Are You Hangry?

                                        Are You Hangry?  

Missy was talking about being hungry and how when she gets really hungry it turns into being Hangry.  It’s getting so hungry that it effects your emotions and you get angry.  I found it a funny word but I could also relate.  I am sure many of us can.  I know there are times during the day at work I can get so hungry I go to the vending machine and just impulse buy.  I don’t really consider what it is only that it is a quick fix to how I feel.  Now we were just talking about food and our stomachs but what if we widened the thought a little.  How many of us get hangry for other things like love and attention from our spouse?  We need the connection and we get hungry for it but what happens when we get Hangry for it?  There really isn’t a vending machine for in impulse buy, which buy the way isn’t good for us anyway but do we try to fill that void up with other relationships.  Don’t get me wrong some relationships can be positive and those are ones that continue to point us back to Christ but when we are hangry it is usually an impulse connection.  One made of convenience.   What about feeding out spiritual self?  How many times do we get so hangry that we grab any quick fix we can to fill that void no matter how temporary.  I was reading about Esau and Jacob and how Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup.  He was in a weak moment because he was Hangry, He was willing to compromise because he was hangry, he even whined because he was hangry.   We need to make sure we don’t get hungry.  We need to make sure we aren’t starving our selves physically or spiritually.  When we are starving we make weak, compromised, and emotional choices.  Almost anything looks good smells good and tastes good when your hangry but step back clear your head for a minute and ask yourself “If I wasn’t Hangry would this really be ok for me?”  “Am I compromising?”  Where we live right now there is no excuse for being spiritually hungry.  There is music, Bibles, and audio sermons right at our finger tips and for smart phone users in our pockets.  We are always just a prayer away from Christ who promises to show Himself to those that are looking for Him.  

Thanks and enjoy a good meal today. 

A heart of gratitude instead of grumbling.

I haven't been writing in a while, but there has been a common theme running through my life lately.  I have seen it in emails from friends, posts on FB, and even sermons. 
We in my family are going through "stuff" I call it with my students.  We all have "Stuff" but it is how we deal with it that makes us stronger or breaks us.  Like many of you who may read this you also have "stuff" that seems so big and hard to handle.  Please know I am not trying to say that mine is any harder to deal with than yours.  I am just saying here I am with it right now.  I feel like we have 2 options one is to have a heart of Grumbling and one is to have a heart of gratitude. 
I don't know about you but for me when things are rough a heart of grumbling is so easy its like its natural probably because it is our sin nature.  We have a way of thinking inward and looking at ourselves that makes us think why me, why this?. 
Actually; Why not me? Why not this? Just because I am a believer in Christ doesn't make me immune to lifes circumstances.  In fact if I am a true believer how I deal with my circumstances should bring God Glory.  My life circumstances are there because this world is sinful and the temporary ruler on this earth is evil.  Being a believer in Christ Jesus means that the earthly ruler, the devil, is against me because he is against God.  The closer I am to Christ the more evil the devil will toss in my path to slow me down from doing the will of God.  With this understanding I need to "bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor 10:5). 

Ok so that helps the grumbling to end but how do you turn it into a heart of gratitude?  I was reading a book a while back and this concept jumped off the page at me.  What if tomorrow God only gave us what we thanked Him for today?  Wow, What if???  I know how hard it can be sometimes to pray and it could become monotonous feeling but if you consider that all things come from God (which they do) and God all of a sudden decided hey if you aren't thankful for what I give you then I am going to take it away (which He has every right to) how then would you pray.  How much easier would it be to thank Him the one that provides these things for us?  A Heart and attitude of Gratitude!  We need to keep our eyes and thoughts where they are supposed to be:
Philippians 4:8 ⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
and stop the grumbling.  Lets face it don't you feel better about things when your heart is greatful.  We need to look for the things that are praise worthy and think about those things leave the rough stuff for God to handle because He will if you trust Him.  We need to stop thinking we are doing all these things in our own power when God provides even our next breath.   

WAYS GOOD LEADERS CAN BE GREAT!

In youth ministry as in any Christian ministry we have leaders who are visionaries, ideas people, and workers. All of these are essential to the ministries growth and success. The visionaries see a direction the ministry should go. The ideas people see ways to push the ministry toward the vision. The workers support the ideas and the vision making the ministry a complete team. Sounds simple right? Well not so easy when you factor in the human aspect of each member of the team. The visionary brings an overall purpose to the ministry one that comes from God and His Holy Spirit directed by His word (the Bible). It is important to evaluate often and confirm that the vision is in line with God's Word and His Holy Spirit Because our human minds and our own arrogance can get in the way. Ideas people are very important in Youth ministry with all the busyness and fast pace lives students have we need new ideas all the time to bring freshness to the ministry creating more opportunities to share Christ with the students. This group within ministry gets the most verbal kudos which is good but when adding our humanness we can get the idea that we have some kind of power. This is a weapon the devil uses to split a ministry and cause a poison in leadership. We need to be sure we keep our eyes on Christ giving Glory to Him for the ideas He gives us for His ministry. Notice all "I's" are on "Him". The last part to complete the team are the workers. Those that take the vision and the ideas and complete them. They are the unsung hero's in ministry. Workers work thru the vision and complete the ideas in order for Gods Glory to be revealed. They are the ones that fill in the blanks. The human part that can make this group faulter is by feeling what they do doesn't matter and that anyone can do it. Feeling like they aren't anything special. This is a lie. God created you just the way you are knowing he needed you to follow through with the details of His work. I have had the honor of being part of a ministry team since college and as with our walk with Christ it is a growing experience. We don't always get it right everytime but if we can just open our eyes and focus on Christ and what he wants for our ministry the storms wont look as big and we wont sink while we try to walk where Jesus walked. So ministry leaders out there including the group I love and work with, stay strong and stay focused on Christ so the little things that are bound to come up don't become roadblocks to moving forward in Christs vision for His Ministry.
Great leaders stay focused on Christ!
With Love,
Mamma Bear

Can You Be Taught?

Have you ever heard about blind spots? If you have ever driven in a car you know that cars have blind spots where you just can't see it from the drivers seat. You can't always tell if there is potential danger in changing lanes while you are driving. But maybe some one else riding along can look for you and see those things and let you know of potential danger. Well it is the same in our personal and spirital lives. We have blind spots. Things we don't see until someone lets us know the danger. In my personal and spiritual life I have been blessed with people who love me enough to show me some of these spots i need to look at so i can move forward. In Proverbs 27 the bible talks about Iron Sharpening Iron and so one man sharpens another. A good friend doesn't just accept us as we are but the help us move on to being a better person by sharpening us. So next time someone tries to tell you that you need to see this or change that in your personal or spiritual life consider maybe it could be a blind spot and listen.

Even Mama Bear can be taught!: Parents

Even Mama Bear can be taught!: Parents: "As a mother of 3 (young adults now) I have had the privilege of teaching some of my kids life lessons but only to find out that in teaching ..."

Parents

As a mother of 3 (young adults now) I have had the privilege of teaching some of my kids life lessons but only to find out that in teaching them God is teaching me. I have learned that even though as parents we may want them to be perfect but we aren't perfect so how can we teach something we can't achieve ourselves. I am not saying we shouldn't try to help them but we shouldn't be surprised to find our expectations not always being met. One thing I have learned and I pray if you are reading this that you will learn this also, If your kids know you love them unconditionally, your kids know God loves them even more than you do and following Him is the only way to have a life everlasting then the rest of it can work itself out. Being a parent is hard work and beating ourselves up is easy but if you have accomplished the above 3 things You have supplied them with a Hope of a future no matter what happens here on earth. God Bless and DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR KIDS OR YOURSELF!