So one of the few things that I have managed to keep somewhat of a secret about to some people over the last few years is that I am a huge wrestling fan. Sadly, during the last year, that has slowly began to disintegrate and I have not followed it as much as I used to. But I'll lay a few truths on you before I continue.
1. The Undertaker is my favorite wrestler and probably the best ever.
2. That is all.
That's all I could come up with, so let's continue. So some wrestlers over the years have shared that they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which automatically makes them somewhat of my other favorites. The most prominent ones are Sting and Shawn Michaels. Now the background story behind writing this is because i recently (today) bought Wrestlemania 26, on blu-ray of course. And even though I do not keep up with it as much as I used to, I bought it for a few reasons:
1. The Undertaker is my favorite wrestler and supposedly his match with Shawn Michaels (other favorite hinted above) at this years 'Mania was the best ever, so naturally I had to see it. Which brings me to point two..
2. This was Shawn Michaels last match.
Being that this was Michaels' last match and knowing that he has a relationship with Christ, because of the countless interviews, seriously if you go back and watch almost any interview of the most recent kind (last 3-4 yearsish) you will see that he will make some mention of Jesus Christ being his Lord and Savior. And for a guy like that, in the type of business that he is in, to say something like that, he has become one of my all-time favorites.
Now let's flash-forward to today, and I am watching Wrestlemania as I write this. And there is a storyline, with one of the superstars creating this cult-like group called the Straight-Edge Society. Pledged not to do drugs or drink, one star, C.M. Punk, has challenged another to a match, and as he introduces himself in the ring, he talks about how he is a savior, and how he could be their savior (the their referring to the crowd) and right after he says this, Matt Striker (guy in the title, who also happens to be a commentator) says this softly in his microphone but loud enough to hear while watching, "There's only one Savior." And as soon as he said this, seriously, I was like, "BOOM, IN YOUR FACE PUNK!" It was such an awesome moment to see that there are other guys in a business that you grew up with for so long that have faith and love Jesus, and for me, this proved to me that He does.
And even though he is just a commentator now, Matt Striker is now one of my new favorites.
So think about the tv shows that you watch, (Lost, so sad it's over) and think about the actors/actresses involved in those shows, and ask yourself, why do you look up to them? Because Sting, Michaels and Striker, speak it and live it, that Jesus is their Savior, that's why they are some of my heroes. And I am sure there is some actor/tress that you look up to, so simply look at who they are and how they live, and ask yourself why do you look up to them?
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Irony of Jesus
Now this is part of three of a three part series, so part of it may not make sense, but it is all summed up at the end of the talk. Sorry to not be original, and sorry to stray from my own little mini-huge series on here, but I wanted to share with you my talk from this morning. Plus, I'll be honest with you. I have not had much time to write about the other series on here because of the time needed to be devoted to this, and sadly it will be a couple of days til I get the next part of that series up, mostly because of the finale of Lost tonight. So anyways here it is, enjoy.
Irony of Jesus
Jesus showed the people something greater than they had expected, service and love. The irony is that their expectations of Jesus, was an all-powerful King who was just coming to rule over them. But instead, they got a servant in Christ Jesus.
We’ve seen the irony if Joseph and Peter’s life. And maybe you’re sitting here today and maybe your life is like Joseph, and it’s been tough. A life where the outcomes were different than your expectations. Where the situations in your life, have not been pleasant. And you may be in a place that you really do not enjoy being in right now. But just like Joseph, God can still use these situations in your life to bring people to him and can strengthen your walk with Him through it all. Or maybe you are like Peter, and you have walked alongside God for awhile, but have strayed from the path. And you’ve disobeyed God through your words and actions. And you’ve continued to do so. And you feel trapped in your sin. But just like Peter, your life can be restored too. God can bring you back on that path. He can release you from your sin. And God can still do incredible things with and through you. And we know the irony that Jesus, who some thought would rule as a conquering king, but before he does that, he became a servant first to all mankind and died on the cross to save the world. Now for some of you today, you may not know who Jesus is, or you may have even had a different perspective of who Jesus is as you came today. But remember this, no matter what the situation, no matter what is going in your life, God still loves you. So my question for all of you today, is what is going to be your response to this love?
Irony of Jesus
Stephen kicked us off with the story of Joseph and how God’s plan through the events in his life was ironic.
Then Andrew came in and talked about Peter and how his life was also ironic…
And now it is my turn to share with you part three of our irony series entitled, the irony of Jesus. I should probably introduce myself before I start, my name is Michael Minshew and I would like to let you in on a little secret about me. Are you ready? I love baseball. I absolutely love it. And for the last fourteen years, it has been a huge part of my life. But I never imagined that God would use this game to impact my life in a different way than just playing the game. But I’ll talk about that a little later…
Now the people who heard that the Son of God was coming thought Jesus was coming to be a conquering king and rule over them in a king-like manner, but God soon changed those thoughts as Jesus began his works here on earth. Their expectations of who Jesus was would soon change as they found that he came to die on the cross for their sins. And as we see in Philippians 2:1-8, Jesus came to earth to be a servant and encourage others to do so as well.
Philippians 2:1-8. “ 1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
As I said before, people thought Jesus would come and rule as a conquering king, and Jesus will indeed come back to rule, but He first came in the form of humility. As we see in verse 7, he made himself nothing and in doing so, took the form of a servant. This is a great example of Christ’s humility because Jesus is the son of God. And he could’ve stayed up in Heaven and never come down to earth. But instead he chose the path of a servant. It was his love for us, his children that drove him down, to human form. And as he walked the earth, he took with him that servant-hood mindset, and humbly looked to other’s interest and showed love. And he remained a humble servant even to the point of death on the cross. This was the ultimate act of humility, the ultimate act of service, the ultimate act of love.
So just to remind you again, I love baseball. I would spend hours outside throwing a tennis ball up against the bricks of our house and simulate games where, of course, I would always win. And I continued to do this up until my junior year. And it was that year that of baseball that God really took baseball back from me. You see, this was the year I had been waiting for for a long time. Varsity baseball. The big time. And I was ready to play. So the first game rolls around, and I am pumped, I have my sweatbands on, wearing number 19, with James 1:22-24 written on the inside of my hat. And as soon as I get back to the dugout after warming up, I’m met by my head coach, and in his hands, is the stat book. Now my job for the night had just become very clear, and it wasn’t to play first base either. Instead, my job was to watch the game, and keep a record of what happened. But in that moment, God reminded me of something and it was something that He had been teaching me since my first day playing baseball for North Crowley. That my number one job was not to play first base, no matter how badly I wanted to. My job was to show love to the other guys on my team, and to encourage them in any way that I could. It’s ironic because I went into high school expecting to just play baseball, but the outcome of that situation was completely different. God took that passion and used it to teach me greater things that are so much more important than just playing a game.
Jesus showed the people something greater than they had expected, service and love. The irony is that their expectations of Jesus, was an all-powerful King who was just coming to rule over them. But instead, they got a servant in Christ Jesus.
We’ve seen the irony if Joseph and Peter’s life. And maybe you’re sitting here today and maybe your life is like Joseph, and it’s been tough. A life where the outcomes were different than your expectations. Where the situations in your life, have not been pleasant. And you may be in a place that you really do not enjoy being in right now. But just like Joseph, God can still use these situations in your life to bring people to him and can strengthen your walk with Him through it all. Or maybe you are like Peter, and you have walked alongside God for awhile, but have strayed from the path. And you’ve disobeyed God through your words and actions. And you’ve continued to do so. And you feel trapped in your sin. But just like Peter, your life can be restored too. God can bring you back on that path. He can release you from your sin. And God can still do incredible things with and through you. And we know the irony that Jesus, who some thought would rule as a conquering king, but before he does that, he became a servant first to all mankind and died on the cross to save the world. Now for some of you today, you may not know who Jesus is, or you may have even had a different perspective of who Jesus is as you came today. But remember this, no matter what the situation, no matter what is going in your life, God still loves you. So my question for all of you today, is what is going to be your response to this love?
Now in a moment we are going to take an offering, and if you do not know who Jesus is, please do not give anything, but instead take this time to reflect on what we have learned today about who Jesus is and what your response will be to His love for you. And if you are member, and you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then we ask for you to accordingly to what God wants you to give.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
My last Collide Live.
Collide is the name of our high school youth group. The meaning of Collide comes from two ideas that mold into one lifestyle. The first part is broken down into two different ways that people live. The Sacred side, meaning living a life for Jesus, which many Christians, and I'm guilty of it too, live only on Sundays and Wednesdays at church. The Secular side is the life we live when we are at home, with friends, etc, away from church. The idea behind the Sacred vs the Secular is that we should not be living double lives - living a sacred life and a secular life, but it should be one. The way we act, think, the things we say at church/mission trips/camps, etc; the life that is lived for God should not be turned off once we leave church and return home or wherever. And the way we do that, which brings us to the second idea, is by Loving God and Loving Others. This is our mission statement at Collide. It comes from Matthew 22:37-40:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
And Live is our wednesday night program for high schoolers with games, skits, music, and a talk from a high schooler and what God has been doing in their life.
Well, back to the title of the topic, this was my last Wednesday Night Live, and I'm not gonna lie, it was a hard one. (BTW ((by the way)) I am a senior in high school, who graduates June 2, WOOOO!!, which is why it was my last Wednesday Night Live.) One of my best girl friends, who was the first person I met when I came to this church and is also a senior, gave an amazing message about God's faithfulness in her life and trusting that He will continue to be faithful, even when times get tough. It was the perfect message for the seniors as our the travel down High School Boulevard is almost at its end.
But the night wasn't over there. After her talk, our HS Pastor, (As of press time he wants to be called Emerging Generations Pastor from now on instead of High School Pastor)(go to stuffchristianslike.com to read about it, his blogs are pretty awesome)(cheap plug)(BTW the blog is written by Jon Acuff, who is not my HS pastor, my HS pastor got the idea from his blog, in case you were curious) asked the seniors to get come to the center of the room as the rest of the high schoolers/adults gathered around us and prayed for us. And that moment was really hard. Like I said before, I won't lie, I cried a little bit, I'll admit it. The friendships I have made, not only with my class, but the younger and older kids as well is something that I am so thankful for and I am so thankful that God brought me to this church 5 years ago.
My journey down High School Boulevard is coming to a close. The realizations of this started with this night and as amazing of a night it was, it is still a tough one to think about. It isn't over yet though. High School has not ended yet, sadly. I still see all my friends at church on sunday and during the week. And once I move to college I plan and hope that I can still keep up with those friends. Mostly to get them all to come to where I'm going to college so that it makes this process a little easier. Just kidding. But seriously that would be awesome. I love yall! It isn't over yet and I am not going to act like it is either. And if after I graduate I never see them again, I know I will meet up with them in Heaven!
...to be continued...next entry in this series will be titled...
Collide is the name of our high school youth group. The meaning of Collide comes from two ideas that mold into one lifestyle. The first part is broken down into two different ways that people live. The Sacred side, meaning living a life for Jesus, which many Christians, and I'm guilty of it too, live only on Sundays and Wednesdays at church. The Secular side is the life we live when we are at home, with friends, etc, away from church. The idea behind the Sacred vs the Secular is that we should not be living double lives - living a sacred life and a secular life, but it should be one. The way we act, think, the things we say at church/mission trips/camps, etc; the life that is lived for God should not be turned off once we leave church and return home or wherever. And the way we do that, which brings us to the second idea, is by Loving God and Loving Others. This is our mission statement at Collide. It comes from Matthew 22:37-40:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
And Live is our wednesday night program for high schoolers with games, skits, music, and a talk from a high schooler and what God has been doing in their life.
Well, back to the title of the topic, this was my last Wednesday Night Live, and I'm not gonna lie, it was a hard one. (BTW ((by the way)) I am a senior in high school, who graduates June 2, WOOOO!!, which is why it was my last Wednesday Night Live.) One of my best girl friends, who was the first person I met when I came to this church and is also a senior, gave an amazing message about God's faithfulness in her life and trusting that He will continue to be faithful, even when times get tough. It was the perfect message for the seniors as our the travel down High School Boulevard is almost at its end.
But the night wasn't over there. After her talk, our HS Pastor, (As of press time he wants to be called Emerging Generations Pastor from now on instead of High School Pastor)(go to stuffchristianslike.com to read about it, his blogs are pretty awesome)(cheap plug)(BTW the blog is written by Jon Acuff, who is not my HS pastor, my HS pastor got the idea from his blog, in case you were curious) asked the seniors to get come to the center of the room as the rest of the high schoolers/adults gathered around us and prayed for us. And that moment was really hard. Like I said before, I won't lie, I cried a little bit, I'll admit it. The friendships I have made, not only with my class, but the younger and older kids as well is something that I am so thankful for and I am so thankful that God brought me to this church 5 years ago.
My journey down High School Boulevard is coming to a close. The realizations of this started with this night and as amazing of a night it was, it is still a tough one to think about. It isn't over yet though. High School has not ended yet, sadly. I still see all my friends at church on sunday and during the week. And once I move to college I plan and hope that I can still keep up with those friends. Mostly to get them all to come to where I'm going to college so that it makes this process a little easier. Just kidding. But seriously that would be awesome. I love yall! It isn't over yet and I am not going to act like it is either. And if after I graduate I never see them again, I know I will meet up with them in Heaven!
...to be continued...next entry in this series will be titled...
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Irony of Jesus Outline (will be deleted soon)
Recap of Old Testament (Stephen)
Recap of New Testament (Andrew)
People during the time of Jesus believed that He was coming as this all-powerful King who would be kingly and rule all king-like (fragments will be revised) and, but it was the opposite he came in the form of man, as a baby, to love, and to encourage greater love and humility, as found in Philippians 2:1-11
- “ 1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(I am thinking of splitting up how I talk about this passage, meaning, I split it up in one of two ways, one being reading the passage as a whole, then talking about it, or reading a few verses, then talk, few verses, then talk, etc)(This will now be played out in the lines below)
Path 1: Humility. Verses 3-4 say, “But in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Why do you think this was so important to God? For us to put other’s interests above our own? Because in Verses 6-8 say, “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” It is because of what Jesus did on the cross. It is because He was obedient to what God’s plans. God put us above His son. God killed His son, so that we could spend eternity with Him. And Jesus was obedient to his plans, humbly, becoming a servant to do His works. Referencing 2 Corinthians 8:9, “9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” He was in a position of power, but his love for us drove him to a position of weakness for the sake of sinful mankind. Imagine that. That position of weakness is human form. And it was because of His love for us that he came down to become a servant. To serve us. The last people who deserve this. Because we don’t deserve it, but he still loves us. This could only be done humbly. This is where the term bondservant comes from. (That whole paragraph is extremely rough but it will be refined and smoothed out, hopefully you can help me with that and I will have mom look at it as well, plus I don’t expect to say this word for word either but I like to have it all written out to give me a good idea of what to say, you know?)
Path 2: pretty much the same as path 1 except the verses individually will be placed in between my talk, example:
verses
my writing
verses my writing
etc.
(what do you think?)
Some personal story (I’m working on it, sorry)
Jesus came to earth in the form of man, and in doing so, completely shifted what the people of this time were thinking He would be. The irony is that they thought He would be an all-powerful King who was just coming to rule over them and be king-like. But instead, He came to be a servant.
What has God done in your life that could be considered ironic? What is something that has happened in your life/or is happening right now that God has used in a completely different way/or might use in a different way then what you think and how does that affect the way you are going to live when you leave here today?
(so obviously there are some places that need work but what are you comments/concerns/whatevs?)
Recap of New Testament (Andrew)
People during the time of Jesus believed that He was coming as this all-powerful King who would be kingly and rule all king-like (fragments will be revised) and, but it was the opposite he came in the form of man, as a baby, to love, and to encourage greater love and humility, as found in Philippians 2:1-11
- “ 1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(I am thinking of splitting up how I talk about this passage, meaning, I split it up in one of two ways, one being reading the passage as a whole, then talking about it, or reading a few verses, then talk, few verses, then talk, etc)(This will now be played out in the lines below)
Path 1: Humility. Verses 3-4 say, “But in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Why do you think this was so important to God? For us to put other’s interests above our own? Because in Verses 6-8 say, “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” It is because of what Jesus did on the cross. It is because He was obedient to what God’s plans. God put us above His son. God killed His son, so that we could spend eternity with Him. And Jesus was obedient to his plans, humbly, becoming a servant to do His works. Referencing 2 Corinthians 8:9, “9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” He was in a position of power, but his love for us drove him to a position of weakness for the sake of sinful mankind. Imagine that. That position of weakness is human form. And it was because of His love for us that he came down to become a servant. To serve us. The last people who deserve this. Because we don’t deserve it, but he still loves us. This could only be done humbly. This is where the term bondservant comes from. (That whole paragraph is extremely rough but it will be refined and smoothed out, hopefully you can help me with that and I will have mom look at it as well, plus I don’t expect to say this word for word either but I like to have it all written out to give me a good idea of what to say, you know?)
Path 2: pretty much the same as path 1 except the verses individually will be placed in between my talk, example:
verses
my writing
verses my writing
etc.
(what do you think?)
Some personal story (I’m working on it, sorry)
Jesus came to earth in the form of man, and in doing so, completely shifted what the people of this time were thinking He would be. The irony is that they thought He would be an all-powerful King who was just coming to rule over them and be king-like. But instead, He came to be a servant.
What has God done in your life that could be considered ironic? What is something that has happened in your life/or is happening right now that God has used in a completely different way/or might use in a different way then what you think and how does that affect the way you are going to live when you leave here today?
(so obviously there are some places that need work but what are you comments/concerns/whatevs?)
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