talks to the middle school students, gets involved in everything.  He's just excited about youth ministry.  Two years ago, he taught one time.  He was nervous and a little shaky, but he wanted to teach, and I let him.  He didn't ask again, though.  Earlier this year, I had been praying about who I could get to teach, and I talked to him.  I asked him if he was willing to start teaching more, and he was.  That's also when he told me that he was actually praying about going into youth ministry.  He hadn't decided yet, but now he has, and he'll be attending Grace Bible College this fall to pursue that.  I'm so pumped for him.

So as he has been faithful in youth ministry for two and half years, and he is going into youth ministry, I asked if he wanted to meet regularly to discuss ministry.  He could ask whatever he wanted, and I would also share lessons with him that I have learned along the way.  He jumped at the idea.  Then I went and talked to his dad - my boss - about taking him on as an unpaid intern (unpaid because we cannot afford to pay him, not because he isn't great).  It had to go to the elder board, which should help to eliminate any accusations of nepotism.  They agreed to the idea of training a young leader who is pursuing ministry, and we took him on.  The goal is that he will be the Student Ministry Intern for one year and transition into a new role.  After one year, I would mostly let go of the reins and have him run the middle school for me.  Why?  Because the real goal is that when he gets done here, he would be able to take a youth ministry job at any church and be fully prepared to lead.

So what exactly will he be doing?  Well, this post is long enough.  You can ask him, or you can wait till the next post.