Author: Wick

So here is just how cute it can be when a 14 month old realizes the girl she sees on the screen of my phone is herself being recorded….

Haven’t heard anything from Wheel of Fortune yet…sometime between now and January 17th we’ll get our prizes. For now….we look at dishwashers, and do our research, and pay our bills. 🙂

Meanwhile, life is good. Redwings are doing well. Lovin’ these teenagers and their families, and God is revealing new aspects of His heart. Reading some really good stuff (studies in Galatians, Random Design, and a couple others), and listening to some great words from different podcasts lately (Imago Dei, ONU chapels, NTS chapels, etc.). So many great free ways to connect with God.

Fall is great. Any day I can wear a hoodie and flops together is a good day. 🙂

(from my notes for Sunday’s message)
DOMESTICATE:
2. to tame
5. to take (something foreign, unfamiliar, etc.) for one’s own use or purposes; adopt.
6. to make more ordinary, familiar, acceptable, or the like

My prayer/goal/etc. is not for a domesticated youth ministry/church/view of God. It is tempting sometimes, though. If we had free pizza, giveaways, big bands, and new games every week…we could grow like crazy. Sing some really catchy rock songs with Jesus in them, buy brand new cushy couches and start a snack shop with wireless internet…..shoot. We’d have teens coming out of our ears. We may have some of these elements over the years, but these will not be our focus.

10 years from now, we may still have one or two of the couches that are downstairs right now. We might still be excited about somebody actually bringing a snack to Sunday School, and I’ll bring the juice. We may have around the same number of teenagers as we have right now. Who knows what the seasons/years of ministry will bring us here? But one thing we do know…God will be the center. God will have control. God will be transforming lives, just as he is right now in our church family.

So what does that look like? In our youth ministry? In our personal lives? In Moundford Free Methodist? In the CHURCH?

What does a FREE, DANGEROUS, INCREDIBLE, UNTAMED, WILD God look like?

1 Kings 18:30-39 – READ FROM NRSV

God CONSUMED the altar that was a place set aside for His presence. Earlier in this chapter it would seem the conditions were perfect….the prophets of Ba’al were doing everything they knew to do in ceremony. Someone watching from the outside might think they had a very successful “ministry”. But nothing happened. But here, even when the conditions were imperfect, being completely drenched with water, because Elijah called on the one true God Himself, genuinely expecting God to show up….He did.

We may have broken couches in our youth ministry. We may have lives where things go wrong all the time. We may make mistakes on a Sunday or Wednesday that remind us that even those on stage are human. We may have messed up as God’s people through the years. There may be a lot of water on the altar…

But Church….if we call upon God…this wild and untamed God. If we call on His name to act in our ministries, in our lives, and in our Church….He WILL show up. And he will consume every inch that we have set aside for Him. And the only response anyone will have is the same as verse 39 – The LORD INDEED IS GOD.

Hey all…things are going well! I think my 15 minutes of fame has finally subsided into a comfortable realization that I’m still Chadwick Anderson. Minus the few senior citizens who recognize me at the mall here and there….hehe.

NHL HAS BEGUN!! Tonight is Detroit’s first game, they’re playing against last years’ Stanley Cup winners, the Anaheim Ducks. I’m wearing my home jersey, although it’s an Yzerman one. My Brett Lebda jersey (my wife got me for my birthday cause she’s awesome) is still on it’s way in the mail. Hopefully it’ll get here by Nov.13th, because I’m going to see the Wings VS. Blues that night. Why Lebda? I believe he’s a great hockey player, he’s being able to play with legends like Yzerman and Lidstrom and Chelios…..we’re the same height/weight/age, and he’s from Illinois. He’s signed a 4 year contract, so he’ll be around a while, which means he could really be a long term great just like Yzerman someday.

In other news, if you haven’t discovered “Yo, Gabba Gabba” yet…you really need to. It’s a show for parents and toddlers/babies to watch together, put on a funny hat, and sing-along. It’s made by these really cool people who are ACTUALLY parents of young ones, so it definitely connects, cause they try it on their own kids! Here’s one of my favorite songs from the show: (wish it helped me eat my veggies)