McDonald Theology

Recently, I was standing around in the lobby of a McDonalds waiting for my food to get done. I typically try to avoid the greasy aroma of oil drenched fries, but on this particular day, I had an urge for a cheap McChicken sandwich and so I went in. As I stood there, I overhead someone behind me talking to another person. They were telling the other person the salvation story. And they were doing it in a way that was natural, listening to the other person, hearing what they had to say, and then responding. I began to pray that God would use the encounter to bring someone to himself and continued to pray. When I realized that my number had been called (Probably several times) I quickly grabbed my food and moved past the people that were engaged in the salvific conversation to the almighty diet coke machine (most people just call it a fountain drink machine). I continued my conversation with God and continued to pray for this man's salvation. I sat down and at my McChicken sandwich and contemplated on the spiritual reality of our American churches today. Here are some of my contemplations. Some are not so deep. Some are often talked about. Others are untested.





The American church is alot like me and going to McDonalds that day when it comes to evangelism. We have a deep desire to see evangelism take place and we have a deep desire to see people come to Christ, but the reality is, when we are in the situation, we are more than happy to sit back and let someone else do it. This is obvious by the amount of money that we send different places, but the lack of people that GO! There are several students that I have worked with the last couple few years that are going, but what if we just said from an early age in Christ that we would go, whether across the street or to Africa, we would go? Instead, we get caught up in getting our Chicken sandwich and Diet Coke that our world offers us. We focus on getting to college, getting a "good" job, marrying well, and beginning a family...And reality is, we compartimentalize that thing that we call "faith" in Christ Jesus.



I love when students come into my office and they say, "I don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life and I don't know where I want to go to college." And maybe it's a fault of mine, but my counsel to them has been, "Serve hard somewhere after high school. Seek God's face. and then Go to college when you know what he wants you to do!"



This is semi countercultural and maybe out to lunch, but I truly believe that this generation has an intense desire to serve and seek God...And just giving them permission to do that is all that they need to connect the dots of faith!



Father, check my motives. Let me live for you and not for a chicken sandwich. Amen.

Watching Growth

Recently, I realized that no matter how hard I try to make plants grow, they die. When I try to make grass grow, it lives. Some things I can keep alive and other things just die when I touch them. One of the coolest things to watch is grass grow. I overseeded recently and every day, at least once a day, you can find me out at the corner of my yard looking at the almost-microscopic pieces of tiny green blades pushing through the muddy ground. I love watching grass grow. And I love watching people grow. This has been a passion of mine for a long time.

This summer, I had the tremendous opportunity to work with 3 interns and one intern director. At the beginning of the summer, we got together and set some goals. We talked through the summer and how we wanted it to look. This summer, I have seen incredible growth in each of the interns. In their walk with Jesus, in their ministry experience, in their relationships with students. God is good. He is incredible when it comes to growing people. I bet God sits in the corner of his yard and watches the tiny green blades of grass popping through the rough dirt as he continues the daily relationship with his creation that he calls humanity!

God, grow me. Use me. Mold me. Shape me. Amen.

Jesus' words are countercultural.

I see many students that I work with desire to be countercultural in so many ways. The way that they dress...The way that they talk....who they hang out with, what movies they watch, what they decide is "cool." It's all to be countercultural...To have their own identity. And then as I look through scripture, I realize that Jesus is incredibly countercultural. He is as countercultural as they come. He says things that irritate everyone. He ruffles the feathers of all invovled. Why does he do it? He does it for the sake of his good news. He does it so that people might understand that they can be in relationships with the God of the universe through him and that there is power in his blood.

Matthew 5-7 is one section of scripture that I struggle with, maybe the most. I struggle with it, because as Christ followers, we are supposed to follow everything that he said and walk right in step with him. And yet, as I read through this section of scripture...I realize that we don't. My life would look radically different...so countercultural...if I were to live out the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 5-7. The funny thing is, I don't.

What if we were to follow Jesus teaching? Would we have questions anymore about how to be an "American" Christian...Or would Christianity be something that is looked at with disdain until the Holy Spirit worked in those hearts.

i want to be countercultural. Sell everything and give to the poor? Wow.

Father, let me learn your commands. Let me study your laws deeply. And let me not rationalize what you say.

Amen.

Capturing it.

Stories will be told for many years about Challenge 2008. It was a great week of seeking God's face and connecting with each other. God really showed our students who he was and they responded in utter dependence and worship to him. I was so impressed with the way that God moved in students' hearts and adults' hearts.

Now comes the capture portion of Challenge 2008. People made all kinds of comittments. God worked in many different ways in many different lives and now, we must come back and follow up well with kids so that they can continue to live out what they were convicted of at Challenge. In the fall, we begin our section of "intense spiritual growth" and our small group program will look radically different than it has in the past. There will be a series of questions that each small group will go through. These questions will be questions that will get the students talking and offer an element of accountability. Where there is high trust, there will be hard questions asked. We are moving towards a model of small group ministry where life change can occur because there are deep relationships. The large group will offer the large group momentum, but small groups will be where the relationships will be had and where we will see intense spiritual growth happen.

Small groups will be scary for some students because the questions that will be asked will open them up in ways that they have never experienced. They will feel exposed. They will feel vulnerable. But it is in these moments when the body of Christ can shine through and come around people to help them become Christlike.

I am so pumped about this fall and challenge follow up. Pray that God would continue to build the house so that the laborers don't labor in vain!

Amen.

-PC

Lord reign in me.

Starfield did a song this last week at Challenge that was inspiring to me...But it was also difficult for me to sing it. They sang a song called "Reign in Us." Some of the lyrics are "come purify our hearts, we need your touch. Come cleanse us like a flood and send us so the world may know you reign in us."

When I think of someone reigning, I often think of a king over a kingdom. When I heard this song, I couldn't help but picture myself as God's kingdom. But a Kingdom is completely under the rule of the king. So often, I am not under the control of the king. I am under the control of myself, the imposter. I want to do things on my own. God is the king of my life and I truly do want him to reign in me.

We are back from Challenge 2008. It was a great week of connecting deeply with God and connecting with others on the trip. It was exciting to be part of a group that went out one way and came back completely different. God worked in students' lives and adults lives'. He worked in my heart and mind and life. It was truly a Challenge to be remembered.

Lord, reign in me.

-Amen.