culture

Get some rest

Posted on December 9, 2011 by jon in culture, life, prayer | Leave a comment

Have you ever been worn out, tired, exhausted, etc?

Obvious answer there. But isn’t it interesting that so many times we take some time, get some rest, yet still feel exhausted? Ever been there? I have. My wife and I took a vacation recently. It was just the two of us – no kids. This rarely happens… meaning never.

We left feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, tired, and desperate for rest. While on our trip, we got some physical rest. We slept late (even though that means a totally different thing once you have three small children – can I get an amen from the parents out there?) and purposely put ourselves in situations of relaxation. No real agenda. No appointments or meetings. No time to have to be somewhere.

But within a day of getting back, the exhaustion set in again. It was soon like we’d never left. Why is that?

The answer, I think, lies within something I shared with our worship team at rehearsal on Wednesday night. We can get all of the physical rest in the world, but ultimately, we need rest for our souls. What does that look like? Let’s look to Jesus:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30

Easier said than done, huh?

There are a few parts to this, I think. First off, we have to “come to Jesus.” We have to approach Him in prayer, on our knees, seeking rest that comes only from Him. In addition, we must “learn from Jesus.” We have to let Jesus teach us through His Word. Spending daily time in the Bible is so crucial to the daily walk of someone who professes to be a follower of Jesus. For more on that, check out this post I wrote on reading your Bible.

But see, there’s another thing we have to address if we’re going to find rest for our souls – and it’s easy to glance over it in that Matthew text. The word is “burden.”

We’re all burdened by something most of the time. Family stuff, work stuff, friend stuff, etc. Some burdens are larger than others, but guess what? Jesus wants your burdens. In the previous passage, Jesus doesn’t ask – he tells us to bring our burdens to Him. And if we do, He will give us rest. For more about this, check out this bit of Psalm 55:

Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. – Psalm 55:22 (NASB)

So now, let’s get some rest. Jesus wants your burdens. You don’t want your burdens. Cast them on Him today. Right now. Stop what you’re doing (reading this, I’d assume) and cast your burdens on the Lord. You’ll never get rest for your soul unless you seek Jesus for it. Pray along with me here.

Lord, my burdens are heavy. I acknowledge that I need rest for my soul, but I can’t make that happen without You. Jesus, I lay all I am at Your feet, realizing that only in You can I find rest. Thank You, Jesus for removing my burdens from me right now. Help me to see this season of my life through, with my eyes fixed on You. In Jesus’ Name, AMEN.

God bless you.

Tis the season…

Posted on November 26, 2011 by jon in culture, random thoughts | Leave a comment

I’m about to make some people mad.

But I can’t take it anymore.

Black Friday. Let’s talk about it.

Last year, I wrote a brief post here on the blog about this but never posted it. I thought, maybe this is too much. It’s actually still sitting in my Drafts folder. But anyway…

Cue the violin. Yes, I want some cheese with my whine. Yadda yadda yadda.

I understand that people want to save money. I GET IT. Saving money is important. It’s essential for people like me. I understand the theory behind Black Friday. That is NOT what this post is about. I know many people who stood in lines on Thursday night to get good deals. If you did, I hope you got some great bargains and racked up on deals. That is, again, NOT what I’m talking about here. It’s about when this behavior becomes unhealthy, and actually dangerous.

Let me propose something to you. Let’s say, hypothetically, that a bunch of people go out (millions of them, at that), the very night following a day full of thanksgiving for the things and people in their lives. Their stomachs are full, but their desires for more – more stuff, more material possessions – are insatiable. These aren’t the casual shoppers who just want to get a good deal. These are the people who are willing to do ANYTHING to buy.

So they stand in lines at stores. They stand. They stand some more. They map out a plan of where they’re going first – what they’re BUYING first. They plot. They size up the competition. If you’ve ever been in one of these lines, you’ve seen these people.

Side note – at this point, we’ve got millions of people standing in line to see who can give their hard-earned money away to a company first and the fastest.

The doors open. Literally, all hell breaks loose. Innocent store employees who have been standing there nervously for hours are actually trampled. Pepper spray is used BY one shopper ON other shoppers – all entirely in an effort to spend money. To buy things. Things that will mean absolutely nothing to anyone in the near future. The people who just came to pick up one or two things are beaten into submission by the savage predators who wouldn’t even consider sparing your life for that USB flash drive for 99 cents.

Gunshots are fired. Seriously.

People are trampled. To death.

Lives are lost so that people can throw their money down the proverbial toilet.

As a Christian, this bothers me even more. Especially when I know that many of these people (dare I hazard to imply “the majority”) would profess to being followers of Jesus. To see people who treat the blessing God has given them so selfishly that they can have no regard for the very lives of others, literally makes me sick.

I’ve never been a person to judge. I don’t believe I have that right or that responsibility. Frankly, I’m thankful for that. What I do have is a sickening feeling in my stomach, because as I have been sitting here at my kitchen table typing this post, I have heard three separate reports of incredible violence on Black Friday in retail establishments on the nearby television. Even the news stations seem to be treating it as “sport.”

I pray that one day, we would all realize that all of this “stuff,” all of these material possessions that culture shoves down our throat every Black Friday, will eventually be nothing more than a pile of useless crap somewhere. Maybe then we’d hold the lives of others in higher regard.

Black Friday has become one of the biggest “black” eyes to our culture as we know it. All because of the appetites, and willingness to do whatever it takes to feed them, of some people.

I’m sure I’ll be out with my wife, standing in Black Friday lines for years to come. One last time, this isn’t what I’m talking about. Please hear my heart on this. My heart is for people. How do you explain to a child that their mom or dad isn’t around anymore because they got trampled by people wanting to buy 60″ LED TVs? I wouldn’t even be able to watch that 60″ LED TV with that on my conscience.

The Journey to Vertical Part Three

Posted on October 31, 2011 by jon in culture, life choices | 2 Comments

…continued from part two

God’s ways are not our own. That’s for sure.

I told Mike and Brandon (I hadn’t really had much interaction with Donnie or Joey yet) that I would be willing to help out with worship as they got everything started with Vertical, but it couldn’t interfere with my work at my current church.

I went to support the guys at an interest meeting they had at the local bowling alley on August 22, 2010. I remember being there that night, just hanging out at a table (that had a Wake Forest logo on it – I remember weird stuff…), when Brandon asked me if I’d go home and grab my guitar. I was like – “seriously? is there a sound system here? a microphone?” Brandon told me, “Nah man, we don’t need it.”

I sped home and grabbed my guitar, and came back. Brandon asked me to just play two songs that I thought would fit well with the message Mike was giving, which was simply a vision for this church in this region. As we came to the time of worship, I led “God of this City” and “Our God.” Two songs that quickly became staples in our worship life at Vertical.

That night, something happened within me. I began thinking that God was going to get me to Vertical in some way, regardless of how hard I tried to run in the opposite direction. This was scary.

As we went into the coming months, I met with the pastors at Vertical a few times and continued to pray that if God indeed wanted me to be a part of the Vertical movement, He would open doors that needed to be opened and close doors that needed to be closed. I continued to help out whenever I could with worship leadership, and even helped out a bit with some logo design and such, whenever I had some free time. However, during this time I began to realize that the decision to stay put was one of responsibility, whereas the decision to go to Vertical was one of obedience.

As launch day approached, the call to Vertical got clearer and clearer. I continued to help with preparing Vertical’s worship team for launch. I knew that it wasn’t feasible for me to be two places at once, nor was it fair of me to try to do that (to either church), so I maintained my current position, believing that God would open the door when it was right.

In mid-February I shared my intentions with my pastor, and he agreed to pray for me as I continued to seek the Lord during this time. I began a job search (which wasn’t fun at all – I hate job hunting), and continually came up short.

Then came the week that changed the course of my life.

I wrote about that week in detail here on the blog. You can find those posts here:

It was literally a life-changing week. I had been seeking a job for what seemed like forever, and then, when I least expected it, a job found me. It had happened. God had opened the door for me to come to Vertical.

As I finished up my ministry at my former church, I was incredibly nervous. I hadn’t worked outside of ministry in nearly 5 years. It was very nerve-wracking to think that I was going back into the secular workplace. There were many tears shed, many questions answered, and ultimately, a calling confirmed.

My first Sunday at Vertical was March 27th, 2011 (read that recap here). Let’s just say that God rocked my world that day. It was the start of something amazing, and it continues to get better.

I’m no longer in that job I accepted back in March, but I am constantly thankful and reminded of how God showed up on my behalf during that time. If I could sum all of this up in one statement, it would be this: Never let your desire for personal responsibility trump your desire to be obedient to God.

Thanks for going back on this journey with me. Praise God for His unending love and continuous provision.

God bless you.

Share the Love story by Ryan Stone

Posted on October 25, 2011 by jon in culture, love your neighbor | Leave a comment

I wanted to take a second to share a story with you. If you don’t know what’s up with Vertical Church’s “Share the Love” campaign, you can read more about it over on Pastor Mike’s blog. So many people have already shared amazing stories of how they have shared the love of Jesus this week (and by the way, it’s only Tuesday). I wanted to share a particular story that I received from my friend and fellow VGroup member, Ryan.

I was working EMS today, and received a call to go out to a residence where a older gentleman was sick. Enroute to the hospital I was talking to a family member, and we started talking about church. The lady told me she was new to the area, and had to find herself a new church. I told her about Vertical, and showed her where it is located. We discussed the dress, music, and the services, and she said it was exactly what she was looking for. We started talking about God, and how he will not place more burden on you then you can bare. She talked of how her last couple of weeks had been so bad, and I told her of how God is always there when you need him. I told the lady I had something to share with her, and handed her the envelope with the five dollars I received, and also the "Share the Love" card. She read the card, and burst into tears. She said this was the best thing that had happened to her in three days. She said she felt so bad because while we were loading up her dad she was in a back bedroom praying asking God why is all this happening to her. We talked a few more minutes, and she said she would see us on Sunday morning. I can’t even describe the blessing I got! -Ryan

This is just one of many, many stories that are resonating throughout our region. And I believe that the end of this week will only be the beginning of a massive movement of God’s love throughout our region.

Much love.