Empty

The good news is foolishness to those who are dying. Emptiness is a viewed as a flaw in our society. Bookstores are loaded with self help titles written to fill readers with purpose and meaning. No on wants to be empty. But it is the beautiful irony that emptiness brings us the fullness we long for. The empty tomb gives us all we really need. Our world tells us we need numerous things to be happy, but the one true thing we need is found in the empty tomb.

"He is risen" and in that simple phrase we have every aspect of emptiness in our life filled. We have purpose, value, hope love... If you don't get this you are probably dead spiritually. The good news of Easter is that you can be alive and reconnected to God through Christ. Empty your self and let Him fill you. Happy Easter.

REMEMBERING

I bit the bullet. I'm now on facebook. It has been interesting catching up with some old friends from high school. It has brought back some memories that time had sanded over. When it comes to remembering, I think there is one most important thing we can do on a daily basis. Remember our imperfection. Remember that we are not judge or jury of others. Remember that we are not perfect and neither are the things we produce. No, we are sinners. All of us. And the best thing we can do is remember that we need a Savior. We need the kindness and love offered only by God, through his Son, Jesus Christ. If God had a facebook page, How many friends do you think he'd have? He gives the us the prerequisite for being his friend. John 15:14 says, "You are my friends if you do what I command." It really comes down to this: DO WE LOVE? On facebook you can suggest friends for one another. That's the challenge. How many people cant we point to God.

WHAT'S GOING RIGHT

What is going right for you? Inspired by the people that make the Trigger video series, we posed that question to our students and asked them to write their answers on post its.
It is a simple question, but difficult to keep front and center in our minds. Somewhere I have heard or read that it takes six or seven positives to overcome a negative. (Psychologically not mathematically) The bad stuff sticks with us. I think that is why accepting the forgiveness of Christ is so hard. It is foreign to our human nature. We like to dwell on things that we can't change or reverse. It makes sense that the Bible tells us that we are "transformed by the renewing of our minds." We need to continually pour in God's stuff to clean

out the sticky bad stuff. How? 1. Give thanks in all situations. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Giving thanks reminds us we are not in control and the one who is loves us and blesses us like crazy. 2. Apply Philippians 4:8 to your life. It says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." This is where the transforming and renewing happens! So What is going right? Make a list, you'll be surprised how much is.

POWER OF PRAYER AND GUILT

We had our final INDULGE of the school year last night. If you are not hip to it, Indulge is a monthly party for high school students at Cokesbury in Knoxville. The original intent was to give students a place just to hang out and to be an outreach to the community. We have learned a few things along the way, but last night I was reminded of how God is using everything in our ministry. One student started coming to indulge last fall, but quickly plugged into Sunday mornings too. One of his Sunday School teachers was working the front gate last night and asked him how a situation was that he had asked his class to prayer for the previous week. He was a little surprised because he forgot about asking the group for his request, and he was a little blown away when he thought about how much better his week had been. Chalk it up as a lesson in the power of prayer and the care of our youth workers. Good job Alsyssa! The second thing that had God all over it was when a student was on their way out and asked for prayer for their father who has been ill. There seemed to be much more to the situation, but as the kid wept there came an apology for not being at church much lately. It was almost as though they thought that their absence had brought about the sickness. Guilt is a powerful thing too. Satan likes it that way because it keeps us stuck in the mire of failure and hopelessness. Please remember this: There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. That means God is our only judge and through the forgiveness and righteousness we have in Christ, we can approach God at any time and talk to Him about anything!

COUNTDOWNS

I have spent a large portion of the last week consumed with countdowns. (cue the music- band=Euorpe, sound= The Final Countdown) We were trying to put a 24 hour countdown on the screen for our 24/7 event last weekend to let kids know how much time was left. Ever-able Carter figured one out, but it wasn't good enough for me because I wanted our logo on it. I enjoy marketing and advertising and branding is important to me. I tried lots of things and finally figured it out. Consequently I put a countdown on our Ground Zero Design Blog (it is private, sorry) and have been wondering how else to use them.

We live in a countdown. From birth we are counting down to death. The earth growns (counts down) for the return of Christ. Unfortunately we can't see the numbers. Nobody knows the day or the hour of Christ's return or of our own death. But we are told to be ready. That means we should let our brand be seen. We represent Christ. We are sons and daughters of God. Let the world know it.

ALWAYS FOOLS DAY

1 Corinthians 4:10
We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!

Romans1:22-23
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Most often foolishness is paired with wisdom in Scripture. What is interesting is that Romans tells us that when we claim to be wise, then we are fools. I don't think the opposite is true. There is no wisdom in proclaiming foolishness. But there is wisdom in knowing that we are very very small in the span of all things eternal. Despite our minute stature, God finds us worthy of redemption and offers undying love to us. When we accept that we are on the road to wisdom. Then we learn to be fools for Christ, following in faith when the world would say we were blind. The cross is foolish to the lost. But it is our only hope. It is power over death, sin, and satan. It is foolish to think that we control our own destiny. Wisdom trusts in God and leans not on our own understanding. We are always fools to the lost. Happy April 1st.