Can talking heal a world gone mad?

Can talking heal a world gone mad?

All around me teenagers are wondering what is going on in our world. They see bombings in peaceful places, shootings, great tragedies caused by people who just seem to want to cause pain and torment to innocent people. Right now, in our world, there are wars being fought that affect everything from the value of the dollar to the price of our oil. In this global economy we are truly experiencing a butterfly effect of sorts on an everyday basis. When conflict happens on one side of the world there are repercussions everywhere. This is not necessarily natural disasters, or cosmic disturbances but real people hurting real people. It’s ludicrous.

I see a great deal of fear and anxiety amongst my students. They see the threats from North Korea and they know their lives are being affected by forces outside of their own control. This new world many of them are born into seems to be balanced precariously on the edge of a knife.

On a personal level my students are also seeing a great deal of pain and tragedy in their own lives and the lives of their friends. They hear of story after story of bullying, cutting, suicides and pain. The students I work with are asking all kinds of questions. Why are people like this? Why doesn’t someone do something? How can anyone stop this nonsense?

Many of my students have watched the breakup of their parents marriages, have seen hearts broken. They have known victims of bullies who could no longer take the pressure and finally just end it all.

How does one change the course of a broken and tragic world?

Michael Jackson challenged us all to start with the man in the mirror. I would like us to take one step further… start talking to the people next to you. No matter who they are. Human beings need communication, we need to speak to one another, to have a conversation. We need to move beyond status updates, blog posts and twitter feeds. Ultimately, we need to move from carrying on a textual relationship and move into the realm of actually seeing people face to face, eyeball to eyeball.

It’s a scary world, but all it needs is a little conversation. We need to be able to listen to one another, and learn from each other. Less hate and more awkward questions. Less pain and more laughter. Less eyes on our phones and more eyes looking into the eyes of those who are hurting.

Can talking heal a world gone mad? I think so.

The Seasons of Faith intro

All of us in our faith journey have experienced times of incredible emotional change as we attempt to follow Jesus. The Christian life can be fun, exciting and full of Joy. There are times when we are hungry for more of God, his word or his touch in our lives. Sometimes we feel completely dried up, exhausted and run down. Other times the Christian life is riddled with change, frustrations, fears and doubts. This is normal and should be expected.

Many times we get frustrated at the massive changes we can experience as followers of Christ. We mistakenly assume that the Christian life should be somehow easy. Sometimes that’s even what we have been told by well meaning preachers but in practical reality this is simply not true. The Christian life is a series of ups and downs, a series of triumphs and defeats. Jesus speaks of both trials and peace as he describes what it is like to be his followers.

While we were praying about this year’s curriculum God gave me a picture of a great tree standing in a field. As I watched this tree wander through the seasons I realized that God was painting a picture of what it is like to be a Christian. I see it like this: Springtime is a time where we experience new life, new perspectives, new growth. It’s a time in our lives where we make new commitments, bold declarations and are generally On Fire for God. As we all know, that feeling doesn’t last.

Summertime in the seasons of life is a time of calm and peace. It’s a lot less frantic. It’s simply a time of experiencing God’s love and faithfulness in your own life. Some people experience this while on a youth retreat, an extended missions trip or during a year at bible college.

Autumn is the time of preparation for winter. It’s a time for forming healthy habits and preparing our hearts for the difficult season to come. In our spiritual life this means filling up our minds and hearts with the word of God. During this season of life get prepared for the changes and the difficulties to come by forming the spiritual habits you will need to deal with the hardships that are just around the corner.

Finally, Winter is a dark and difficult time in our spiritual lives. All of us face hardships and struggles as we wander through this life. There will always be changes in our lives that throw us for a loop. There will also be times when we struggle with our faith or our beliefs. Strangely enough our experiences in the other seasons will help us as we struggle through the season of winter.

Over the next few weeks as I preach through this series I will be expanding upon this concept on my blog. I pray that this series will bring encourage to you in your walk with Christ no matter which season you are currently in.

How to NOT leave the church

I actually wrote this for the parents in our ministry here at Beulah Alliance Church a few years ago. I recently came across it and thought it would make a great blog post. Many of the youth ministry books out there are pointing their fingers of blame at the church, or at parents for young people leaving the church. I don’t disagree, for the most part, BUT, I also believe that students and young adults in our churches are  responsible for their own decisions in terms of “walking away.” I wrote this piece to address this issue with our parents and students… if it works for you, leave a comment, if not, thanks for reading.

- Chet         

How to Not Leave the Church 

            There is a growing perception that youth are leaving the church. I am not sure if I fully agree with this perception. Anecdotally I think everyone knows someone who has left the church for one reason or another. Whether or not, this statement is anecdotally true, or statistically true I believe that there are things we can do to help build “staying power” in to the lives of our students. There are no guarantees here, but… my assumption is, if these elements are a part of our students lives already they will be less likely to leave the church.

The Must Haves

These are kind of obvious but as far as staying power goes, without these your student has no hope. Why not have a conversation with your teen about these elements it may lead to some great discussions. You may even have to ask yourself as a parent if there are some elements presented here that you may not see in your own life.

A Realization of Salvation – Do you know that you are saved? It seems simple but many teens struggle with an assurance of their own salvation. It is good to be able to pinpoint when and how you crossed the line of faith. For many students this is a gradual thing that over time they simply realized that they believed and it is sometimes a goodidea to draw the proverbial line in the sand and pray a prayer or make a declaration in a journal so that there is an official understanding of when and how.

A Personal Faith – Has your teen moved beyond “Yo Mama’s religion?” Can they truly say that this faith is theirs because they believe it or is it simply something they are participating in because they have to. Let me reassure you parents, if the latter is the case this is simply more of a reason to keep making them come.

As far as making them come is concerned there are many factors involved in this fight. Boredom, laziness, sleepyhead syndrome, the list can go on. I think you might have to ask yourself this question, is making my child come to church for one or two hours going to kill them? Probably not. It might seem as though you might die with all of the arguing but trust me it is the better alternative than leaving them at home to play on the internet.

Is your child bored at church? Ask a few questions? What is boring? The music, the preaching? The whole thing? Is there another service you can attend with your child? Is there a better church for your son or daughter? Isn’t the goal to get your child in church, or is it to get your child to attend “your” church? Bottom line, I want your child to attend a church even if he doesn’t attend mine.

Great Friends – Every teenager needs friends but Christian teenagers need great friends. Friends who will keep them accountable and support them in their faith journey. Friends who will see them at church, youth group and school. These kinds of friends are found best within a youth ministry small group and if your student is not plugged in to a small group I would encourage you to get them in to one ASAP.

The Ability to Share your Testimony – Simply put, teens need to be able to speak out loud about their faith. The reality is that in Junior High, Senior High and Post high school your student will be asked why they believe and what they believe. Your teen should be able to clearly articulate at least the basics of how they became a Christian and what that means to them.

The Ability to Ask great Question and Find their Own Answers – It is never a bad thing to ask questions. Especially questions about Christianity. There is a lot about the bible and Christian history that is confusing and often convoluted. It is important that teenagers ask these difficult questions and even better, learn how to get their own answers. Answers can be found in all kinds of places. They can search their bibles, ask a pastor, wander around on the internet, read books. Even the process of seeking the answers is good for students to have, it will help them in every area of life.

A word of caution… sometimes the results of these searches can be devastating for a student’s faith. There are convincing answers from all kinds of anti-Christian groups. You can find brilliant documentaries on YouTube that will destroy your son or daughter’s faith in under 10 minutes. The search itself is only helpful if you also provide an appropriate sounding board. Be prepared to give answers that are well read, well thought out and truthful. If you come across arguments that are confusing, ask your pastor, a bible college professor, or dig in and do the research yourself. Do not simply throw up your hands and hope that God will bring them back one day.

The Better ifs

These are, in my opinion, essential but, they can be harder to cultivate in ones own life without a mentor or youth ministry opportunities. As with the Must Haves the Better ifs are no guarantee that a student will choose to stay in church but these next few elements are “game changing” in terms of life impact.

The Ability to Pray “Out Loud” – You never know when you will need this but I see it as absolutely essential to growing up in church. As an adult in church we get called upon to pray out loud, whether in a small group, at a family function, in a meeting or even in a church service and it is better for us to be prepared and to feel comfortable rather than intimidated.

A Devotional Life – It is absolutely essential for personal spiritual growth that every one of us develop a continual habit of daily prayer and bible reading. It does not have to be long or drawn out just something that gives your teen a break from the ever revolving world where they can focus on Christ and His work in their lives. This can involve journaling, bible reading, devotional books, etc. As a parent, if you model it, it is easier for students to pick up on it.

Multiple Serving Experiences – God grants us all Spiritual Gifts. It is His desire that we experience Joy and fulfillment from serving in our area of giftedness. The best way for us to learn where we fit in as a part of the body of Christ is to serve in multiple areas, to try out different roles until we find one that fits us perfectly.

I encourage my students to serve anywhere that God has called them. Inside the church and outside. Some of our students help with children’s ministry, some are on the tech crew or worship bands. I have a few students who help with the boys and girls clubs of Edmonton. Some of our students work with YoungLife. There are a number of students in our church who work with Habitat for Humanity and many who volunteer with the Mustard Seed Street Mission. Wherever God is calling your student to serve find a way to help your student fulfill that calling. 

Multiple “God” experiences – What I mean by this is there have been many times in my life where I knew I had truly met God. These have happened in prayer, in worship experiences, through communion and through books I have read where God was truly speaking to me. When a teenager goes through turmoil I want them to know with all certainty that there have been times in his/ her life where God was undeniably “real.”

The other thing that I know for sure is that one experience with God is not enough to solidify our faith. Find ways to give your students multiple opportunities to experience God. Youth group, Youth Retreats, Youth Conferences. Expose them to great worship bands, contemporary gifted speakers. Even great books can have a profound impact on your student.

A Missions Trip Experience – These trips are mind changing, life changing and usually involve a bit of a paradigm shift. Every student should have the opportunity to go on at least one missions trip before they graduate from youth ministry. Of course, we offer missions trip experiences but often the most life changing experiences happen when students head off on a trip on their own. These are the times when we truly realize that we desperately need God and rely on him even more. On another note a missions trip develops a heart for lost people in the students who attend them and that is a great thing.

Baptism – Simply put, the longer they put this off the easier it is not to do it… I have come to realize that Baptism is not simply a step of obedience, it is crucial to our ongoing development as Christians. I have seen to many of my students “stall out” in their faith simply because they refused the simple act of baptism. If your student brings up baptism, encourage them to do it. Don’t wait. Don’t wait for all the relatives to come and build a big party, don’t put it off. Make it happen. Invite everyone BUT if someone can’t make it, it’s their loss. Bring a video camera, put the whole thing on YouTube.

Mentoring – Every teenager needs someone, other than a parent, who loves them and cares for them and will build in to their lives. This can be found in many forms, youth leaders, grandparents, uncles, aunts, pastors, teachers… just someone who will lift up and support your kid when life gets too hard.  I also would like to mention that I believe every student should be building in to the lives of someone younger than them. This kind of relationship gives great perspective to teenagers to see the world through the eyes of someone younger. It really cuts down on selfishness and self-centredness.

The Most Important Thing

A kid can have all of the above and still leave church. Many times I will watch a great kid, with all of the right things, walk out of our youth ministry and walk right out of the church. That is why I have come to the conclusion that this next point is the most important thing for NOT leaving the church. I have realized that no matter how great your student’s youth ministry experience is unless this element has been a regular part of his experience growing up chances of him staying in church are still negligible.

Habitual Weekend Church Attendance – It is absolutely essential that your student gets used to coming to church at least 3 – 4 times a month. Church attendance is a very visible indicator for spiritual growth, it is not the only indicator but a lack of attendance can be evidence that something is not right within their spiritual lives. If attendance as a family in the growing years is optional or sporadic, attendance as High School students or young adults will continue to be optional, sporadic or worse.

In the end our choice to leave the Church or NOT leave the church is still our choice. As students grow up and begin to make their own decisions the spiritual foundations they have built in their younger years will have a huge impact on their adult years. We are attempting as a youth ministry to build staying power into the lives of your kids but in the end I realize that it’s not about me, or the church, it’s about a personal decision.

I am simply hoping to help students make that decision.

Miss Gleddie came to see me.

Yesterday my grade 2 teacher stopped by to see me. Yep. You read that right. My grade 2 teacher Lucille Gleddie, or Miss Gleddie stopped in at my church, Beulah Alliance, to see me. She was here for a funeral for a friend of hers and wanted to see how I was doing.

Some of you who have been reading my blog know that a few months ago after a sermon my grade 3 teacher came up to me to explain that she often spoke to my grade 2 teacher. My parents and I have always given Miss Gleddie credit for me learning how to read. I did not learn how to read in Kindergarten, and I did not learn how to read in grade 1. Somehow I still passed but could not read. Miss Gleddie was the lady who finally helped my parents understand that I was not ignorant, or slow… I was lazy and unmotivated. She encouraged them to find me comic books and that in turn started my journey into reading.

Nowadays I read all the time, I write all the time and almost my entire job somehow realates to reading or writing. Any success I have had in my job sort of goes back to Lucille Gleddie.

Lucille had the unique privilege of being both my grade 2 teacher… and my Sunday School Teacher. She got me 6 days a week. Yikes.

Yesterday was such a unique privilege. She told me how she listens to my sermons online and keeps up with me through her friends who attend Beulah. It was pretty cool to hear that my Grade 2 teacher was proud of me.

She did relate one very amusing story that I had forgotten. Apparently one day, my litttle grade 2 self, was in detention, sitting in the corner, crying.

Yes, It’s a little pathetic… Don’t judge me.

I had a cold and Miss Gleddie brought me some kleenex. Apparently, I sat in the corner blowing my nose all through my detention. At the end of my punishment I brought her a ball of kleenex and wanted to show her what I had discovered…

Now the back story, according to MIss Gleddie, is that I had had this lingering cold, was having trouble breathing out of my nose, had a bit of trouble with hearing and swallowing and the doctors wanted to take out my tonsils but couldn’t because I was so sick.

While in detention I actually blew my nose so hard that a small green craft bead came out. The kind that girls use to make necklaces out of. Yep… I had shoved a bead up my nose one time while visiting my grandparents house in Edmonton at Christmastime. It stayed up there and took up residence. It probably stayed there from December until the Fall when I started grade 2. That’s a long time to have a foreign object up your nose.

Anyways… After that my numeroous symptoms cleared up, I got my tonsils out and continued on my way.

Miss Gleddie, Thanks again for being my grade 2 teacher.

Biblical and Bubblical…

I alluded to this idea in an earlier post but I thought I should flesh it out a bit more…

Over the last few weeks I have had the privilege of speaking at Camp Nakamun for both a family camp and for a Junior High camp. I absolutely love speaking and so both of these events give me life and purpose, although there is a vast difference between the two. The sermons were of course very different. For the adults I focused on teaching from the bible, almost lecture style, because I was trying to point out the threads of Old Testament Truths that weave their way in and through the teachings in the New Testament. It was based entirely upon the ideas from my former blog entries Behind the Words.

For the Junior High Camp I focused on biblical passages punctuated by Epic Biblical Stories. If you were to compare my teaching styles my assumption is that the two would be different. I, of course, prefer the Junior High style because it allows more of my personality to come through the teaching but I am growing more and more comfortable with the adult preaching.

One thing that I have come to recognize though is that some themes and ideas translate fairly well in both settings. One of those themes is Biblical or Bubblical.

When a Christian grows up in a particular church or religious culture there are certain beliefs that become synonymous with our religious practice which are not necessarily biblical. The examples range from worship styles all the way to church appropriate clothing. As a teenager I struggled with the fact that I was not allowed to wear jeans in church even though they were appropriate in every other situation in my life. My parents had a strong conviction that dancing was wrong and that prevented me from being a part of school dances while growing up. Other Christian parents had issues with playing cards, or movies or even how much makeup a girl could wear.

These are not necessarily biblical issues, they are purely cultural. While I will agree that there is probably not anything “good” about school dances, and yes many movies can be extremely evil and inappropriate for Christians I do not consider them  a biblical issue.

Is there a danger in bubblical Christianity? Yes, because from the outside, a non-christian can see these bubbles and recognize them as that. They can see that our faith is based upon a traditional view and can often see where our views may conflict with a perceived biblical idea. These bubblical views put us in the awkward position of defending a tradition rather than a biblical truth. We are not called in Matthew 28 to defend our religious traditions but instead to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the people of the world who desperately need him. Many times our bubbles can be a detriment to our witness.

I believe that Jesus tackled this issue head on whenever he got “in trouble” from the religious leaders over issues like the Sabbath. He was constantly being harassed for breaking traditions. Jesus knew these were traditions and not biblical ideals so he willingly broke traditions for the sake of his true calling and mission. I see it like this, when religious tradition gets too important it begins to develop its own bubble.

In my view, Jesus simply wandered around with a big “truth pin” bursting bubbles as he went about doing his ministry. He has a beautiful explanation in Mark 7: 6 – 13. He is speaking to some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law who were questioning him because his disciples ate without ceremonially washing their hands. Thereby making the food “unclean.” They were not concerned about personal hygiene, they were concerned about Jesus’ blatant disregard for tradition. This is Jesus’ response to the Pharisees…

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men… Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.”

It hurts to have our bubbles burst, many times we don’t even realize that we are holding on to a tradition that is not necessarily biblical. In my experience, when we get our bubbles burst our initial reaction is anger, or defense, but ultimately, when we let the truth of the bible sink in we will find that our faith is strengthened by the process of having our bubbles burst.

What bubbles are you holding on to? What religious traditions are you holding on to that are probably more cultural than biblical?

If you find some, I would  encourage you to burst those bubbles yourself before Jesus has to use his truth pin on you.

5 Ways to Move Forward in your Faith

5 Ways to Move Forward in your Faith

As a speaker, I have a final talk. I’m not sure if all speakers have a final talk but I do. I came up with this talk a number of years ago at a summer camp and it just stuck. It became my favorite “parting shots” kind of talk.

At every camp I go to there is generally a last day morning chapel. In that chapel I generally get a chance to do a 15 minute goodbye speech. Usually students are completely worn out and exhausted and not really listening or even capable of comprehending any big new ideas. Usually I have spent all week giving them scripture, and stories, and motivation and conviction and now they just need to go home and put something to action. But what?

I have been to many leadership, training, teaching retreats where you spend the whole weekend consuming information. Many have said it’s like drinking from a fire hose. Often at the end of a weekend I struggle to dial the weekend’s learnings down to one actionable item. I have a billion things I want to do and accomplish when I get back to regular life but where do I start?

I don’t want to leave my students with that same struggle, I want them to have one or two things they can start as soon as they get home. So I came up with these 5 things; they are really simple and really practical.

1. Read the Bible

It seems simple but that’s truly all there is to it. Get to know God’s word. If you are new to reading the bible I always encourage my students to start in the book of John. It’s like reading the words from Jesus’ best friend. You get the more intimate details, the small significant moments that only John recorded.

If you are looking to read the entire bible from start to finish I would encourage you to read through it in a modern transliteration like the Message Bible or the NLT, and lately I have been encouraging students and adults alike to acquire a Chronological bible. This is simply a bible that has been rearranged so that the content is chronological. I find that helps the many people who are constantly asking, “When did this happen?”

If you are looking to study the bible I would encourage you to pick up a modern translation of scriptures like the NIV, or NASB. When you study scripture it is important to study the words that are written. A transliteration will give you the gist of what the bible originally said, but a translation will give you a more accurate picture of what was originally written in scriptures. There is a big difference and both are valuable types of bibles.

Sometimes when a student is trying to read the bible they get to a part that is either confusing or boring and they stop reading. When that happens I encourage students to simply skip the part, move on and keep going. There will always be a chance to come back and reread that section, the most important part about bible reading is consistency. Read a little bit every day.

For my devotions I actually start with  a book called My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. It is a book that is split into 365 daily devotionals. I read through the devotional thought and then read the chapter of the bible indicated at the top of the page. A few years ago I decided to read the entire bible straight through from start to finish and found that to be a rewarding but exhausting experience.

2. Pray

Prayer should be foundational for every believer. I don’t really care how you pray I just want you to get into the habit of praying. Pray at meals, before bed, when you get up in the morning… Pray for your friends, teachers, parents. Pray for yourself. We all need prayer and we all need to know how to be comfortable with prayer.

I have often used a prayer journal to write down my prayers. I love that process of thinking and praying while writing. Lately, I use an app called Prayer Journal for my prayers and I love it. I have used it for a few years now and it’s perfect for what I need. It takes my prayer requests and when I have time to pray through some requests it randomizes the requests so I’m not always praying for the same things all the time. It also keeps track of prayers that have been answered so I can go back and see what God has done in my life and in the lives of those I pray for.

3. Go to Church

Every single one of us as Christians and even as human beings are designed to do life together in community. I believe that being a Christian means you must be a part of a local church. I don’t care if it’s small, or large. I just want you to attend a church.

There are so many beneficial things about being involved in church. There is teaching, and preaching, worship and prayer. You can get inspiration, motivation, sometimes just the courage to keep going when things get hard. Being a part of most churches means you will have a chance to participate in a small group where you can experience the blessing of being involved in other people’s lives. You can be an intercessor for the needs of others and friends can pray for you when life seems to be crashing down around you.

Church often provides a much needed break from the doldrums of life and routine. For many of my students who are not heading home to a church I try to emphasize the fact that in order to stay strong in their faith they need a church family. That church family will be so necessary when they are tempted to go back to their own life, family, friends. Often the decisions we make at camp do not take root in our lives until we establish new routines and behaviors at home.  Get a church, go to church, stay in church.

I cannot emphasize this enough. We all need church.

4. Serve

We have all been called by God to serve Him in some way. Sometimes it’s a chore, sometimes it’s a blessing. I encourage everyone to find that thing that God called you to do and do it. The simple ways to serve are usually found within the church in children’s ministry, worship teams or sound, etc. I would encourage you to get creative and really think about how the church could use your gifts.

There are also many ways to serve God outside of the church. There are tons of organizations that are doing God’s work all over this world that can use your skills and talents as a volunteer in their ministry.

Another great way to serve is to go on short term missions trips with your church, youth group or even as a family. It will open your eyes to see God’s heart and where He is at work in the world and it may open up possibilities for future vocations or longer trips. No matter where or how you serve do it for the glory of God and his beautiful bride, the Church.

5. Tell Others

If Jesus Christ has made a difference in your life then rest assured that He can make a difference in the lives of your friends and family. Telling others exists in two parts: Evangelism and Discipleship.

Evangelism is simply making sure that others know who Jesus is and what He has done for you. There are all kinds of methods of evangelism and ways to learn how to talk about Jesus with your friends. One of my favourite books on the subject is Just Walk Across The Room by Bill Hybels. Another great book is Building a Contagious Church by Mark Mittelberg.

Discipleship is helping your friends to know God better through the process of walking through the basics of Christianity with them. It is always a good idea to walk with your new Christian friend along their spiritual journey. For those of us who grew up in Christian homes going to Sunday School some of this Christianity stuff seems pretty simple, but to a new believer it can be very confusing. In our ministry we use a curriculum that we designed called Next Steps.

I know that none of these 5 ways to move forward in your faith were groundbreaking or earth shattering. They aren’t intended to be. They are just simple, straightforward reminders of some of the things we can do to grow closer to Jesus in our spiritual journeys.

Thanks for reading…

Knee Deep…

Knee Deep…

 Currently I feel as though I am knee deep in a lot of things. It’s a strange and curous phrase to be “knee deep” in something. I know what it means though, In Ecuador, while attempting to fill a ditch with dirt and clay I found myself knee deep a couple of times. One of the construction projects we were working on was to fill a ditch that had been dug by previous owners and now was just a cesspool of standing water where bugs breed and spread diseases.

Filling a ditch requires two projects working almost simultaneously, a bucket brigade removing water and a shovel and pick axe crew who cover the remaining mud with dirt and clay. It’s a grueling and thankless job especially when it rains almost every night in the Rainforests and fills up your job site again.

Sometimes when I would stand at the bottom of the ditch to try and move dirt, or use water buckets my foot would sink a lot farther than I origionally intended. Then a battle would ensue between me and the mud over who would ultimately keep the boot I was previously wearing. Many times I watched as our fearless bucket brigade girls would climb down into the water, boots and all and start filling and passing buckets. That’s what it means to be “knee deep.”

Right now, in my life I am knee deep in a hiring process which is consuming a lot of time and energy. I am also knee deep in a sermon which refuses to write itself and have a couple other sermons on the horizon. At some point in the near future I will find myself knee deep in curriculum writing and will be knee deep in fall startups.

On the home front I am knee deep in a basement renovation. This last Tuesday I had the privilege of having both an electrical inspector and a plumbing inspector in. Both inspections passed and I am now free to finish the basement with drywall and tiling, flooring, painting, etc. Knee Deep is probably an understatement.

I think the best thing about being knee deep is that you can eventually get out of the muck. You can walk away from the task for a time, or you can finish the task, but no matter where you are in the task, knee deep means you can get out if you need to. Sometimes it’s hard slogging for a while, or you just might need to put your back into it but knee deep doesn’t have to be forever.

When I find myself knee deep in anything U2’s infamous song “40″ plays over and over in my head.

I waited patiently for the Lord

He inclined and heard my cry

He lifted me up out of the pit

Out of the mire and clay

And I will sing… sing a new song…

No matter what you are knee deep in, no matter how what you are slogging through let Psalm 40 be a promise to you that when you feel as though you are sinking… God is still ready and able to rescue you and set your feet upon a rock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEV-Y3b_hvw&feature=related