Joy

Well this blog post could get me in trouble, but I am okay with that. For the last couple of years I have struggled with the idea of what is to be a Christian and finding joy in that. I believe my struggle started when God pulled me out of the christian bubble and placed me in the world to be a light. The struggle was hard, I started understanding how tough an American class room in in America. I started seeing that people had more pressing issues then the style of worship or what is the right way to do church. This became a struggle and at the same time a great joy in my life. For the first time God was really taking me into new places. I started to see that the American church was really doing allot of good in the world and people were being changed. At the same time I also started seeing that our focus was on style and performance.

I remember taking a step into the JDC center and to be honest with you scared and a little angry because I felt I was being put in a place to do drug prevention that was full of kids who didn't care. Well I must admit I walked out changed by these kids the first day. Through the two years I spent with them and loving every moment of it God really did a work in my life when it came to joy. What really hit me is how we as people become so selfish and we believe we have ownership of all. When I rad in Acts 4 it tells me that the first church did it differently

 ^32-33The whole congregation of believers was united as one—one heart, one mind! They didn't even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, "That's mine; you can't have it." They shared everything. The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Master Jesus, and grace was on all of them.
 ^34-35And so it turned out that not a person among them was needy. Those who owned fields or houses sold them and brought the price of the sale to the apostles and made an offering of it. The apostles then distributed it according to each person's need.
 ^36-37Joseph, called by the apostles "Barnabas" (which means "Son of Comfort"), a Levite born in Cyprus, sold a field that he owned, brought the money, and made an offering of it to the apostles.

Sitting with those kids and even having God tell me to spend my lunch with them really brought be great joy in life because it was showing me that these were just not someone else's kids, they were all of ours. I really get a joy out of seeing Christians take responsibility for others and their needs. Now this is where I get into trouble....

I am starting to believe more and more though that for whatever reason I fear man and not God. I feel at times this still becomes a game. Is their really a difference difference between Secular and Christian? I am all for Godly things, but I am now all about of being in the world but not of it. I see more and more that God gave me the gift of simply seeing the good past all the mistakes people make and for whatever reason I get a big kick out of seeing someone take small steps to a life of freedom. But it amazes me how we as people listen to what people say and not what God says. I wonder what we would become if we simply went to our Bibles and said this is the way it should be. That is what we started doing in our youth group and it changed everything.

Today I heard a student say "Hey I have some reading material for you and I think we should get together for a Bible Study." The student he asked is one I am working one on one with and I almost went into tears because one of his peers asked and took the time to go and buy a Bible for him. I told our students to not just bring their friends to church, but to pray for them and show them the love of Christ. Their are many more stories to be told, but when I hear that it really does bring me good joy. But I also think about that tough year and praise God for it because what I am telling you is what I learned in that time.

My prayer is that we all can strive to be more Christ like, but to also understand that their is so much work to be done. I pray I can be the person tp practice what I write here....I am begging God for that!