Authentic Love

God has an interesting way of getting through to me. When I am supposed to be getting a particular message God delivers it through a myriad of methods. That is probably because I am so hard-headed. It takes repeated assaults on my soul before I actually start hearing what God is saying. That is what has been happening with the concept of authentic love.

My counselor, the smartest woman I have ever met, says I have a problem understanding love. I just don’t get it. Especially authentic, unconditional love is a difficult concept for me. I have spent my entire life trying to earn and deserve love, as such I have a hard time receiving love that comes without conditions. I thought I was alone in this until I picked up Donald Millers’ book Blue Like Jazz and realized that it is a pretty common situation.

Authentic love is completely counter-cultural. As a matter of fact, in our “you get what you deserve” culture, it seems almost impossible. When I read Romans 12:9-16 I begin to see God’s model for real, authentic love.

Authentic love is essentially three things:

Unconditional: there are no strings put upon authentic love. It is love that loves despite strife and struggle. It is Hosea who demonstrated God’s love by loving his wife who had become a prostitute and then brought her back into his home and restored her fully. It is love that dies to self so that God can be glorified. It is love without expectation of repayment.

Unceasing: “Love never fails.” It doesn’t stop. It has to be expressed. It beats in your chest with every heartbeat. God demonstrates this by allowing the Holy Spirit to be with us continually. We are called to love and continue to love despite doubt, fear, tribulation or “feeling.” By “feeling” I mean that we love when we don’t feel like loving and when we don’t feel lovable. Authentic love never stops.

Unfathomable: authentic love is not measurable by human scale. It is God-sized because it is God-given. The authentic love we are called to live comes as a response our reception of God’s love. We do not have the ability to earn it and we do not deserve it we just have to receive it.

So what keeps us from receiving and living authentic love? One thing I struggle with is faults, my own and others. My own faults convince me, in the dark nights of my soul, that I am unlovable. They become barriers to vulnerability and intimacy. I hold back. Those faults lead me to see faults in others which are used to act as excuses to avoid intimacy. I have a lot of acquaintances but few real close friends. I am learning to let more and more people in and it is risky business. The risk of rejection hangs out there. Face it, most people prefer the façade to the real thing. I am learning that those who stay by you, no matter what your faults, really demonstrate authentic love to you and allow you to “get it.”

There are three ingredients that I see in authentic love:

1. Truth: being real, authentic, unguarded is essential. Truth is a hard concept because it means we have to be real with ourselves first and then let others in.
2. Openness: being known is a key ingredient. It is easy to pretend to love if you don’t let anyone in. Sometimes when you let them they see too much and draw back. Don’t ask me how to handle that? I don’t know except that you keep being open and know that authentic love is worth any price.
3. GRACE: accepting undeserved love of God and others is the primary ingredient upon which all others hinge. Love is not a debt to pay but a gift to receive. It is something we crave, will do anything to get and don’t have a clue what to do with it once we have it.

Lastly, about authentic love it is intentional, requires vulnerability and demands humility. Three words our culture really does not embrace. It is intentional meaning it is done on purpose. It is a conscious, continuous act of the will. It is the decision to love in spite of circumstance. It is vulnerable because it puts your heart out to be broken. It is humble because it requires a “others” mindset. Realizing that, as Miller states, we are not the star of our own movie with others as supporting characters. Rather, we are players in God’s great passion and living according to God’s purpose.

I have experienced authentic love. I doubted it. I struggled with it. God give me the ability to recognize it and receive it again. Then, like Paul exhorts in Romans, I will be able to “live in harmony.” Thanks be to God that I remain:

Lost in Grace,

Marty

Gracious God, grant me peace. Grant me the ability to give authentic love. Love without condition, expecting nothing, dying to self and thereby fully living in the purpose you have for me. Amen

Please Note: Three streams have fed this meditation. One is my recent study of Barth and Barlett and theology of forgiveness and love. The second is Donald Millers’ book Blue Like Jazz. Lastly, the message presented by the core group of Evergreen Community Church in Raleigh on Oct. 30, 2005.

Tough Days

The last seven days have been really tough. I have not only been on the road for most of them, had a blow out on I-85 at 70+mph and nearly crashed my car, I have been through one of the toughest transitions of my life. Life is about transitions. Scripture is about transitions. The world does not remain static.

Somebody I once knew was fond of saying, "Today ain't like yesterday, but you get to determine your tomorrow." Refining tomorrow is what the Christian journey is all about when you boil it down to brass tacks. Not just the "Sweet by an by" tomorrow, which is important, but the tomorrow of our reality. The tomorrow we have to live into. We serve a "do over" God who allows us to open each day as a day of possibility.

Don't you hate it when somebody tells you your own advice back to you? My friend Pam has told me multiple times in the past few weeks to "speak it into existence." To allow the words of my mouth to take hold in my heart. Not to get discouraged about the multiple strands of my life that seem to be unraveling and pulling me apart. She encouraged me realize, here she goes again, that "God will work it out because we are God's people." Wow, I give good advice, to others! I hate to take my own medicine, but she is right.

I am impatient. It is a character flaw. I look for the shortest line in the grocery (and never seem to get in it), I get antsy when I have to wait too long. I don't like it when my plans go astray. This week when my tire first blew I was upset that I'd be late, then I realized how close I came to really crashing my car. It tipped up enough to feel like it might roll over on I-85 and traffic was horrible. It is a wonder that I did not smash into another vehicle. As I stood there with trucks going by at close to 90 mph it dawned on me that it is God's schedule, not mine. I believe I have a vision for my life, given to me by God, of God's preferred future. Right now it does not seem to be working out. Actually, it seems to be going in reverse, and I hate that! I want to get to where God wants me to go, but I guess I want to get there by my plan. I hate it when my plan doesn't work...but it isn't really my plan is it? Aaargh!

I get to be part of God's plan. I don't get to make God part of my plan. It is God's plan so guess what? It is God's timing. So, on I-85 I began, let me say that again began, to give the plans I had for these multiple strands of my life over to God, for God to handle in God's time. One of the great metaphors for God is a weaver, weaving so many cords together to make a beautiful blanket of life. It is a blanket whose most important threads often come with pain and struggle, the two things our culture wants to avoid, but cannot. So now I wait for God to weave and try give up control. I began to embrace not being in control but letting God be in control. I began to live the life I want to live, no the life God's wants for me, which is:

Lost in Grace,
Marty


Gracious and loving God who is in control, help me be out of control and give you control. Help me give up my tendency to try to control others and control outcomes when all I can control is my willingness to give control to you. Amen

Word for Today: Perservere

To endure, especially when encountering difficulty and trial. Whenever I hit a hard spot, and I've been hitting a few of those lately, I return to one of my favorite passages to meditate upon:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverence the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so thatyou will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

Hebrews 11, as I'm sure you know, is a list of all the OT saints. The beauty about them is that they were all a mess! God uses broken vessels to carry living water! Does that ever cease to amaze you? It doesn't me. We are broken...but usable.

The one word meditation for me today is "persevere." It will be my breath prayer as I seek the face of God. If you are limping, let me encourage you to join me in that prayer.

Have a great day! Keep the faith! I give thanks to God that despite my sin and struggles I remain:

Lost in Grace,
Marty

Summer 2006 Theme!

Go to www.sejumc.org for more information!

Reflections by the Lake…

Studies at Serenity

The following blogs are a spiritual enlightenment journal that I wrote will spending time in solitude and silence at my brother’s retreat at Lake Gaston. The post is long because that area is not served by wireless internet so I wrote each post and then cut and pasted into a single blog at the end of the reflection time of the first couple of days...perhaps more will come later.

Wednesday October 19, 2006

What is it about the moon?

What is it about the moon? Lovers kiss by it. Tides roll in by it. Farmers plant and harvest by it. Sailors navigate by it. Most of us just sit and look at it when it is like it is tonight.

Sitting on the shore of Lake Gaston tonight with a nearly full harvest moon hanging above the water like a silver ornament dangling in the sky, I wonder, what is it about the moon? The night is clear with the faintest hint of a breeze. The sky is painted deep blue with the softest whispers of clouds scattered about. It is a sight almost too beautiful not to share. It is a night that begs for a hand to hold as I stare at the moon. But here I sit, just God and I talking about relationships, ritual, reality and grace. Actually, as usual, I’m doing most of the talking.

While the beams of soft light dance across the rippling water I poured my heart out to my Creator. I wonder if He hears, don’t you? Why would the affairs of one so limited concern the One so omnipotent? Yet, here I sit, claiming two thousand plus years of faith teaching as I cry, “Abba!”

Then the “why” questions come…why me? Why now? Why not? Why God? Why? God just listens, as God always does. No easy answers given. No quick formula for success. Just the listening of an omniscient God hearing the struggles of a wayward child. A child clinging to the hope that he is…

Lost in Grace,

Marty

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Do you ever just stop?

Lead me beside the still waters, restore my soul.

Do you ever just stop? Stopping is not my spiritual gift. I am guilty of believing activity breeds accomplishment. I am wrong. Activity really just breeds more activity.

I am soul weary from the pace of my life. There are times when doing good needs to give way to Sabbath rest. Where activity for activity’s sake becomes drudgery rather than ministry.

I guess I see this now because I find myself at a place of forced reflection and self-awareness. Five years ago I would never have stopped for four days to read, write, journal and reflect. I was too busy doing to focus upon being.

I have done nothing today. That is, from a consumerist, capitalistic frame of reference, I have done nothing. I have not produced a single widget to be sold at a profit. I have not manufactured or marketed a single thing. I have not worked my way steadily down an ever growing ‘to do’ list so that I can visibly see what I have done. As a confession, I have been up since 7:30 a.m. It is now 1:45 p.m. and I am still in my Superman pj pants and oversized ‘Big Dog’ t-shirt sitting by the lake. I have just remembered to eat lunch (peanut butter sandwich and milk if you must know). I have done nothing, nothing that shows anyway.

What I have done is more internal than external. I have prayed and written prayers. I have journaled page after page of reflections on life and love, fear and failure, hopes and heartaches, dreams and desires (I love alliteration!). I have come to points of revelation. I have struggled with conviction. I have embraced grace again and for the first time. I have pondered what it is to let go so that I can receive. I have meditated on what it means to be ‘out’ (meaning exhausted or empty) of control and let God be God! I have read and been read by the Gospel writers.

Today I have done nothing, I should do nothing more often…because something is being done in me. Thanks be to God I was lead to stop, so that I could remember what it is like to be:

Lost in Grace,

Marty

No moon tonight. The clouds have rolled in, the wind has picked up and the moon has disappeared behind a bank of dark clouds. No stars tonight. Like the moon their luminescence is shrouded with a blanket of darkness. But the moon is there, even if you don’t see it, and the stars still shine. Knowing they are there does not keep you from missing them when they are not present. I remain, in the dark and…

Lost in Grace,

Marty

Friday, October 21, 2005

Words…

I woke this morning with words on my mind. I love words if they capture the moment. Here is what God is doing in my life:

Reframe; restructure; rework; rehash; reconsider; redo; reinstate; resurface; release; reevaluate; renew; redeem; refocus; reestablish; refresh; reconfigure; reconstruct; reconcile; reform; redevelop; revolution; redesign; redirect; restore;

I told a friend the other day that all of the perimeters of my life are being shifted at the same time. There is not any part of my life left untouched. While I am sure great things will result from these seismic shifts, they are not easy. I am just holding on and waiting for the tremors to stop. I am:

Lost in Grace,

Marty

All You Have Is Today…

Those five words hit me like a brick. Sometimes you hear something over and over again but don’t really hear it until the right voice says it. Part of the thousand plus miles I’ve traveled in the past week took me to Georgia, again. Instead of keeping Hampton Inn in business I stayed with my cousin Jennie. Everybody needs a Jennie in their life.

You ever had anybody who loved you not matter what? Loved you even though you weren’t perfect, in fact loved that you weren’t? Somebody who was always on your side, knew all your trash and acted like a cheerleader no matter what? That is Jennie. We were discussing failures and flaws, sins and shortcomings, life, loosing and love. Most of all we talked about regrets and mistakes. Essentially what happens when you are so focused on your past problems that they are keeping you from living today, and then she said those words, “all you have is today.”

You see, Jennie is my hero. Several years ago she almost died from a severe attack of Crones disease. She spent most of the holiday season, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, in the hospital. She said she remembered praying, “don’t let me die in front of my daughter, don’t let me go until my husband is spiritually strong enough to raise my baby…” Wow, that is the prayer of a mother isn’t it? She survived but still deals with Crones every day and will for the rest of her life. It is terminal, it never goes away.

When somebody with a terminal illness tells you something about living life, I have learned, it is best to sit up and listen. Jennie lives each day like it will be her last. She and Jeff are people of modest means, living in a small, rural town in north Georgia. They don’t have expensive cars or lavish luxuries; there is an above ground pool, sometimes the next door neighbor’s chickens wander into their yard and the big deck that they call the “Redneck Riviera.” But no one on earth is richer than Jennie. She knows a lot about living and a lot about dying.

She told me that day that to live always worrying about what others are thinking is like not living at all. God gives us a new day, every day, to make up for the messes we made of yesterday. Then she said, “You can only live today.” It is not that you are exonerated from yesterday, but that living only happens in the present, you have to seize joy at every chance. Regret, according to Jennie, is the demon that steals today’s joy and tomorrow’s happiness.

Paul wrote to “run the race set before you…” Read that again when you have a chance. The only race you can run is the one you are in today. John Maxwell says we exaggerate the past, overestimate the future and undervalue today. I can’t go back and change my regrets, decisions or failures. I can only learn from them, make course corrections and do my best to live today. Thankfully, I remain:

Lost in Grace,

Marty

Discovering Destiny and Doughnuts…

I love doughnuts. After loosing about 100 lbs. in the past eighteen months, they have been something that I have forsaken for the cause of better health. But like every red-blooded American, I believe that Krispy Kreme is one great institution of culinary excellence! The other night I was in KK for the first time in recent memory, drawn in by the demonic “HOT NOT” fluorescent sign. I decided to give into the temptation this once since my being near this small part of heaven was obviously providential.

As I waited for the doughnuts to come down the conveyor belt I was once again fascinated by the machine that turns cake dough into sweet morsels of manna. The machine was made for that one particular purpose, to make doughnuts. It can’t manufacture widgets or make candy, it only makes doughnuts. That machine if fulfilling its central purpose for existence. As I watched it work I thought of the continual existential questions that continue to mold my lfe…

o Why am I here?

o What difference can one person make?

o What is my real purpose in life?

o What is next for my life?

o How do I know what God wants for me?

This came after the previous day when I had sat in eleven hours of meeting, essentially my version of purgatory. As I sat there and worked hard to solve a myriad of problems, make plans to do things to reach more youth and young adults with the life transforming message of Christ, I could almost hear God whisper in my ear, “this is why you are here.” Suddenly I began to realize that everything I had done up to this time has prepared me for the job God has for me right now. That all of the jobs I have had from working at the Piggly Wiggly in high school, to my most recent ministry position with a struggling church plant, had all contributed to the base of knowledge that I carry with me. God’s hand has been with me the whole time, moving me along toward my God-shaped destiny.

Seasons of questions yield moments of revelation. I called my friend with that realization. It was like I was hit with a divine brick…I had a V-8 moment (wow!). Just like the doughnut machine was made to create doughnuts, I was created to be right here, right now. God’s will is a continually unfolding story. It is not a destination, it is ongoing travels of a spiritual journey that is never finished. Every road leads you to the next, prepares you for the next and allows you to navigate the difficulties ahead with the experiences of the past.

Am I finished asking existential questions? As Paul wrote in his epistles, “By no means!” Asking questions is what leads to precious moments of revelation. These moments of divine destiny discovery are worth the struggles of the times of questioning, and an excellent excuse to stop for doughnuts! I remain:

Lost in Grace,

Marty

Theology of the Rear View Mirror…

I have driven a lot in the past ten days. Literally thousands of miles up and down the major highways of the southeast and I have to admit, I am exhausted. As I was driving I began to take notice of how much time I spend looking in the rear view mirror to keep up with what’s going on behind me and to see where I have been. Most of us don’t really use our mirrors as much as we learned to in Driver’s Ed. Remember those classes when we would diligently look back every few moments so that we could drive defensively? It is really amazing what the image in the mirror, the reflection of what is behind us, can teach us.

I am beginning to develop a deepening theology of the rear view mirror. That is hard for me to admit. I have always considered myself a leader and a leader constantly looks forward. We are always looking toward the horizon, trying to understand what the future holds and how we can best prepare for it. I am learning that the best way to prepare for the future is to learn from the past. Two things are certain: first, we rarely see God’s hand when we are in the middle of a struggle and God’s presence is right in front of us and, secondly God is most evident in the rear view mirror.

When we are struggling with situations, decisions and the overwhelming challenges right in front of us we wonder where God is. How many times in my life was I in the middle of the toughest times and felt that God was no where to be found? During the past year being separated from my daughter, starting a new position with incredible challenges and moving 250 miles away from my family all took their toll. There were days when I thought I had been abandoned by God or that when I took this ministry over I had answered the wrong call. Maybe God got the wrong number? It has literally been just this week that I have really began to live into the fact that God has called me to this time and place to do a work that all that has gone before has lead me to.

Looking back it seems so self-evident. God has been preparing me to be where I am. The people I have contact with, the resources I use, the things I’ve read all have converged to help me design ministries for youth, young adults and youth/young adult workers. Even having two progressive teen-agers who constantly challenge me to think differently help me grasp what their struggles and concerns are, under the surface. I can look in my spiritual rear view mirror and see how God has worked in the past year to break my old ways of thinking, acting and reacting and prepare me for a new level of ministry. God has prepared me for new relationships, new opportunities and is revealing a new vision that I would have never been ready for a year ago. Thanks be to God.

So what are my application points. Three things stand out:

o Reflection is important! Spending time thinking about where you have been allows you to be truly present in the here and now. Reflection can best be defined as seeking God’s presence in past circumstances. Listening to God’s whispers to you by God’s past actions. Reflection provides clarity.

o Process the past. Processing the past keeps it from interfering with the future. If we fail to process the past, the doubts and fears of the past hold us back from living in the “now” and preparing for the future. Process out loud, in a journal, with a friend, but process. It is amazing what you will see once you look back with a searching eye.

o Learn from the past. There are people in my life that repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Why? Because they fail to learn from the past. Reflecting is essential, processing is important, but until we learn from our past we can’t grow past it. Learn!

God is teaching me a lot about rear view mirror theology. Hebrews 11 reminds us that we stand on the shoulders of giants! God’s people have a forever history that prepares us for a forever tomorrow but we can only serve God in the today. A glance back helps us live now! Thank God I continue to be:

Lost in Grace,

Marty

Initiating Change…

Change is a difficult thing! Having worked in a mainline denomination that is known to be change resistance I have come to realize that there are some key steps to initiating change that must be followed to insure acceptance. Now change is always hard and some people will never accept that change is needed but as we seek to reach more and different people for Christ we must change our methods while still clinging to the foundations of our faith.

Here is my plan for initiating change:

o Define core audience that provide financial viability

Somebody once said that a leader is two steps ahead of his followers and a prophet is ten steps ahead, and they stone prophets. In business, and even more importantly in ministry, you have to know who you have! You have to understand the context from which your ministry is grounded. Take some time and define who it is that provides the core of your existing ministry. Understand the locus of your center. This will allow for you to take the next step…

o Define target audience that will take you into the future

Once you know where you are you can define where you are going. A map is a wasted piece of paper until you know your current location. Then you can define destination. Step two involves defining target audience. The word “target” makes some church folks uncomfortable, but that is usually because they don’t want to admit that if you aim at nothing you will hit it every time. Define who it is that God is calling you to reach. Be specific. Write a description of the people that God is uniquely putting in your path to share the message of hope with. Once you have a clear picture, begin making friends with these people. Hang out where they hang out, move them in your understanding from abstract to actual, then you are ready for step three…

o Help core understand target

This is tough. Finding a way to communicate missional objectives to those who aren’t concerned with actual mission may be one of the toughest jobs in ministry. I have found that helping them understand the ministry target in terms of their family is most effective. Ask about their children or grandchildren (even better!) who don’t share their faith. Help them put a face on the people your church is uniquely positioned to reach. Again, moving them from abstract understanding to actual relationship is essential. Then…

o Interpret, interpret, interpret…

Every opportunity that arises, interpret the target to the core. Use pictures, stories, portraits of faith, [1] and anything else that helps core become burdened to reach the target. Once you begin intentionally seeking these opportunities they will become abundant!

o Initiate change

The key concept in initiating change is that my idea may be good, but your idea is better, at least in your eyes. Now, more than ever, it is time to get out of the way and let God work. As you begin to open up conversations about how to reach this new segment of people God is calling you to, if you have done your work, the core will have far more ideas, some more radical than you ever imagined, to implement. Resistance will be lessened (it is never gone completely) and by making it their idea, acceptance is increased. Change becomes the natural result of their burden to reach others.

Most of these lessons have been learned the hard way. Thankfully, God’s love abounds and I remain:

Lost in Grace,

Marty

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[1] A portrait of faith is a three to five minute testimony where somebody tells what God is doing in their lives right now. Not a recounting of their faith story, but a place where they are meeting God today. Brevity and intensity are the key concepts in a portrait of faith.

The Joy of Doubt

I used to be so sure. Everything was black and white, right or wrong, inside or outside. Life was clear, like a streakless sliding glass door. Then I woke up. Somewhere in the process of my ever-maturing faith the world got complicated. I started to doubt some things, then everything, but there is a joy in doubt.

I grew up in churches and denominations that only taught absolutes. To question the pastor or leader was akin to heresy. Rigid systems of behaviors molded my spiritual understandings that, to this day, plague me. As I grew older I began to realize that even those who taught these “truths” often did not follow every precept of their teaching. It was forbidden to dance, but you could smoke? Smoking doesn’t cause cancer? If the body was the temple of the Holy Spirit shouldn’t that have been forbidden as well. But, oh, I see, if tobacco farmers or their families are part of the congregation, and give money…

I remember when doubt started to creep in. I was fifteen, I really felt a strong call to ministry but I was in a Pentecostal church. My gifts were affirmed, the pastor had prayed over me and even said that God had laid it upon his heart that I would proclaim the gospel, but I had never spoken in tongues. I never experienced the effect of “glossolalia.” How could this be? I studied, prayed, went to church on Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday evening. I went to the altar almost every service, I felt God’s presence, but “it” never happened for me. Then I did the forbidden, I began asking questions. In the asking I found more questions, more ambiquity and less certainty, but I also found a God who allows questions.

Jesus said we could move mountains with faith the size of a mustard seed, which is actually as small as or smaller than a grain of sand. The good news about that statement is that isn’t a lot of faith and I really don’t want to move mountains, I just want to know Jesus.

Do I still doubt, YES. Now more than ever. But there is a joy in the doubt. One of my favorite professors, the late Dr. Thomas Langford once said, “God can handle your doubt because God believes in you.” Isn’t that great to realize? Especially if you are like me and have a hard time believing in yourself. The joy in doubt is also the realization that life is hard, complicated and often confusing. God knows that. My questions don’t bother God. Look at how many times Jesus didn’t answer the question, instead he simply asked a question. I will keep doubting, struggling and clinging to my last flicker of hope because I remain:

Lost in Grace,

Getting Lost…

We got lost. On the way to the Catalyst Leadership Conference (www.catalystconference.com if you would like to go next year which I highly recommend) we missed an exit, got turned around, went through a toll booth, had to turn around, go back through the toll booth and finally found our way. The next morning on the way to the arena, we missed a turn, had to turn around find the street and find our way again. It dawned on me how much like life that trip was.

I often say my favorite turn is the U-turn, but theologically and functionally. Every day we have the chance to turn around. To make course adjustments. To redirect our life and begin again. That is the story of the Gospel. God giving me (and you) a chance to get a divine “do over.” The chance to make a life U-turn. I think God for the chance to begin again.

You know the best part of being lost, is to be lost in community. I was lost with friends and our combined ability is why we are not still driving aimlessly around Duluth. What one could see the other had missed. Traffic was horrible, it was raining, people were rude but between the seven of us we were able to negotiate the obstacles, laugh at the situation and find our way. I think that is like life as well, you should always travel in community.

We are not meant to travel alone. We are meant to travel together so that we can watch out for eachother and let, in loving accountability, eachother know when we need to turn around. The key word there is love, because otherwise it is just me yelling at you or vice versa for not living life the way I percieve you should. The love allows us to realize that the other person in the community is actually more important that we are. Our desire then is to help them find their path and an amazing thing happens, our path also becomes clearer.

So next time you take my favorite turn (the U), don't get upset or frustrated (eventhough I probably will). Just smile and realize that sometimes everybody needs a little course correction and thank the friend who helps you make it. I remain:

Lost in Grace,

Marty

Spiritual Foundations

Overwhelmed. I suppose that is the word that best describes my first year as the Director of Ministries with Young People for the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. I have had the wonderful opportunity to interact with thousands of young people and hundreds of youth leaders. It is amazing to watch six hundred teenagers proclaim the name of Christ in word and song. To hear testimonies about how God is working in their life and to pray with them at the end of a worship service. This may well have been the most powerful year of my ministry. But the work is not done, as a matter of fact, it has only begun.

The Barna Research Group asserts that if a person does not make a life-changing commitment to Christ before their 19^th birthday there is a 94% chance they never will. Additionally, their 2003 report stated that 58% of youth attending youth groups today won’t be attending church by their 30^th birthday. [1] The need for intensive, intentional and Christ-centered youth and young adult ministry is more acute now than ever before. We have to create environments where youth and young adults can make faith commitments in a non-coercive, non-threatening manner. We have learned over the years that fear-based commitments only last as long as the heat is on. We need to facilitate true “heart warming” experiences in the tradition of John Wesley. In order to do this we need to shore up the spiritual foundations of the Ministries with Young People division.

John Wesley once said, "Give me one hundred men [or women] who love only God with all their heart and hate only sin with all their heart, and we will shake the gates of hell and bring in the kingdom of God in one generation." This is the generation to do that, but we need your help. In order to shore up the spiritual foundations for our entire ministry we are recruiting one hundred Prayer Partners. These one hundred men, women or couples will commit to praying for the ministry, for me as the Director and for Nilse Furtado, the assistant director. During the summer you will pray daily for the summer staff and, perhaps, adopt one as your personal prayer focus.

Each month you will receive a prayer update listing the current ministry and personal prayer needs for me, the staff and the entire the MYP division. It will contain reflections, ministry events that need your prayers as well as Marty and Nilse’s personal requests and travel schedule so that you can hold them up before God as they move across the jurisdiction. Our goal will be to host a prayer summit for Prayer Partners, perhaps as early as March 2006, to lay the spiritual foundation for the summer events, grow in our spiritual lives together and pray for one another.

Would you consider partnering with us to shape the next generation of youth and young adult leaders for the United Methodist Church? Will you pray for God to work to allow us to reach more young people with the life-changing message of Christ? Will you commit to spending time before God on behalf of the next generation? If so, please complete the enclosed card and get it back to me as soon as possible or email me at youngpeople@sejumc.org

I look forward to God moving mightily thanks to your prayers. I remain:

Lost in Grace,

Reverend Marty Cauley,

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[1] http://www.youthspecialties.com/articles/topics/pastpresentfuture/scenarios.php