Cardboard Cut-Out

Whenever i go into the mall, i see these stores that sell cardbaord cut-outs of famous people, like Darth Vader, Lebron James, Frodo, Hannah Montana, etc. They are so life-like. Livi has one such Hannah Montana one in here room, and almost everytime i walk in there, it freaks the living daylight out of me because it is standing there in the corner staring at me. Do i know that it's fake? Of course i do. But every time it still seems to catch me by surprise. I feel like I need to put a sign on Livi's door that says

"Now watch out Mike, because if you don't, that Hannah Montana cut-out is going to scare you again. It's up to you though, ignore this sign and you can get freaked out again, but whatever."

One time, Crissy even brought it downstairs for Livi to see during the day. Guess what, bad idea. That was a completely new scare factor. I mean, come on. The thing is like over 5 ft. tall and looks pretty real. I guess the truth is; it's not real. It's fake. It's just a shell of the real person. It's like the outside appears to be Hannah, but we all know it's not really her. It's just a copy, a duplicate, a phony, make believe, whatever you wanna call it.

I knew a student who "lived" for Christ. Sing, worship, and give to youth and Speed the Light. I was determined in my heart that it was real. Every time I saw them, i felt a love for their walk with Christ because it seemed so genuine. I thought to myself, "youth ministry is important. Somebody is getting it. All of the students who fall off the earth could never change the way that this students is in tune with Christ." At least, they had me fooled. They would play the church game so well.

Then i came to this crazy reality. When students are young, they are mightily influenced by their parents. If their parents come to church, they do; if their parents don't come, then they don't. Through kids church and most of youth group, those kids are unable to make their own choices because they have no power to get anywhere else except through the help of others. Then comes the day of "driving." You would think that driving privileges would bring students closer to God. I mean they get their own rides. They can go to all of the events now. They can be at church whenever the doors are open. But what truly happens is that they don't. They go wherever they want to. The sad thing is; parents know and don't do anything about it.

You may ask yourself whatever happened to the student who worshiped gave, and attended all the events? I will tell you; it was called playing a game. They think to themselves, "Hey if i have to be at church, i might as well get involved in something while i am here, you know in order to pass the time." Once they have the choice to attend, they decide that the "fake" walk with Christ they had wasn't good enough for them anymore. They needed to try something else. I can see the numbers right now guys. If you look in the youth group, at least 4 students you think will never walk away from Christ, will.

My challenge to you this week is this: if you think you've got it right, double check. If you know you don't got it right, it's about time to start finding out who God really is, because one day you will get to make the choice.

I am praying to day that you make the right one.

A Legacy?

When will all of the "blah" stop? It seems to me so often that the world goes so fast that we never get a chance to do something meaningful. I mean, with the media outlets so widespread, something that was news yesterday is forgotten today. This means that we can no longer do "one" thing in our life and consider that to be a remarkable achievement. Many os uf have done amazing things, but those things are in the past. We need to be constantly living a remarkable life; someone who is daily leaving their legacy....

So often in the church we try to rest on those "in the past" or "back in the day" moments that always impact others, but what are we doing today. Bring in "LEGACY." The definition for legacy is something that is handed down from one generation to the next. My own definition would be: something that is "worth" handing down. When i die, i want to have done so many great things through God that somebody writes a book about me; not so i can be famous, but so that people could see the faith of a servant and the grace of our God. My legacy needs to be one that people could learn from; something that they could aspire to be.

What is your legacy? Are you a bleep on the radar, or are you making a splash in this world? Do people outside of Georgetown or your family know that you even exist? I am not talking about titles or positions. I am talking about those times when you impacted a life and it changed; when you inspired someone to be a better person simply because you were and you made it desirable.

This week: start thinking about your life. What would your legacy be if you died today? Would someone write a book about you? Think on this...Wednesday night we will probably talk on this topic.

Let it Snow?

I have always been a summer guy. I love to wear shorts and flip-flops. I love to play outside. I love summer camp. I have never liked the idea of bundling up and plowing around through ice and snow. It's cold, wet and uncomfortable. The only time I enjoy snow is if I never have to go out in it, and I can just watch it from a window. I guess that's how a lot of us feel about evangelism too. It is by far the most uncomfortable part of our Christian walk. We would rather be the summer people who worship and fellowship together all the time. We would rather see the evangelism take place through other people (sitting inside and watching it through a window) and hopefully they could do good by itself. All that changed the other day. I woke up and came over to the church to start salting the lot and shoveling. At the beginning i was not looking forward to doing it. It was too much work and there were better things i could have done. After i got rolling though, i realized it wasn't that hard, and that i kind of enjoyed the work. Each stretch of ice was a new challenge, and although some of it didn't come up as easy as the rest, i got a little help from the "Son" shine and i was able to get most of it off the lot, with some help of course.

I guess now i see the snow from a different angle. Although it appears to be hard work and uncomfortable, in the end there is reward from the hard work. I challenge you guys out there today, don't be a window-shopper and allow others to get their hands dirty. Try it once, reach out to your friends, and you might find that you actually like it and enjoy the challenge. plus, you'll get that added help from the "Son" shine.

Have a great week!