Update On PCC Student Ministry

Here's an update on what's going on in Student Ministry from Angie Frame, Minister to Students at PCC.

Summer Student Ministry

Our student ministry, Phusion, is running fast and furiously this summer. Forty-one high school and college students and adults went on a mission trip to Knoxville already this summer. A week later, another team left. They are at a camp in South Carolina right now called Passport Choices. Next week the Macedonia mission trip departs for Europe. Whew! Makes me tired just trying to wrap my mind around it, and jet lag isn’t even an issue yet!

In the midst of all that travel, we are still offering some local ministry events. It’s summer, so we’re taking a break from our weekly small groups and our program (FOCUS). Instead, we’re offering events that students can come to, but more importantly that their friends and families can attend, too. Our summer schedule is designed for students to be able to come and have fun, even if they’re new. It’s a great, unintimidating time for students to invite their friends. We also welcome families and parents! Last Sunday we went to the movies together, and some parents and younger siblings came with the teenager.

Here are the remaining summer events. Hope to see you and your family there!

July 12 Bogey’s Sports Park 3-7
August 2 Laser Tag (RSVP to 598-1174 by July 12)
August 9 Karaoke @ Powhatan Village Building
August 16 Lake Party @ the Huffs’ home
August 30 Shaving Cream War @ the Hughes’ home

For more information about any of these events, please contact Angie Frame - PCCangie{at}gmail{dot}com or 598-1174.

Dinner With Old Friends

I only keep up with one friend from my high school days. Just one. Actually, Will and I have known each other since the 3rd grade. Will and his family were pivotal in my spiritual journey, as they were involved in their church (my family didn't go to church). They invited me to be a part of church life. It was in their church that I was baptized when I was 16. Will and I were in each other's weddings, too, and we have lots of cherished memories together. We can go long spells without talking and then just pick up where we left off.

We hadn't seen each other in over a year, but a couple of months ago we put some time on the calendar and the day finally came. He and Lynn and their 4 kids came over last night. It was such a great time. I especially loved watching our kids play and getting in the middle of it all with them.

As I reflect on my own words from Sunday, it reminds me that I just don't make enough time for friends. Note that I didn't say I didn't have enough time. We all get the same amount. No amount of money can buy even one additional second. But we are capable of 'making the most of every opportunity.' We took the opportunity...we 'redeemed the time' and it was good.

I'm looking forward to Wednesday when some folks from my small group will catch up (not everyone can make it) over some burgers. We break during the summer, but it's good to see what's going on with each other. We're redeeming the time.

How about you...do you have some friends you need to contact...to 'redeem the time'?

God Speaks

One of the methods that God uses to speak to me (the one He usually uses) is to say the same thing through multiple, independent sources. So, a pastor who's blog I follow might say something and then somebody in my small group might say the same exact thing and then I'll read some piece of Scripture that says that same thing again and then I'm driving and see a road sign that says the same thing again. Finally, I respond, "OK, God. I hear you now."

Well, I just heard something clearly. Let me explain how the puzzle came together.

1. For the past few weeks, I've been thinking that, maybe - just maybe - we've gotten a little distracted from our basic, core mission - to reach people who are searching for God. I feel like I've been a little distracted from it in my personal life (I don't have as many friends who don't go to church or who aren't sure about Jesus as I used to) and, frankly, I feel like we've been a little distracted at PCC. We're still doing it, so don't get me wrong. We're just not doing it as well as we could be.

2. Yesterday, I really felt that God spoke to all of us through the scripture from Ephesians: "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. (Ephesians 5:15-17, NIV, emphasis mine). We thought about what it means to make the most of every opportunity, and the focus was mostly on our individual choices about how we each spend our time.

3. I started thinking: What does it mean for the church to 'make the most of every opportunity'?

4. In the service yesterday, I got to meet two ladies who were there for the first time. They worked together at a local business and came to PCC on their lunch break! (because someone invited them, by the way)

5. This morning I get up and read from Colossians again. This is part of the text I read today: "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." (Colossians 4:5, NIV, emphasis mine)

To me, that was like God saying, "Look, I've been trying to get you to refocus your life and the church. PCC was created for a purpose. Keep your focus on the outsider and make the most of every opportunity." What does it mean for us to make the most of every opportunity when it comes to the way we approach and treat those who are not yet inside the church? What does it mean for us to refocus to our core mission and our core purpose?

Isn't it cool when God speaks?

More thoughts on Redeeming the Time

John Ortberg wrote this not long ago in Leadership Journal. This is an excerpt from that and it is very applicable to what we discussed today. I think you'll find it worthwhile:

"Redeem the time," Paul says, "for the days are evil."

Or maybe it's me.

I have been thinking a lot about two of Jesus' agricultural metaphors regarding ministry over the past few years.

First, "Put your hand to the plow and don't look back." I have been doing that in my ministry. I have had an extremely strong conviction that I am to follow my calling in the place where I am and not waste energy thinking about other possibilities. I'm convinced I will grow in ways I would not otherwise if I put my hand to the plow and don't look back.

Second, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." This one has been harder. I have faced difficult staff transitions and change navigation and new multi-site planting and fund-raising and often felt in over my head. I have often felt myself preoccupied and weighted down, and yet I feel as deeply called to what I'm doing as I ever have.

How do I put my hand to the plow but live with the easy yoke?

Several weeks ago my wife pulled me into the bedroom, closed the door, and said there were a few things she wanted to talk about. She said she was kind of afraid to bring them up. She had a list.

I was not happy that she had a list.

She began: "When our marriage is at its best, we are sharing it together. We share division of labor stuff. We partner together around the house—our kids see this. We each know and care about details in each other's life and work. To be honest: it feels like that's been slipping. It feels like you have been becoming so preoccupied by all the things you have to do, by all the demands you think are on your shoulders, I'm kind of missing the you I most want." …

She said: "When you are fully present…light, breezy, spontaneous, fun, ready to listen, alive to joy—I love that man. I need that man. I haven't seen that man around much lately."

It took me a couple days to process this talk, because pouting is more or less my spiritual gift, and I had to get that out of my system first. But I thought about the kind of life she was describing. I know that life. It's like I've been waiting for circumstances to change so I can live that kind of life.

I'm not waiting any more.

I started praying. God, I need some help. Ideas started to come. I need some wisdom, some accountability—and I watched God start to bring some of that into my life. I knew I needed either a therapist, a spiritual director, or an executive coach. And I finally landed on the best choice and started moving forward. …

And then, this thought: I can do this. I can set aside the weight of unfinished tasks and unsolved problems when I come home. I can be fully present and alive even though everything around me is not settled down. Each moment I can choose this; I can ask God's help with it.
And it's been like a mini-revival. I find myself thinking, when problems arise, Bring it on. Each problem is, among other things, an opportunity to exercise this muscle, to make it stronger. And if I forget in one moment, I can begin again with God the next.

I've been struck by how this can be done by anyone, anywhere. …

I want to live with my hand on the plow.

I want to live under the easy yoke.

I want to redeem the time.

Some ideas on Series

Beth wrote on my wall on Facebook (you should be on facebook if you are not) and referred me to a Batterson Blog post. But if you went beyond the post and read the comments, there were some AWESOME ideas...Here are a few that I think would really work well and speak to a need. They are NOT my ideas. I put them in blue and then I ask you a question below:

PARADOX.
Week 1: Tithing (90% blessed is better than 100% cursed)
Week 2: Sabbath Day's Rest (6 Days blessed is better than 7 days cursed)
Week 3: Serving (the world measures success by how many people serve you, but God measures success by how many people you serve)
Week 4: Grace (we're saved by faith, but works matter)

"What I Wish Someone Had Told me" it's a walk through some life lessons out of proverbs.

"Crave" about craving the things of God. Making lots of sensory ties with food for this one.

"Karma". Basically disproving this secular theory with biblical truths. (BRIAN: what if we did 3 weeks addressing 3 'new age' kinds of topics: Karma, Reincarnation, ???)

Doing a series called Crazy in August...focusing on our crazy calling, our crazy mission as a church (it's our anniversary), and showing crazy love to our community.this will lead us into September, where we're doing a series called Amazing Grace, where we will basically present the gospel. The idea is for these two series to go hand in hand...fire our people up about our mission and challenge them to invite, and then follow up with a series built on the Gospel.

Some of these are very workable for us. Do any of these really strike you? Why?

School's Out

Continuing my study in Colossians, I found this a great and practical teaching for me today.

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. 7 You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6-7, MSG)

This is The Message again and it is so beautifully written. In the actual translation, Paul doesn't say 'quit studying the subject', but the essence of what he says is 'you already know the material - you already have the information' I like the way Peterson (the message) puts it. What good is more Bible knowledge if we don't apply what we already know?

Start Living! I am going to really take this text to heart today...putting the focus of my heart on this: Jesus is Lord, He's got my back, He knows and has arranged for my future, and my job is to live in the present. And I have decided: I am going to live in such a way that my life overflows with thanksgiving!

How about you? What would it look like if you applied the truth of Colossians 2:6-7 today? Will you take the challenge with me?

Hope

I'm reading through Colossians. A good friend, who is also a pastor, inspired me to study under Paul the Apostle as he teaches the four chapters that make up this short book. I think I'm going to teach a 4 week series on it at PCC late this summer.

When I study scripture, I almost always study in the NIV translation. But I absolutely love to hear the way Peterson puts the essence of the text in The Message paraphrase. Listen to these verses, as Paul talks about Jesus:

So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. ²⁰ Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross. (Colossians 1:19-20, MSG)

Wow! Every broken and dislocated fragment in the entire universe is made whole and complete and right in Him. And then He fits us together in harmony and with life and vibrancy. How can today be a bad day when that truth is revealed to us?

I've been struggling these past few days. This was a word from God for me. How about you? Does this scripture help you or encourage you in any way?