Tag: Jesus

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Numbers: @ Family Camp

Posted on by Wick

I’ll confess: I’ve never been to “Family Camp”.  I’ve visited. I’ve camped. I’ve “familied”.  I even serve at a church connected to 3 different camps (1 in particular, hopefully we can get to someday!).  Over the years, we’ve connected to the ministries camp provide and this summer, logistics finally work out for us to attend one fully.  I’m looking forward to how God’s Word, family time, nature-paced time, and worship with God’s people will breathe into us.  37889_447386426583_6477578_n

In Numbers chapter 11, we have one of the very first “Family Camp’s” in the history of God’s people.  They’d left Egypt, and were traveling with a crew of well over 600,000.  That’s quite a camp.  The camp director, Moses, was hearing the complaints left and right.  It’s a bit of a burden, trying to meet the needs of that many people, and lead them toward God at the same time.  Specifically here, they’re not happy with the menu.  Manna just doesn’t abate hunger the way a nice full kosher meal would.  Carrying their burdens, Moses comes before God, and asks why he’s being punished.   I wonder how many camp directors would echo his cries…”God, I’m not their parent!  I didn’t give birth to them! Why is it on me to meet this need?”

God hears Moses, and calls him to get 70 Assistant Directors to share the burden with him.  In a moment of paternal snarkiness, God pretty much says, “They want meat?  I’ll bring a month’s worth! I’ll give ’em so much meat it’ll come out their nostrils!” (Promise it’s in there, read it.)  The people weren’t just complaining about manna.  They were actually entertaining the thought that things were better back in Egypt.  The journey to the promised land was taking longer than anticipated, and even though miracles were happening regularly to care for them, they wanted immediate gratification.

So Moses gathers his assistants.  They assemble around the tent, and God comes to share the Spirit Moses carries with each of them.  They prophesy in that moment, and it seems to end.  But there were two “dads” who didn’t leave camp, for whatever reason.  They were registered, but stayed in the camp, and somehow the Spirit empowered them to prophesy as well.  Instead of getting upset along with the son of a Nun, Moses is glad!  He says, “If only all of God’s people had the Lord put His Spirit on them!”  (Spoiler alert: God totally does that eventually!)

Then comes an all-camp activity that probably wouldn’t go over very well at most camps today: Quail Collecting.  About 3 feet deep of quail seems to form a wall about a days journey all around camp.  The LEAST anyone gathered was about 100 bushels of quail.  I’m not sure if it came out their nostrils, but it was a lot of meat for sure.  While the meat was still in their teeth, God’s anger came in the form of a plague that killed so many, the camp was renamed “Graves of Lust” (Try to market THAT camp to next years campers!).

God was writing a powerful story, on a scale large enough for it to be written down and told for thousands of years.  Reminding us to have faith, even when it’s hard.  Even if you want to go back in time, to before you stepped out onto this long, dusty road of the unknown.  You stepped out, hand in God’s hand, believing He was guiding you.  There is still Hope.  There is still a promised land ahead.  You may get impatient and frustrated…but keep your hand in His.  As His people gather in Family Camps all around this summer, it’s a great reminder that we are not alone on our dusty roads.  We gather as families, and as the family of God.  May we encourage, pray with, and share each other’s burdens.  There is Hope for us all, though we may have to travel a bit farther still.  Let’s travel together…

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confession: I want to prove God.

Posted on by Wick

For as much as I wasn’t a giant fan of “God’s Not Dead” for reasons we can talk about in person…I will confess I have something in common with the young college student.  I have a desire to prove God.   It’s not that I want to prove His existence, or even prove to someone that Jesus was divine.  It’s not an intellectual debate I want to win.  I want to prove to my children, the goodness and faithfulness of God, in the midst of a world where such testimony may be hard to hear behind other noises.

It struck me in a particular way recently, as I was praying for our adoption.  You may have something else weighing on your heart.  Something your family is praying fervently for.  Something you and your children name regularly every night in family prayer time, and the main thing your kids might mention if they’re praying before bed at a friends house.  Whatever that thing is, beyond praying for that “thing” itself….as a parent we also find ourselves praying it for the sake of our children.   That they will experience God’s hearing of the prayer, and be able to celebrate together as a family when He responds.

So what happens, when that “main family prayer”, becomes the one unanswered?  The one a family is left to struggle with.  What if our children grow up praying about it, almost as a reflex, but slowly and accidentally learn never to actually receive a response from God on the issue?http___makeagif.com__media_5-05-2014_dpmt43

In my anxiety and frustration, God calms me down.  Hand on my shoulder, tears welling up in his own eyes, He speaks with love.  “You and your family are not the beginning, or the center of what I’m up to, Chadwick.”  In a moment of humility, He reminds me of where I sat just a few weeks ago, at a Seder dinner with my children. From my own lips, my children heard God’s story as one we are now the continuation of.  That His people lived for hundreds of years in slavery, and have faced suffering and death for millenia.  That the story of God’s people is one of embracing what it means to suffer in a world that is not yet made right.  What it means to not pretend everything is easy or can make sense.  Imagine what it would’ve been like for an Israelite parent to teach their children the goodness of God, in the midst of generations of slavery.  God calls us to live uncomfortably in a world that idolizes comfort and ease.  We are a people who have been crying out to God for thousands of years, and God has been/continues to respond to that cry.  He invites us to actively participate in that response as well.  Not by denying or avoiding the brokenness of the world – but by how we suffer as those who know God is with us.

His was a reminder – one of the greatest things we do as a parent is to give our children, and younger generations a context for their struggles/doubts.  A safe place to express suffering…(any youth pastor who’s heard a teenager lament at a broken relationship can understand this)…and a larger view/context that helps to bring genuine perspective and comfort knowing God is with us even in these moments.  Not promising to make everything better for every individual who comes to Him like a genie inside a magic lamp.  Yet….not like a removed deity who has nothing to do with the world He set in motion, either.

God is at work.  In faithful and world-changing-ly large ways.  But also in small, thankful whispers of reminder.  We know that His heart is seen being revealed in “Immanuel, which means ‘God with us.'”

All of that to say, be encouraged.  Even when it seems our prayers aren’t being responded to.  Not because “God’s working it all out to be even better than you would’ve prayed.”  But because, God is with us.  Always.  Has been, and will be.  That’s the story we invite our children to live within.   That’s the story that invites them to prove God…

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I needed closure. (spoiler alert)

Posted on by Wick

(This is fictional, as if written by the lead character from a recent movie, “God’s Not Dead“.)

Dear Journal,

Where do I even begin?  I know it’s been a while since I last wrote, but I just couldn’t find the time to sit down or the words to say.  But I feel like God is challenging me to think about all that’s happened.  Putting these thoughts into words will help me grow in my faith, and give wisdom for my future.  So here we go…godsnotdead

Last time I wrote, I was about to start my courses for the November-December semester.  I was a little intimidated by one in particular and sure enough, it proved to be worth concern.  The first day of class, Professor Radisson asked us to write “God is Dead”, in order to skip all of the theological conversations in the study of Philosophy.  I couldn’t do it, and he required me to defend my position in front of the class over the next 3 sessions.  Looking back, I’m not sure what I would have changed…but I think I would’ve done something different.

I became consumed with proving I was right.  I wanted to win, no matter what the cost.  My highschool sweetheart dumped me (admittedly, she was a bit crazy anyway), and I spent so much time stressing over compiling the best one-liners and offensive arguments I could come up with.  I could think of nothing else but showing this class the God could triumph over any atheistic-influenced logic Professor Radisson had up his sleeve.  I might have begun the process motivated by a love for my classmates, but at some point I must have lost focus.

That’s when it began to happen.  As Professor Radisson and I shared a couple of “impromptu” moments outside of class hours, I realized he was searching for something more than my agreeing to his position in class.  But instead of responding to his scars with the love of God, I was like a shark smelling blood.  I saw the weak areas, the places he’d been disappointed by God, losing his own mother to a battle with cancer, and I went in for the kill.  In what I thought was my proudest moment –  proving that he was mad at a creator he’d formerly declared didn’t exist – as the class applauded, I felt sick to my stomach.  The tears in his eyes hinted that perhaps I should’ve taken a different route.  But with the enthusiasm of my peers (and tickets to Newsboys in my pocket), I was off to celebrate.  With Kara out of the picture, I ended up taking my new friend Martin.  That’s a confusing and humbling addition to all of this:  Even in the midst of me losing focus, God was using everything to reach out and touch the lives of others.  Martin gave his life to Jesus.  I’m so glad God can bring redemption to anything we offer Him.

Even as Michael Tait gave me props from on stage, when I should have been feeling on top of the world, I was uncomfortable.  I couldn’t shake the image of pain on Professor Radisson’s face as I “won” in the middle of class.  Somewhere in the midst of worship that night, I heard God’s voice almost plain as day.  He was asking me if I would show love to Jeffrey.  I had no idea who Jeffrey was, but I responded to God that night….whatever it meant, I would show His love to Jeffrey.  I left the concert that night, excited to see who God might bring into my life.  I had no idea what was coming my way.

Before bed, I checked my e-mail, only to find an urgent campus-wide announcement.  Classes would be cancelled the next schoolday, because of “Professor Jeffrey Radisson” dying that night after being struck by a car.  Jeffrey.  God was asking me if I’d be willing to show love to someone I’d only considered my enemy this whole time.  Even as I headed out late that night to talk with Pastor Dave, a friend patted me on the back saying, “Looks like God added an exclamation mark to your argument, eh?”  I cried all the way to the church.

Pastor Dave shared how Jeffrey had apparently had a change of heart after our class that day.  Once again I was humbled that God could move even in the midst of my approach.  Pastor was making arrangements for the services to be held later that week, and I asked if I could speak.  He agreed, and I put even more time into preparing my words for that service than I did for the 3 sessions defending God’s existence.  I learned so much about this man, and the pain he’d been through.  I regretted not knowing him, and I knew that God was calling me to confess in front of all my peers who stood with me that day in class.

The truth is, as I was caught up in proving God’s existence as a viable logical option, I forgot to reveal one of the most powerful ways He’s alive today is through the loving presence of His body…which includes me.  As I shared these words at his memorial service, a student I’d met at the concert felt God stirring something.   Ayisha came to me afterward, and together with Pastor Dave we decided to start a ministry to the hungry & homeless right there near campus.  What began as a Christmas dinner, has turned into something more consistent and thriving.  It’s been incredible seeing the faces of children receiving food or clothing, the smiles that testify louder than any factual statement – God is alive.  Several of the students in my philosophy class have joined, and in memory of the events with Professor Radisson, we’re naming it “De Vita Dei” (latin for “The Life of God”).

All in all, I’m continually thankful that no matter what I offer God, he can take it and bring redemption for Kingdom purposes.  I look forward to how I can help Ayisha show love to her brother and father, even though it may be a long road.  Our hope is that someday they will know the love of God, and look back to see how it has been poured out to them for years through her actions and words.

Whew.  That’s it for now.  Although I suppose I should add: Martin recently began dating Kara, which works great as she’s replaced his dad as decision maker.  Professor Radisson’s friend Mina began dating Pastor Dave, which is kinda weird but we’re getting used to it.  A woman named Amy Ryan has become a huge help in getting the word out about “De Vita Dei”, and giving herself to serve others, even as she struggles through treatments for cancer.  Pastor Dave has a friend from Africa who decided to work at Disney for a year…so we get free tickets if we ever want to head that way.  Oh…and I also heard that the Newsboys are working the sounds of Willie Robertson and his duck-calls into their next album…it’s sure to be a hit!!!

Until next time…

Josh Wheaton