Answer's

Why?

Who?

How come?

I don't get it, explain it to me!

So many times in faith, I want answers. I try to guide my faith and others' (faith) in the right direction in order to feel like I have a grip on what faith is. It's what I like to call a "bood" habit. Yes, I just made that up and I don't really call it that, but sometimes it is a good thing and sometimes times it completely sucks! Because it always seems to get me into these round-a-bout thoughts and small arguments, that end up being, in a sense, unanswerable. Just like there are problems in life that we can't fix, there are going to be questions that cannot be answered. Some may call these holes in our faith, so we struggle to try and explain these questions with these puzzle-like pieces that are supposed to fit perfectly into an unsolvable puzzle.

For example, if you continually break down everything until you question its existence, nothing seems to makes sense. When I see the color yellow, how do I know its the same color you see. What if my yellow is your blue, or your purple is actually red to me? How do I know this answer? Can you prove to me that we see the same thing or is it something we could argue for days, just because it is easy to argue?

I could say to my wife, "Prove to me that you love me. How do I know that you really are in love with me?" Which she could answer, "I tell you all the time. When I come home I smile because I am excited to see you. I give you the biggest hug because I missed you. That's how you know I love you."

"But how do I know it isn't fake?" I would say.

"Because I am telling you it is real."

"But how do I know its for real, for real?"

If I question everything, nothing is going to be answered. Sometimes we just need to have trust and faith in a loving God, just as much as I have to trust and have faith that Ashley really does love me. Instead of searching for every puzzle piece to make our faith perfect maybe we should look at the front of the box (that the puzzle came in) and see what the big picture is and how beautiful the final product can be.

~Adamantium~

Why we do what we do

Have you ever wondered why we do some of the things we do? Why we say some of the things we say? And why our hindsight is always 20/20?

I feel like the Holy Spirit has something to do with this phenomenon. When Jesus would teach his followers, in true "Son of God" fashion he would always answer questions with more questions. I think He did this so that we would search our own hearts for the answers we seek.

These days the Holy Spirit works within us to show us these answers too. When I think back on all the stupid things I've said and done, I see them now with a fresh perspective. What didn't make sense to me back then is now crystal clear. I am able to see the error of my ways because the Holy Spirit enables me to see them.

The Holy Spirit is one crazy powerful part of our God. When it comes to our hearts, I'd like to think that the Holy Spirit is a microscope that helps us see deep down past the surface. It's what helps us to examine our lives more fully, more passionately, more honestly. It's working in and among us to bring change to this world.

Real change in a person happens only when their heart is at the center of that change.

Jesus was wise to direct our questions back at us with more questions. Confusing and frustrating as it must have been for His followers, in hindsight, they end up changing the world because of the impression left by Jesus' words and actions.

And after Jesus' death and resurrection they were undoubtedly lead by the Holy Spirit. That is why they did what they did. So to answer the question of "why we do what we do" I'd simply say that it is God's Spirit that leads our hearts. Our heart leads our head. Our head leads our actions.

I pray that the Holy Spirit fills your heart.

Beautiful Things

I'm posting this song in hopes that it lifts you up and reminds us all of just how awesome the Creator of the universe is. Enjoy!

Gungor- Beautiful Things (click)

Gungor. Great band. Silly name. :)

The Strangers

A few weeks ago (Oct. 14th) Megan and I (my wife) took a small weekend camping trip out to Maplewood State Park. This particular park is gorgeous this time of year albeit most of the leaves had already turned from their brilliant hues to a more matte-finished dull brown. We still had a blast hiking, playing with our dog Charlie, and eating delicious camping food.

(see Hobo stew recipe here.)

The only draw back to tent camping this late in the Fall was that the temperatures got pretty low at night. Oh, did I not mention that my wife and I are hardcore and will NEVER camp with a silly camper? Because we are. Staying in a crowded campground with generators running and your car 2 feet from you is not camping.

But on this particular evening the temperature was flirting with freezing. We were miserable. Even fully clothed and curled up in our mummy bags we still had a hard time keeping our teeth from chattering constantly. Add to this experience the fact that my wife is 15 weeks pregnant and takes frequent bathroom breaks and you've got a recipe for misery.

Fast-forward to last week. It was a chilly Wednesday night. I was driving home from work around 9pm and decided to stop and get gas. Sitting outside the gas station were two shabby-looking people, charging their cell phone near an outside plug-in. Beside them lay two giant packs weighing around 60 lbs. each I'd guess. They looked miserable. At that moment all I could think about was how cold Megan and I had been weeks earlier on our camping trip.

I approached the couple, maybe in their mid-twenties, and asked them if they had a place to stay for the night. They said they couldn't stay in the shelter because they had pets. (Wrapped up in the woman's coat were two Labrador pups that couldn't have been more than a few months old, visibly shivering.) They told me they had heard of a park they could set up their tent in 17 blocks away. Again, a flashback to our camping experience crossed my mind.

I decided I couldn't just let them sleep outside. At the cautious request of my wife, I offered to put them up in a hotel for the night. They gladly accepted and we loaded up their packs (much heavier than 60 lbs. I found out) and drove to the nearest hotel.

As we drove I asked them what had brought them to this life on the streets. They said they were freight train jumpers. (think old school train jumpers, sleeping in boxcars filled with hay...but this life-style has changed much since those days.) The man had been living out on the streets for nearly two years, his father imprisoned and his mother a prostitute. The woman had been living with her mother until 5 months ago when she expectantly died of a medical condition. So here they were, these two companions, riding the rails of America, searching for God knows what.

In Matthew 25: 40 Jesus says, "Truly I tell you, just as you have done for the least of these, you have done unto me."

I really believe that when the bible tells us to feed the hungry, it means feed the hungry. When the bible tells us to clothe the naked or to welcome a stranger or to take care of the sick, these aren't just words. These are very clear instructions on how to live your life like Jesus did. He fed the hungry. He clothed the naked. He cared for the sick. He loved the least of us.

So what's stopping us from literally following these instructions in our everyday lives? It's easy for us to say "I'm praying for you" and think that we've done our part. Now, to be clear, I'm not downplaying the importance of prayer. I believe the Holy Spirit works through prayer in amazing ways. But it's when we ignore the things that we can physically do to help our fellow man that we ignore what Jesus was really calling us to be.

It's when we sacrifice our own comfort to someone in need that we really do become the hands and feet of Christ.

The look on those two transients' faces when they saw their nice warm bed, a shower, and a free meal in the morning was priceless. It was like Jesus was standing there smiling back at me saying, "thank you for what you do for the least of these, for you have done the same for me."

For an interesting look into homelessness, I'd encourage you to check out a book called "Under the Overpass" by a guy named Mike Yankowski. Follow the link here for more info.

Back to School

I don't know about you but my first week of college was one of the most memorable times in my life.

The smell of fresh cut grass. (Campuses usually do a last minute sprucing up before all the new students arrive in the Fall so the parents can feel 100% convinced that this particular college was the right decision. Fresh cut grass is one of those magical smells that does something to people's judgement)

The smiles on every new freshman face (Define awkward. "please talk to me. please talk to me. please talk to me. please talk to me.")

The feeling of freedom laying there in your dorm on that first night (this feeling is usually a combination of no air conditioning, super heated flannel bed sheets, and more than one person in a 8'x8' cell/room. Sweat is a natural bi-product of dorm living.)

Freshman year seems like one long, neverending icebreaker. There are so many people to meet, all in the same nervous wreck of a boat as you. Uncomfortable would be an appropriate descriptor.

Uncomfortable. It's not quite to the point of painful, but over time has a tendency to become extremely annoying.

So...

Here is the part where I tell you why this season of discontent can be so vital in changing a person.

Speaking for myself, this was a time not unlike junior high school. New school. New people to meet. New friends to make. New environment to adapt to.

I believe God puts us into these uncomfortable situations to challenge us. He is a God that knows all about us. He knows how far to push us in order to teach us. (Kinda like in Batman Begins...or the Karate Kid...or Rocky...or Star Wars...or a whole bunch of other movies with the same sort of master/apprentice relationship theme)

It was during college that my faith was challenged. It was during college that I had my first open conversation about my relationship with God. It was during college that I started to feel pretty uncomfortable with the way I had been living my life up to that point. It was during college that I fulling accepted Christ as the center of my life.

And God continues to challenge me each and every day. Even as a committed follower there are things that come up that still make me feel uncomfortable. But now I understand that in order to take myself to places I wouldn't normally go regarding my faith, I need that extra push. God provides this encouragement for me daily.

Isaiah 40:31

"But those who put their hope in the Lord will have renewed strength. They will soar on wings like eagles., they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

Kids these days don't want Dairy Queen! They want Jesus!

These are the words of a CEO of a national youth organization that were spoken at a meeting to challenge students in the Fargo/Moorhead area to engage more fully in the ministry and purpose of Jesus Christ.

Immediately after this was said, a student looked over at my work colleague and said, "this is boring...we should go to Dairy Queen."

Then I start to think about the actual ministry of Jesus and his disciples. It makes me wonder if Jesus ever woke up in the morning and said, "today I think I'll take a break from telling people the good news and just sit by the watering hole, eat grapes, read People magazine, and play angry birds on my iPad." It makes me wonder if Luke ever said to Paul "hey, let's take the rest of the week off and go watch the camel races."

Just so we are clear, I love the Dairy Queen. If I would have been in their shoes at that meeting, I would have left in a heart beat for a Reese's Peanut Buttercup Blizzard.

In hindsight how does this make me feel? It makes me feel lazy. Because that day when Jesus and the disciples took a break from sharing the good news never happened. They were machines, driven by the Holy Spirit, constantly glorifying God with their actions, honoring His name by the way they lived their lives. I couldn't ever be as dedicated to the mission as they were.

Which brings me to my point.

When you work at a church in youth ministry it's easy to get caught up in the whole idea of what's "relevant" in today's culture. It's easy to let that culture steer the ship.

It's easy to form a "cool kids club" and sustain that sort of ministry with an emphasis on fun and fellowship rather than worship and discipleship.

It's easy to skim the surface of what life is really about, because when you never break the surface you have no fear of drowning. You're always safe. Always stable. Always comfortable. Never risking anything

Jesus says that if you are to truly follow Him you would deny yourself daily, take up your cross and follow him. (Luke 9:23) That is what it takes to be a true follower of Christ. That's what a deep relationship with Jesus would feel like. Unsafe. Unstable. Uncomfortable.

And that's probably why most teens (and quite a few adults for that matter) have such a hard time with the idea of discipleship. If only their was a way to stay on the surface and still receive that coveted relationship that God wants us to have with His Son Jesus.

There isn't. To live on the surface is to be separated from God and all His glory.

In Revelations 3:16 it says "So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you from my mouth."

We aren't allowed to sit on the fence. We aren't allowed to be just an enthusiastic fan of Jesus.

Jesus wants followers. Jesus wants us in the deep end. Jesus lived, died, and rose from the dead so that we might have a life with Him in Heaven.

This is our calling. This is what we were made for.

And yet, regardless of the mission, do I think that Jesus and his disciples would have stopped along the way to have some Dairy Queen?

Yes. I do believe their is ice cream in the deep end.

The world's toughest egg hunt

Two days after Easter and all the fake plastic eggs have been found. All the left over ham has been eaten. And all the family has gone home. It's like after Christmas but without the mountain of used wrapping paper sitting in the corner of the living room.

This year Megan (my wife) and I went home to my side of the family for Easter. It was quite the celebration. I say this because we had an egg hunt out in the back yard. This wasn't just any egg hunt. This was the world's toughest Easter egg hunt! (Queue dramatic theme music and drop the house lights!)

My soon-to-be sister-in-law Danielle hid over 60 eggs! And boy did she know where to hide them! I've been finding eggs in my backyard every Easter for as long as I can remember, and she had us all stumped. If there was a scale of toughness this hunt would rank as a 9.

She hid them up in the rain gutters.

She hid them under loose siding on the house.

She buried them in the ground.

Yes, Danielle sure knew how to challenge a 4-year-old. (In her defense us older "kids" couldn't find them either) Toughness aside, we had a great time looking for them.

I wonder... if Jesus came back and decided to just hang out amongst his followers before revealing who he was, be a fly on the wall during our Easter celebrations...I wonder if he'd think we all missed the point? He'd probably laugh at our egg hunts, baskets filled with chocolate bunnies, and all the rest of the mementos that commercialize the most important date on the Christian calendar.

Now that's not to say we all suck at celebrating Easter. To be honest, I'm not really sure how one would go about celebrating Easter any differently. You go to church, then gather with family, eat a meal together and say a prayer because Jesus rose from the dead after dying for our sins on the cross. What more would Jesus have us do?

I sat down earlier today and wrote some ideas down. Here are some things you maybe could do in order to celebrate Easter in a more Christ-like way:

1. Put on a reenactment of Jesus' resurrection in your backyard for all the neighbors to watch. (from their windows with binoculars)

2. Walk around the block singing Easter carols. (why is this ok at Christmas but unheard of at Easter?)

3. Put on a dramatic reading of the bible at your local coffee shop. (read everything after the Gospels)

4. Your church could do communion like an egg hunt where the ushers hide plastic eggs filled with bread and wine all over the sanctuary, the church offices, and the parking lot. "Who's ready to receive the body and blood of Christ?! Ready, set, GO!"

5. You could get David Blaine to guest star at your church and attempt to break out of a sealed tomb! (the point here is for Mr. Blaine to fail you see...because we can't have David Blaine upstaging Jesus on Easter)

These are just a few ideas that MY family have tried. Feel free to create your own! Happy Easter!

Jesus and my femur

I recently got back from my first "adult snowboarding trip" last week in over three years. (Because I'm always going with the church as a "responsible adult") Was I super excited that I didn't have to worry about anyone but myself for a change? Yes indeed.

So what happens? I collide with an 11-year-old boy on the last day and break my femur in my left left. The femur is the biggest bone in the body and arguably the toughest one to break. But as luck would have it, I defied the odds and snapped it clean in half.

This puts me on crutches for the next 6-8 weeks with months of physical therapy to follow. The best way to describe what I'm feeling? Helpless. Weak. Dependant. I HATE the feeling of not being able to do something on my own. I can't even put my socks on by myself! Luckily, I have a lovely wife that happily does this for me each morning. I think it's in our human nature to feel this way sometimes, frustrated that we need others to do things for us.

It makes me think about dependence. It makes me think about how much we either do or don't depend on others to help get us through the day.

It makes me think about how much we depend on God every day of our lives for things. These things are often asked for in prayer. We ask for forgiveness, healing, wisdom, patience, strength, and a whole bunch of other things. We depend on God so much for so many things.

And that's exactly how God wanted it to be.

Jesus explains this in John 15:5
"I am the vine and your are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Jesus is saying that if we don't have a real relationship with Him, then this time here on earth isn't going to amount to much. You can't do anything worthwhile without Him.

So if you're trying to get through your days by simply believing in yourself, believing that you alone can handle anything and everything this life can throw at you, then I would say you are mistaken. We as mere humans can't possibly take on everything by ourselves. We simply weren't designed to be that strong. But through a relationship with Jesus Christ we are able to withstand anything. God is now the one taking the weight of this world on His shoulders so you don't have to.

Phillipians 4:13
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

I pray that you too will see how being absolutely dependent on God for everything in your life is exactly the way He planned it. Now if only He could send me a pair of rocket-powered crutches...

Markonius L. Richards IV~

Jesus is like breakfast

I love breakfast. Specifically, cold cereal. I loved cereal so much growing up that my brothers and I had these lists taped inside the cupboard that we kept it in so that my mom would know what to buy us. I once ate an entire box of cinnamon toast crunch, or CTC as I like to call it, in one sitting. Every single solitary morning I would get up, do my paper route, eat my box of cereal and be ready for the day. I couldn’t imagine life without breakfast every morning.

Did you know that eating something in the morning actually kick starts your metabolism, making it easier for your body throughout the day to work off all the other foods you consume. Eating breakfast is like giving your metabolism a wake up call so that it can have a long, super productive day of burning off the fats your body takes in.

Studies from Tufts University and Harvard University even show us that most (78%) kids who eat breakfast regularly do better in school. They have an easier time focusing in class, they feel less tired, less irritable. Because who thinks taking a test on an empty stomach is hard?! Of course it’s harder! Your stomach is empty!

And this is exactly why I think Jesus is like breakfast. I didn’t always feel this way about Jesus though. Yet, He is more part of my everyday routine now than cereal ever was. Back when I was in high school, I always felt “fed” physically, but never spiritually.

Here is my point: our souls were designed to need nourishment, just like are bodies were designed to need food and water. I ate my weight in cereal every morning, but did nothing to curb my hunger for God.

I know what you’re all thinking, “what does a hunger for God feel like?! I’m not sure if I get those kinds of hunger pangs.”

Some of you may have heard the saying that there is a God-shaped hole in all of us? This is what I’m talking about. We were created to need God in our lives. We were created for a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The meaning of life, here it is….to glorify God! It’s that simple. God created us for His enjoyment. And in return for our praise and devotion, God promises us eternal life with Him up in Heaven! Mind-blowing stuff right?!

Just like eating breakfast in the morning helps fill the void in our stomachs, a relationship with Jesus Christ fills that void in our souls. We just need to remember to feed this need, everyday.

Jesus would've had a smartphone

I was recently forwarded a video made by AT&T about the dangers of texting while driving. I MAY have had to blow my nose once or twice while watching this. But in my defense, I was eating left over spicy Thai food. Please share this with anyone you think would be willing to watch.




Markonius~

Dear January, where did you go?

2011 is now officially well under way. January apparently decided to just come and go without even the slightest thought as to whether or not we'd like it to stick around longer. (although as I type this the temp outside is -10 with a wind chill of -30) On a day like today, I'm glad January is over. Spring can't come soon enough!

This gets me thinking that sometimes we get so caught up in the busyness of everything that we forget to stop and just enjoy the moment while we're in it. When people (like myself) say things like "I just don't know where the time went!" it would lead me to believe that these folks have a hard time relishing in the moments that God has given us. When was the last time you just stopped everything and sat in the moment? When was the last time you were so self-aware that you stopped and said to yourself, "This is exactly where I need to be, and I'm loving this!"

In 2 Peter we are told that to the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. This puts things in perspective from God's point of view. Our earthly view of time is pretty narrow compared to God's view of things.

Keeping in mind that our time on earth here is fairly limited compared to what God has in mind (eternity in heaven with Him) I think He would want us to take in every moment here on earth. Now I'm NOT saying "life's short, live fast, die young, etc. etc." What I AM saying is we should learn to live each moment with the awareness that it is a gift from God. And when we finally stop and find ourselves in that moment where everything is absolutely perfect, we can pray "Thank you God for your presence in my life."