Here at WWU, it's the dawn of a new quarter. People are getting textbooks in the mail, talking about what classes they'll be in, and since it's Spring the number of old cyclists in really tight spandex pants has quintupled. Interestingly enough, though, in this time of new beginnings, I find myself compelled to take a look back for a bit.
For those who don't know, I just returned from a week long outreach/mission trip down to Central California. This trip, like similar ones which I have taken before, dramatically changed who I am, and had a significant impact on how I view God. As I head into this next academic session, though, I've been finding it harder and harder to remember all the amazing things which transpired over the course of this expedition.
Thus, this post has come into existence. Below you'll find a chronicling of all of the momentous events which I can remember from the trip. Along with everything here, there were plenty of laughs, about 36 hours of driving, and amazing movements of God that I had no part in but happened none the less. When you get 27 people together to serve Him, things tend to go down. Please know, I don't share any of this to puff myself up, only to boast in what God did over the course of my down in California. So, without any further delay, I invite you to read, in no particular order, as much or as little as you would like of what God did one Spring break to one undeserving but incredibly grateful college student.
This One Time, at Prophesy Camp...
The ministry we were working with in California has a rep for being very active in the Holy Spirit. To elaborate a little, this group has a connection with a certain aspect of God's person who is known for doing things in pretty exciting and dramatic ways. Healings, words of knowledge, deliverances from the demonic, this isn't so much freaky scary stuff for them, it just happens (if you have questions about these things, please ask me, I know some of this can sound kind of weird, and I would love to talk more about it).
In particular, I was introduced to prophecy is some fairly exciting ways over the course of this trip. On one day in particular, are big 'ol group broke up into smaller chunks with the hope of praying for each other and listening for what it was God wanted to speak to that individual in the moment. I had never done this before, and understandably was a little bit, strike that, incredibly freaked out. I had heard, though, that it was helpful to look for a vision, some sort of image which God had for that person, and then share it. So I gave it a shot. My friend Michelle was up first, and so I started praying for an image which God would give me and I could then interpret to encourage her. Do you want to know what amazing word of strength I got to share?
"I see you sitting at a table..."
And I said it just as awkward as it sounds. Praise God for Michelle, though, who received my prophetic ineptitude with such grace. Michelle's response allowed me to press in more and continue to seek how God wanted to speak to me. I found that, over the course of the rest of our prayer time, God apparently likes to speak to me through words, not so much images. Now I feel infinitely more confident listening to what God might have to say to encourage or challenge someone in a moment, and I'm so excited to see how God is going to use this growth.
Ask and You Shall Receive...Chains for Your Tires
This is a short but beautiful one. On our return trip, the pass out of California was at a point that chains were required to even try to get through. Guess what we didn't have for any of our cars! We went to a Les Schwab, and they were completely sold out. In their kindness, though, they pointed us to a Sears around the corner. At the Sears, the automotive guy told us that he had already turned away about 40 people, but he would check his stock anyway. In that moment, I felt compelled to pray. Nothing fancy, just a simple "God, would you please give us favor in this moment." The second I finished praying, the man looks up and says:
"Wait, what size were the tires on that Corolla again? Yeah, I think I have those."
We got the last set he had.
Shocking News! God Helps us be Encouraging
On our second day of campus outreach, we found ourselves at Medesto Junior College. On the way out to the school, I had been praying for a word of encouragement to give to the crew for that day. I felt like God was telling me that the Freshmen were going to do something particularly special during our time at MJC. I shared this with the group, not really knowing what to expect.
Later that day, I found out that one of our freshmen had led two people to commit their lives to Christ, and another had been baptized in the Holy Spirit, a huge event for her. I don't think I can really express in a way I am familiar with how encouraging it was to be able to be used by God to help others grow closer to Him.
Oh, and one more thing on the guy who led people to the Lord. Earlier that day in our team devotional, that very same person asked what we should do if we found ourselves in a conversation after which someone wanted to commit their lives to Jesus. What!?
Just Dance, It'll be OK, da doo da doo doo
During one of our worship times, one of our team members was dancing around, as is her way. Over the course of worship, she twisted her ankle. She then asked one of the California students we were serving with for some ice. Instead, he gave her some prayer. She was immediately back up dancing around without any trace of pain.
Rockin' Your Socks From Day -12
Before our trip even got going, several people who I trust almost implicitly in regards to how they hear from God were talking to me about how one individual on our team was going to be particularly impacted. Every time a team goes to Stanislaus, there has always been one person who has been really, dramatically changed, and there people were filling out their brackets for this year (admittedly, the bracket only had one spot).
On the drive down, I got to be in the car with this particular brother for some time. Our group got around to sharing our testimonies with each other. After sharing mine, my brother told me that he was really encouraged by my willingness to share all that God had done in my life (there are some pretty intense things, ask me sometime if you want to hear more). What followed over the next few days can only be described as amazing. On the first night of the trip this man shared with the other guys on our team some personal details he had never really shared before, something which was incredibly freeing for him. What followed was a week of this guy stepping out in new and astounding ways, constantly wowing me with how faithful and bold he was in his service to the Lord.
So congrats all of you who picked that one right. As a prize, you win this cup of coffee I just finished. All of you have to split it.
The Most Beautiful Letdown
I had some hopes going into this trip. No, not hopes, I had expectations. Earlier in the year (around fall quarter), I felt led to go out and do some public preaching. In a strange explosion of clarity, I even heard pretty plainly what it is that I was supposed to say. It was also made clear that I wasn't supposed to do it right then and there. Rather, I was supposed to do one of those "wait for an appointed time" type things. It didn't work out for me to do this Fall or Winter quarter. I wasn't too bummed though, I figured that California is one of those places that has all of this "sun" nonsense, so I'll just do it there.
It rained almost the entire time we were out and about on campuses.
At first, I was incredibly disappointed. This was something I had been looking forward to for months, and then it didn't happen. I got a very simply, very encouraging word, however, in one of my prayer times.
"Why do you have to do it here?"
This one phrase taught me more than I think I have even processed yet. Too often, I get excited about doing something, and then immediately develop a plan for how that something will play out. When that plan in turn goes awry, as it is wont to do, it is easy for me to start beating myself up because the one thing I was looking for didn't happen. What I have learned, though, is that if we focus too much on what we expect to happen, we forget about everything else that went on, and we run the risk of missing out on all that God wants us to see that we might not even be looking for.
I think it's fitting that the above would be my last story for now. All in all, the thing I learned most from this trip was that God works in ways we can't even imagine. He's weird, He's surprising, and sometimes a little bit scary. But in every single one of those moments, we must never forget that He is also Love, in its fullest.
With His love and grace,
Taylor
P.S. If any of these things sparked your interest, I would love to talk about the trip (and anything else) more. Come find me.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Everything Old is Still Old
But that doesn't necessarily mean that it's all bad.
For those of you who might not be aware, the traditional Church calendar has recently entered into a very particular time. Known as Lent, it is a period of fasting from certain things for the purpose of reflecting and relating to Jesus' time of fasting in the desert (I'm a bit spotty on the liturgy here, so if I'm wrong feel free to call me on it). This time is special not just because of what it calls us to reflect on, or even what it leads up to (that being Easter). Rather, I think this is one of the very few times in which we modern drum-playing laser-using Christians let high Church liturgy have something to do with our faith.
I find I generally have a fairly negative attitude towards liturgy. I find it to be something which is difficult to understand, and I feel it inhibits people from engaging in worship. I won't claim that my opinion is the same as everyone's (the world would be terrifying if everyone's brain worked like mine), but in this particular instance I feel I have a lot in common with a decent chunk of at least the American culture, be it Christian or otherwise.
So why do I let Lent sneak in the back door? If I'm so opposed to liturgy, an opposition which I communicate fairly readily, why am I not playing video games or buying things from vending machines for the next month or so?
In some people's opinions, I was right to begin with. I'm hearing more and more that some more nascent movements within the Church are arguing that the practice of Lent, and in some cases fasting in general, is no longer necessary. Fasting and other liturgical practices are seen as being distractions from the grace which God has shown us, and thus need to be abandoned, lest we be caught up in a faith which is too focused on works and not focused enough on God.
I've heard a theory presented recently, though, that challenges the above idea in what I think is a pretty profound way. As articulated in a recent Relevant magazine article relating to Lent, the author asserts that Lent can be a way of "loving God in unnecessary, unrequired ways." To him, "that's good religion."
Thinking on this article, I feel that the whole notion of fasting being an unnecessary display begs an important question. Why does something being "necessary" matter? Faith in Christ was never meant to be some list of things to be checked off so that we can consider ourselves "done" in the great metaphysical sense. Our spiritual lives aren't some proverbial tofurducken; they can't be over-seasoned, in my opinion.
I think it is a very good thing to identify essential doctrines of Christianity, such as grace. I don't think it is ever a bad thing to delve deeper into this particular world-changing aspect of God's love. However, when we start axing everything that isn't sitting around thinking on how great God's grace is, we miss out on a lot of great ways in which we can respond to God's love creatively. In light of this, I say we begin exploring some of those weird old things that are generally lumped into the term "liturgy". Sure, they might be old, and they might not make sense, but professors tend to be the same way a lot of the time. The key thing that both of these have in common is that they almost always have something to teach us.
With His love and grace,
Taylor
For those of you who might not be aware, the traditional Church calendar has recently entered into a very particular time. Known as Lent, it is a period of fasting from certain things for the purpose of reflecting and relating to Jesus' time of fasting in the desert (I'm a bit spotty on the liturgy here, so if I'm wrong feel free to call me on it). This time is special not just because of what it calls us to reflect on, or even what it leads up to (that being Easter). Rather, I think this is one of the very few times in which we modern drum-playing laser-using Christians let high Church liturgy have something to do with our faith.
I find I generally have a fairly negative attitude towards liturgy. I find it to be something which is difficult to understand, and I feel it inhibits people from engaging in worship. I won't claim that my opinion is the same as everyone's (the world would be terrifying if everyone's brain worked like mine), but in this particular instance I feel I have a lot in common with a decent chunk of at least the American culture, be it Christian or otherwise.
So why do I let Lent sneak in the back door? If I'm so opposed to liturgy, an opposition which I communicate fairly readily, why am I not playing video games or buying things from vending machines for the next month or so?
In some people's opinions, I was right to begin with. I'm hearing more and more that some more nascent movements within the Church are arguing that the practice of Lent, and in some cases fasting in general, is no longer necessary. Fasting and other liturgical practices are seen as being distractions from the grace which God has shown us, and thus need to be abandoned, lest we be caught up in a faith which is too focused on works and not focused enough on God.
I've heard a theory presented recently, though, that challenges the above idea in what I think is a pretty profound way. As articulated in a recent Relevant magazine article relating to Lent, the author asserts that Lent can be a way of "loving God in unnecessary, unrequired ways." To him, "that's good religion."
Thinking on this article, I feel that the whole notion of fasting being an unnecessary display begs an important question. Why does something being "necessary" matter? Faith in Christ was never meant to be some list of things to be checked off so that we can consider ourselves "done" in the great metaphysical sense. Our spiritual lives aren't some proverbial tofurducken; they can't be over-seasoned, in my opinion.
I think it is a very good thing to identify essential doctrines of Christianity, such as grace. I don't think it is ever a bad thing to delve deeper into this particular world-changing aspect of God's love. However, when we start axing everything that isn't sitting around thinking on how great God's grace is, we miss out on a lot of great ways in which we can respond to God's love creatively. In light of this, I say we begin exploring some of those weird old things that are generally lumped into the term "liturgy". Sure, they might be old, and they might not make sense, but professors tend to be the same way a lot of the time. The key thing that both of these have in common is that they almost always have something to teach us.
With His love and grace,
Taylor
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