January 14, 2012 in Bible Study by Ben

Job – Part 2

Job chapter 2 finds Job in a similar predicament that chapter one did. God’s in heaven, Satan comes before him, God mentions how great Job is and how he “still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” Satan is a wily devil – he likes to test people and make them turn their backs on God and so he claims to God that “a man will give all he has for his own life.” In other words Satan is convinced that the only reason Job is still blameless before God is because he still had his health. God gives Satan permission to do what he wants to Job AS LONG AS his life is spared. Things have just gone from bad to worse.

If you remember in Job 1, Job lost a ton of stuff – animals, servants, and family. He shaved his head and is sitting naked worshiping God. This torment isn’t enough for Satan and he now comes and afflicts Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Job takes a piece of broken pottery in order to….scrape himself as he sits among the ashes. Ouch! It seems that the pain of scraping himself somehow lessened the pain of the sores and he does this while sitting in ashes. Pretty soon, a new character comes into the picture (and we’re going to meet a few more in a minute) – his wife! She looks at him and tells hims to curse God and die!! What a support! He answers by telling him that she’s foolish because “should we accept good from God, and not trouble?” There he goes again: God gives and takes away, he gives us good and trouble!”

Job’s wife wasn’t the only one around though, he had three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. When they heard about the troubles Job was having, they had a pow-wow and thought it would be nice go to comfort and sympathize with Job. They all traveled together to where Job was but when they saw him, they couldn’t hardly recognize him. They were really good friends of Job and when they saw how bad Job was, they began to cry, tear their robes, and sprinkled dust on their heads! On a side note, these old testament people tore their robes as a sign of shame, humility, and sadness (I can almost picture Hulk Hogan ripping of his shirt whenever I read about them tearing their robes. Don’t know if it’s accurate, but…). These buddies of Job’s sat down on the ground with him for seven days and nights and didn’t say a word cause they could see how much he was suffering.

There’s more to come! Stay tuned for what happens next!

January 13, 2012 in Bible Study by Ben

Job – The Beginning

The story begins in the land of Uz (not Oz, and there isn’t a wizard…) where a man name Job lives. He has ten kids (seven of them boys!) and owns 8,300 animals and a “large number” of servants. Let’s face it – Job was loaded. He was wealthy, had land, and was considered the greatest man among all the people of the East. He was the Bill Gates of Uz and he lived life in luxury. His sons had feasts and invited their sisters to eat and drink and I bet those parties were tons of fun!! Here’s the thing about Job though. He had all this stuff, but he had something way more important – a relationship with God.

Job is described as being “blameless and upright, he feared God and shunned evil;” and these parties that happened? When they were over he sent his kids off to be purified and early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for them “just in case.” Scripture doesn’t specify if Job was at these parties, but he got up early the day after to make sure that they were right before God and went out of his way to set a godly example for them. Remember though, this is just the start of the story – not everything stays all roses and fun.

-Satan enters-
God: Where did you come from?
Satan: I’ve been hanging around the world, sight-seeing and staying out of trouble *snicker*
God: Oh! Did you see my servant Job? He rocks! He is blameless and upright and he shuns you..err….evil!
Satan: Of course he’s that way. You’ve given him everything and blessed his socks off. I betcha if you took it all away, he’d curse you to your face.
God: It’s a bet. Everything he has is in your hands, but don’t touch him (or there will be trouble).
-Satan leaves-

Did you catch that (don’t mind the liberties, it’s just my modernization)? Satan and God have made a little wager on Job and we’re going to see what happens; Job’s life is about to turned upside-down in a crazy way. One day when Job’s kids are feasting and drinking a messenger came and told Job that Sabeans attacked and carried off the oxen and donkeys and killed all the servants (I’m the only one who escaped)! While he was speaking another rushed in a told him fire from heaven came and killed all the sheep and servants (I’m the only one who escaped)! While HE was speaking another came and said the Chaldeans took all the camels and killed all the servants (except me, I escaped)! This happened one more time (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?) This time the servant said that a big wind came in from the desert and collapsed the house that all of his kids were partying in (and I’m the only one who made it out)!

I’m not making this stuff up! In one foul swoop, Job lost a ton of animals, servants, and his kids (he does have four servants left, however). Does this make Job curse God? Nope. “Wait” you’re thinking, “how can he not scream at God for all this?” Well, he doesn’t. Do you want to know what he does? He shaves his head, tears his robes and falls to the ground…cursing? NO!!!! HE STINKING WORSHIPS!!! He worships God and says “the Lord gives and takes away, may the name of the Lord be praised!”

Go ahead and begin to breath again. Pick up your jaw from the floor. Job recognizes that God is in charge of everything and whatever He wants to do is fine. Job just lost it all (well, most…) but he doesn’t blame God. Round 1 goes to Job and God!

January 12, 2012 in Ministries by Ben

Find HIS Vision

One thing I’ve really been trying to figure out when it comes to Youth Ministry is focus. The programs that we run including those on Wednesday nights, Sunday mornings and any other special events we do need to have a purpose and a clear focus. The youth team that I have the pleasure of working with have been looking at and evaluating what the purpose is for what we are doing. The idea is to define two main things:

1. Who are we trying to reach?
2. What are we trying to accomplish?

I’ve recently been reading “The Purpose Driven Youth Ministry” by Doug Fields and he writes that there are five things every ministry should be about: evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, worship, and ministry. In addition, there are five groups of kids that can have our focus: community, crowd, congregation, committed and core. After some reading the definitions of each and trying to identify those elements in our community and church, our team is drawing to the conclusion that our ministry isn’t being as effective as possible because we aren’t focused. We try to do too much in any one gathering and the things that we offer are just variations on a theme. We are spinning our wheels in the mud and that only results in deeper ruts.

We are on the right track. We’ve identified that there is a problem and are currently looking at what we can do to fix the problem. The next steps, however, are going to require patience and planning. We can’t make sweeping changes all at one, but rather they need to be gradual and baby steps towards our goals and ideas on what we can do to be more effective. Until then, we need to be in prayer asking God for direction, ideas, and vision. If we aren’t in line with God’s will for this youth community, we will do nothing but stand in the way. Please pray for our youth and the youth all over that don’t know the hope of Christ. We are called to be lights to the world and we’re working on how to make that light shine as bright as it can.

January 9, 2012 in Sports by Ben

The End of the Road

Well, it’s over. The Steelers’ football season has come to a screeching halt. It’s really not any surprise seeing as how they were coming into playoffs injured and beat up. Big Ben was playing the last few games of the season with a sprained ankle (and for what reason?) Woodley had been hurt and Clark couldn’t play because of his blood condition, Mendenhall was out for the season, and Pouncey was a no-go. Bruce Arians is an awful play-caller and lacks imagination when he gets closer to the goal line. To see Keisel and Hampton go down in the game just added insult to injury as the battered Steelers lost to a Denver team that had no business winning that game. They pulled it off, and my congrats go out to them. The better team won yesterday. You won’t hear whining from me about refs losing the game for us, my respect goes out to the Broncos.

To put how I feel into words will be to quote any Browns fan I know…”There’s always next year!” Go Steelers!!!

January 6, 2012 in Deep Thoughts by Ben

God WILL supply

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

What do you think of when you read that? That is the question I am asking myself everyday. It had been a difficult ending to 2011, and it seems that 2012 will just be even more difficult. We are living paycheck to paycheck and while this is new to us, I know this isn’t new to many, many people all across the city, state, nation, and world. What is the answer though? The stress is tough, the sacrifices are plenty, and sometimes it seems that there is no hope. Then again…there’s that verse.

What is a need? Sometimes I hear kids (or adults) saying “I need” such-and-such but often times that NEED is simply a WANT. That’s something my dad taught me a long time ago that has stuck with me into adulthood – the difference between the two. There are many things that I really, REALLY want, but that verse doesn’t say God will supply all my wants, but simply my needs. I must say that so far, it has been true. It’s not necessarily fun, but it’s true.

What about you? When you think you are at the end of your ability to provide and make ends meet do you find that God somehow comes through? Call it charity from family or friends, call it a break in your insurance, call it extra hours at work, and call it whatever else you want to, but Paul said it all when he wrote that verse. Do you see it holding true in your life?

January 2, 2012 in Sports by Ben

Steelers Football

I love myself the Steelers and I had the awesome opportunity to go to the Pittsburgh vs Cleveland game on New Year’s Day! A co-worker of my wife’s had some extra tickets, and she and her husband offered them to us at their office Christmas party. It was really nice of them (thanks Chris & Beth!) and I had a great time…in the wind tunnel, in the freezing cold. Rain turned into snow and the stadium turned into a giant snow globe. It was really tons of fun, and even though Jackie didn’t go (she was tired and didn’t want to sit out in the cold) I went with a friend and co-worker (of hers) and sat in the Dawg-pound with a bunch of Browns fans.

One thing that I find sad is the state of mind that some people at the stadium were in. Whether it be the booze or just their award-winning personalities, I found myself simply walking up the stairs to get to my seat amidst people swearing at me and calling me names simply because I was a Steelers fan. That didn’t deter me though, I still rooted for my Steelers; I cheered when they did well and I booed when they messed up or let the Browns do something good. Nothing was going to stop me from enjoying my time. I just can’t figure out why people think that their preferences are all that matters.

I hope you all had a great New Year!!!

January 2, 2012 in Deep Thoughts by Ben

Happy New Year!

2012 is finally here and it’s going to be a crazy year for me and my family. Before I go to far looking ahead, let’s take one quick moment to reflect on the past year. 2011 was a year full of change and challenges and it’s only just begun.

June 2011 was my last time I woke up at 5:30 to get ready to go teach classrooms full of students and as I walked into the classroom for the last time, I knew I was going to miss all those students I had seen and had over the last five years as a teacher. The relationships that were built, the fun that we had, and the music that we made (or tried to) were going to be behind me soon. After much consideration and prayer, I had decided that it was time for me to acknowledge God’s call in my life to ministry. I was going to step out of the comfort of a full-time job and begin studying and working through a Ministerial Studies Program (referred to as MSP). It’s a go-at-your-own-pace type of program and the goal was to finish it in a year.

The summer brought some new challenges of it’s own – trying to stay focused despite YAC (Youth Adventure Camp), and family vacation (without a lot of success) and my wife and I taking over our Youth Ministry program at our church. It was quite the adjustment for the kids as they got used to their 3rd youth leader in just as many years with new ideas, plans, and organization styles as well as an adjustment for us to figure out what we were actually doing!!

August rolled around and while it was exciting not to be going back to teach, we began feeling the pressure of only one income and I had to begin the search for a job. God provided a part-time job at Macy’s for the Christmas season (and it runs through the first week of January) and it’s been a very tough challenge to keep that up with MSP work while working, planning youth gatherings, and practicing with the worship team at church.

The big news at the end of the last quarter of the year is that my wife and I are expecting our first due in April! We are so excited, but I feel even more overwhelmed with trying to provide some extra income, get ready for the little man, complete my course-work on schedule, and focus on doing my best in both the worship ministry and youth ministry that I’m a part of and help lead. I know that God has called me into ministry, and that He will provide for me, but it’s tough to remember that sometimes.

I also decided that I was going to “re-launch” this blog. Different look, different purpose and hopefully it’s something I’ll stick with a little better. 2012 is going to be a fantastic year! I am anticipating what God is going to do. I’ll see you around!