Jordan Fleig

Not Forgotten!

2011-12-20T11:04:00.000-08:00

As the silver bearded priest walks through the ancient hills of Israel on a narrow trail his stomach begins to churn. Bethlehem lies before him, anxiety and adrenaline run through his veins. Farmers on the hill notice his presence and even some whisper his name. "Is this Samuel?" they ask in fear and trembling. The people of Bethlehem's hearts stopped for a brief moment as they see someone they didn't expect to see. Questions as the elders gathered in the community trying to figure out what was about to take place, "Why here in Bethlehem? What's this mean?" During this time, Israel was weak, the people demanded a king and instead of Saul saving the Nation he nearly destroyed it. So what did God do? He did what no one could have ever imagined. He issued a surprise invitation to a nobody in Nowheresville.

How long will you continue to feel for Saul? I have rejected him as king of Israel. Fill your container with olive oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse who lives in Bethlehem, because I have chosen one of his sons to be king. (I Sam. 16:1)

I can only imagine what the people thought at the time. Prophets don't visit Bethlehem. But Samuel says that he has come to sacrifice an animal to God and invites the elders, Jesse and his sons to join him. All of Jesse's sons line up one by one as Samuel examines them. Eliab, the oldest, seems the logical choice. Strong, courageous, this is the guy, Samuel thinks. But God says no. Abinadab then seems like the next best choice. He's got dark wavy hair, and wears Gucci suits. What a classy king he would make. But God doesn't care about class. Samuel asks for son number three Shammah. Wow, Shammah is brilliant and very studious, he's even the valedictorian of Bethlehem High. Samuel is impressed, but God isn't. Seven sons pass. Seven sons fail. They all seemed to have the perfect resume, but God looks at the heart. (I Sam.16:7) We know the rest of the story. Samuel asks, "Jesse, don't you have 8 sons?" David was forgotten as he was only a shepherd boy in the hills of Bethlehem.

Have there ever been times in your life where you feel forgotten, excluded, not qualified, un-credentialed that causes you to feel as a misfit or an outcast? I can only imagine how David must have felt as his own father and brothers forgot that he even existed until Samuel asked. But the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (16:7) God uses the misfits and the outcasts to do exploits for His Kingdom. Peoples opinion doesn't' matter, what people say about you doesn't matter, all that matters is what your maker thinks. You are "Not Forgotten!"

What You See

2011-12-19T12:44:00.000-08:00

The small skinny, beardless boy kneels down by the brook. Sweat drops from his forehead as he listens to the sounds of war and the growling, bloodthirsty men of the Philistine Army. As the mud from the brook squishes on his knees and the cold water cools his hand he sees a reflection of a rudy and handsome copper haired young man with eyes that would steal the hearts of young Hebrew teenagers. But he searches not for a reflection, however, but for stones. Stones that he used for fending off the predators that would come the destroy and devour his sheep. He chooses 5 of them, places them in his shepherds pouch and draws near the Philistine that stands before him. Skinny, scrawny, rudy and handsome David. Bulky, brutish man eating Goliath. The toothpick verses the tornado. The Toy Poodle taking on the Rottweiler. What odds do you give David against the his giant? Perhaps better odds than you give yourself against YOUR giants.

Your giant perhaps doesn't carry around a sword or a shield; instead he carries unemployment, abandonment, sexual abuse or depression. Your giant doesn't parade up and down the hills of Elah; instead he roams throughout your office, your bedroom, your classroom. He brings bills your can't pay, people you can't please, alcohol you can't resist, pornography you can't refuse, a career you can't escape, a past you can't shake and a future you can't face. You know well the roar of giants just as Israel knew the sounds and scoffs of Goliath and the Philistine army.

What giants do you face? "What Do You See?" As David kneeled down and saw his reflection in the brook he didn't see a little boy, but saw the God that lives in him. He didn't look at what he was capable of, his experience, his success, his failures, his qualities or reputation. In fact he doesn't even care about who this Goliath is or what he's capable of. He doesn't ask one time about his skill, age, social standing, weight, height, spear length, size of shield, quickness, or the skull and bones tattooed on Goliath's 55 inch bicep. David asks one question, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? (I Samuel 17:26) He simply focuses on God and what he's capable of doing! Look past yourself and stand in awe of what God can do in your life.

Focus on Giants--you stumble.

Focus on God--your giants tumble.

Jayden's Journey Day Six

2011-11-07T21:24:00.000-08:00

Well............what a day! First off, today is my beautiful wife's birthday, and I asked what she would like to have for her birthday. Not surprised by the answer, she simply said, "I just want to have Jayden home!" Coming into surgery and knowing what our son was going to be going through we knew that we were going to be here for a long time. We have been extremely surprised by how well Jayden is bouncing back from his procedure and I honestly can say that he is probably the toughest kid that I have ever met. As I showed up to his room this morning we were blown away by how well he was doing and for the first time through out this Journey, I felt that Jayden was finally himself! As the doctor's were making their morning rounds to discuss with each other what the plan was for the day with Jayden this is what they said, "Jayden is recovering very well. His saturations are very adequate and the plan is for him to go home tomorrow." What???? God has heard and has answered all of our prayers! Our son Jayden is coming home tomorrow November 8th. A surgery that usually takes anywhere from 10 to 14 days to be released, Jayden only got to spend 6 days total after surgery! We are so thankful for how well he is doing! God has had his hand throughout this entire process. We have had an incredible staff of Dr's, nurses and surgeons that have worked around the clock to help our son recover quickly. He has blessed us greatly! So to every that has been praying, I get to say..............JAYDEN COMES HOME TOMORROW!!! Thank you every, and THANK YOU GOD! What an incredible birthday gift from God to Rachel.

Jayden's Journey Day Five

2011-11-07T21:21:00.000-08:00

Today was a very big day for Jayden. They have began weening off all of the all the blood pressure medicine and are planning on taking out some of the neck lines. Today was a great day simply because he is starting to look like Jayden again! He's starting to smile and make faces which has been so refreshing to see. We are so thankful for God hearing and answering our prayers. He is looking and doing great and the Dr's. are thinking that he should be out of here possibly Wednesday or Thursday this week! His blood pressures have leveled off and are normal, and his oxygen saturations are perfect no more oxygen shooting in his nose. We feel that he is doing incredible and hope and pray that he isn't here much longer. He has been put on a medicine to help him with some of the gas issues that he is having because he is having a little bit of a difficult time pooping. After they gave him that, things started to get a little crazy as we changed his diapers 3 times in a row in a matter of 1 minute.

I know that God has us down here at Children's Hospital for a reason. We have met some incredible people who are facing very difficult situations with their children. I believe that God is going to do some incredible things in this hospital. I believe children will be healed completely, cured from disease and families restored. God has given us some incredible opportunities to be a light to people who are facing some of the most difficult situations of their life. God is GREAT and we continue to trust in Him and both Rachel and I believe that God is being glorified right here in Minneapolis at Children's Hospital. Once again, thank you for all of your prayers, cards and messages through this process. Words can't express how they have kept us encouraged and strengthened us through the days.

Jayden's Journey Day Four

2011-11-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

Today has been a great day as Jayden is overcoming big hurdles. His oxygen levels are great and they have reduced the oxygen pressure from 80% to now 30%. We need to continue to pray for his blood pressure levels as they are still monitoring it, and have some concerns about the internal stitches bursting, but they are now slowly removing the medicine that is keeping the pressures low. The Dr's. removed the big bandage from his chest and for the first time we were able to see where they cut him open. Jayden is more alert and is becoming more like himself, but I think that he has his days and nights messed up a little bit because he is sleeping a lot. He also feed for the first time and is doing great by getting rid of the fluids in his body (if you know what I mean). Today has been an incredible day and it seems that he is winning the battle. We continue to thank God as He has had His hand in everything that has happened so far. God is GREAT and we are so thankful that He has had Jayden in His arms this entire time. Both Rachel and I are overwhelmed and tired, but we are so thankful for our beautiful son. I know that God has some pretty big plans for his life, and God is greatly to be praise.

Thank you God for hearing our prayers! You are so faithful and have a perfect plan for Jayden's life. We thank you for bringing us through this experience and we will continue to rejoice in YOU! Thank you for the gift of life, and help us to live our lives for your GLORY! Use this situation in Jayden's life to glorify your name forever! Amen.

Jayden's Journey Day Three

2011-11-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

Jayden had a little bit of a difficult time today as he is now completely off the ventilator. I would say today was the most difficult day so far of then entire process. The hardest thing for a baby to do while coming out of surgery is re-learning how to breathe and properly use their lungs. His oxygen saturations are doing well but they also have a little bit of oxygen shooting down his nose. We thought that he was going to be able to feed today, but since he is under a lot of stress and pain they decided to keep him sedated and just have fluids pumping into his body. As a result of having the ventilator, Jayden has a lot of junk building up in his lungs and it was our hope that he could cough on his own in order to break it up, but he had to have a tube stuck down his nose that sucked the junk out multiple times. Another issue that Jayden faced today was higher blood pressure that could be do to the pain he is encountering. They have him on a drug to keep it low as they are concerned that if the pressures get too high the stitches in his heart could burst. (We pray this never happens)

I would say that this has been the most difficult day of my life. Rachel and my family are up in town, and we decided to go out to eat and just kind of get of the Hospital for a little bit, but as we were leaving you could just tell that he was going through a lot and had the look on his face of "What's going on?" but the pain and trials will only last for a moment and rejoicing comes in the morning! Nurses and Dr's are really pleased with Jayden's progress, but it is still going to take time. Tomorrow's goal is to have him eating and hopefully have him completely off his blood pressure medicine and off his oxygen! Continue to pray as there are still many more hurdles that he has to overcome.

Jayden's Journey Day Two

2011-11-03T12:58:00.001-07:00

This morning around 6:00am we were suddenly woken up by the nurses asking us if we wanted to hold Jayden before they placed the ventilator in him. Before we could even really know what was going on, we were kissing our son one last time before he would be completely sedated. After about an hour, Jayden was ready for the OR (operating room) for his surgery. At 8am the nurses took him and it was then a waiting game. Around 10:30am our cardiologist came in and said that everything was going well, and that at this time his heart was completely exposed with no blood in it, as the surgeons were patching the pulmonary valve. Words can't express what was going through my mind in this moment, but I knew that God was in control. 30 minutes later he came back in and said that everything went perfectly and that he was now getting stitched up and would be back in his room in a few minutes. God is GREAT! And we are so thankful that all is going well right now.

For those that are wondering exactly what the surgeons did for Jayden, I will do my best to explain. They used a laser device to cut through the skin in his sternum and because the sternum is not bone yet and more like cartilage it was very simple to get in. After they had him open they arrested and drained the blood in his heart, and began to fix the problem which is the pulmonary valve. They went along side the valve making an incision in an attempt to widen and open the valve more as they patched a piece of a cow vein in that space. They then put him back together and stitched him up. Right now he has a bandage on his chest, with two tubes draining the blood out from around his heart. He has many iv's all through out his body, a ventilator breathing for him and many other things that I don't even know, but the plan is to have everything off him tomorrow morning and hopefully he will be able to come home possibly next Friday. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and continue to lift him up as he is still not quite out of the woods, but he is on the winning side as of now.

Jayden's Journey

2011-11-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

Jayden is now at Children's Hospital for probably the next 2 weeks as he will undergo open heart surgery tomorrow to fix the pulmonary valve. We came in on Monday October 31 for another balloon operation hoping that would be all that he needed, but both tries failed. The first balloon actually burst because of how tight the valve was and they decided that they should do surgery to open the valve to release pressures in his right ventricle. He will be going in at 8am and the surgeons said that it would most likely take from 3 to 4 hours in the operating room. He is healthy, strong and getting big as he is almost 12lbs but he just needs a little help in his heart. We are still believing that God is going to touch him, but we are ready and prepared for everything. Dr. Overman is his surgeon along with Dr. Dalinko as his anesthesiologist. He has a great team and is in the best place in the world. Please pray for him tonight and tomorrow morning! Thank you for all your prayers and everything that you have done for Rachel and I. We love each and everyone of you. We will keep you posted so check this out tomorrow. God Bless!

Setbacks become Slingshots

2011-08-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

We just began a new series called "SIMPLE" and a question that I ask is this, "Does life have to be so complicate?" I've asked myself this many times before, and let me just tell you right now before I even continue on, that life is complicated, and just because you're a Christian doesn't mean that life should be, or will be SIMPLE. Being a follower of Christ Jesus will complicate your life, but it will complicate your life the way that it needs to be complicated. For example; Marriage. Marriage is a great thing, and I am happily married to an amazing woman of God, but it will complicate your life more then it would be if you remained single. I now have to check with Rachel before I decide to go on a trip, I have make sure her needs are met, and I can no longer do what's best for me but I do what's best for us. It complicates life, but it complicates it in a good way! Sin on the other hand complicates life the way that it shouldn't be complicated. It keeps us focused on earthly things when our eyes should be fixed on Christ Jesus.

We have all had situations take place in our life that have made things complicated. Maybe you've experienced a divorce, lost your job, lost a loved one, found out that you have an incurable disease, lost your home or whatever it may be. The honest truth is that we cannot control the experiences that we face in our lives. And I feel that people just can't come to terms with that truth. We try so hard to wrap our small minds around God and try to have all the answers to life (I'm guilty myself). But we will never have all the answers to life, and we will never be able to control our experiences in life, but we can control our attitude towards each and every experience that we encounter.

One of my favorite stories in the bible is found in Genesis, and it's the account of Joseph life. As a teenage his brothers faked his death and sold him into slavery. I can honestly say if that were me, I would be bumming out pretty hardcore. But Joseph kept the faith and things got a little bit better until he resisted sexual advances made on him from Potiphar's wife. He was then unjustly thrown into an Egyptian dungeon on attempted rape charges and for thirteen years things went from bad to worse. But Joseph never lost faith because his faith wasn't contingent upon his circumstances, and after thirteen years of SETBACKS in his life, God used to SLINGSHOT him from being a prisoner to prime minister over Egypt.

If your going through a difficult time right now, keep the faith. Chances are God setting you up for something greater!

Prayer

2011-07-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

Are you weary of praying? Do you ever feel that your prayers are ineffective? Do you ever wonder if God is really listening? Why pray? What's the purpose? Prayer doesn't really work, it's just a unique coincidence. I believe that at some point in our walk with Christ we feel this way about prayer. The last few months have been emotionally, physically and spiritually challenging on me. I have asked some of these challenging questions a lot during this time, and the funny thing is, is that God keeps revealing Himself to me in new ways everyday.

Through prayer God gives us His peace, He comforts us, and He even helps us understand things. But those reasons are enough for self-sufficient people to fall on their knees and pour out their hearts to God. I believe that there is something more that draws people to pray. I believe that people are drawn to prayer because they know that God's power flows primarily to people who pray. The bible is full of passages teaching us that God is ready, willing and able to answer our prayers.

One of my favorite stories in the bible that shows how prayer works is found in Exodus 17:8-13 and it's about a battle between the Israelites and Amalekites. Moses takes his main man Joshua and tells him this, "Hey here's the plan, you take our best men and meet the Amalekites in battle and Aaron, Hur and myself will watch and pray on this hill and we'll see what happens." Sounds crazy right? Not to Moses, because he knew that God would fight for them. The moment that Moses lifted his hands, the Israelites began to win. The moment that he dropped them, they became overwhelmed, overrun, beaten down, pushed around and defeated.

Such is true to those who live a prayerless life. If you don't pray, you choose to cut yourself from God's prevailing power, and what's sad to me is that there is a surprising number of people that are willing to settle for lives like that. I may be tired, I may feel defeated, but I choose to pray because I serve a VICTORIOUS God that is ready and willing to answer me.

Sweaty Christians

2011-07-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

I think for most people that have played sports, or people in your family that have played sports realize that sweaty and nasty equipment is just a small price that you pay for being an athlete. For me, sports was a way of life and if you were to ask my mother, she would tell you that that not only were the clothes smelly but there was a very large pile of them as well. You see for most guys, we just throw things in pile, turn our boxers inside out to get more use out of them, and all throughout high school and college sports I would only do the laundry once a month.......maybe!

College for me was a great time, but I was straight up messy. My basketball shorts and clothes would be all over the place. But college was also the time were I met my beautiful wife Rachel, so what do you do when she wants to come over and visit? (I went to North Central University where you could have open dorms once every 3 years so when a girl would come over, it was a big deal!) Like any guy, I would just throw everything into one bag and shove it under the bed! The problem was the smell though. No matter how clean the room looked as soon as she walked through those doors, her world was going to be rocked! (And it wasn't going to be because of my charm) So I would take a bunch of my fabric softeners that you throw in the dryer, load up the heaping pile and strategically place them in the clothes, in the ceiling tiles, in drawers, and everywhere else I could put them. Brilliant right? The next morning I couldn't breathe because the stench was so bad.

My point is that I have seen so many people in life go through the motions, say the prayers, go to church, look great on the outside but are not completely cleaned! We all have sin and we all fall short of the glory of God all the time, but more time then not I have seen people that just try to cover it up. Just like when I would try to cover the scent of the clothes. It would work for a little bit, but the next morning it was worse then ever. If we are trying to simply come up with quick fixes for everything in our life, we will end up doing more damage in the end.

Becoming who God created us to be takes work. Riding ourselves from sin and the temptations of this world takes work. It doesn't just happen over night, or when we say a prayer, get a vision or a dream. It happens when we begin put that dream into action. Remember that God is the Creator not because He imagined or envisioned creation. It was because He acted and brought it into existence.

Why should it be any different for the creation that was made in His image?

Childlike Faith

2011-06-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

John 14:12-14 says, ¹² I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Now I've heard this passage many times before, but there is something so profound that really hit me today as I was reading this passage of scripture. Jesus says that anyone who has faith in Him will do even greater things then what He did here on earth. WHAT? How could that even be possible! I mean Jesus raised the dead, He made the blind see, He told the lame to walk, He walked on water, He told the waters to calm, He healed blood diseases, healed the deaf, He healed lepers and fed thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread and a couple of sardines (Just to name a few). If you want my personal opinion, that's pretty amazing, yet in John 21:25 it says, ²⁵ Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. That's awesome but Jesus himself says, "Even greater things you will do, if you have faith in me!"

I ask myself this question, "would I be able to handle all of these miraculous things that Jesus performed today?" I mean think about it! What if you were at a funeral, and you're sitting in the front row and as the pastor is doing the sermon, all of sudden grandma Louis sits up from the coffin and walks out the door! I think all of us (including myself) would probably freak out and probably some of us would meet our LORD a little bit quicker as we would all be falling out of our chairs from heart attacks. But Jesus says, "Even greater you will do!"

I believe that God is waiting for and wanting us to have faith like a child, and He wants us to bring glory to His name, but are you ready? Are you willing? Do you actually BELIEVE in His word? That you can ask for anything in Jesus' name and He will do it!

My prayer today in my life, and for yours is that we have childlike faith and just believe in Him and to know that even greater things are yet to come. "God you must increase, I must decrease."

Believe

2011-06-09T10:27:00.001-07:00

I serve an amazing God. But what happens when things don't seem to go the way you expect? What happens when your life seems to be crumbling before your very own eyes, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to fix it? What happens when the unexpected happens? Someone dies, a disease hits you, your family falls apart or your marriage crumbles? In my few short years in youth ministry I have seen crazy things happen in young peoples lives. I have seen family destroyed because of drugs and alcohol. I have seen students that have lost brothers or sisters or parents to cancer. I have seen students go through things that I myself cannot even imagine going through, and I come to church and I preach about faith, I teach about faith, and I tell stories about faith. I tell them that God is in control, and that he will always be there for them, he will never leave you, that nothing can separate them from the love of God.

Yesterday was probably the most difficult day of my life. Rachel and I found out that our little baby boy has a heart condition and will most likely need to have surgery the day he is born. A whirlwind of emotions instantly hit me, and for the first time in my life, that situation in my life was completely out of my hands. Now the question was, "Do you really BELIEVE what you preach?" I cannot explain what has happened to me in these last few days, but all I can say is that I serve a big God! And it doesn't matter what the doctors report says, I BELIEVE that my baby boy is healed, that he will be born with a perfect heart, a strong heart and will grow up to be a mighty man of God! The same power that conquered the grave lives in me, the same God that rescued the Israelites from Pharaohs hand, that parted the Red Sea lives in me. I thank God that he has given me faith to believe. For the very first time instead of preaching about faith, instead of talking about faith and instead of sharing stories about faith, our students got to watch us PRACTICE faith!

Today I want to challenge you to BELIEVE that God is able. Believe with me today that God can do the impossible. Today maybe you're going through one of the most difficult times of your life and you feel empty, alone or scared. Trust God, and instead of reading about it or learning about it, let's practice it today!

I say this in anticipation and excitement. Watch what God is about to do! He makes all things work together for our good, and sometimes that's hard to except, but I know that in three months the doctors are going to be in awe of what they just saw before their eyes in my baby boys life!

Salvations

2011-04-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

I can't begin to tell you how faithful God has been to me in these last few months. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, "If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself" and even when I fall short, God comes through time and time again. The last four months, God has taken me on an amazing journey. In those four months our attendance at Skyline Student Ministry has grown, but more importantly, 58 students have given their lives to Christ for the very first time! For me though, I have never been so challenged in my life. Why? Because I want to se more people come to Christ!

I once read a quote from Walt Disney that said, "God forgive me when my dreams come true, because that means I have dreamt too small." A book that I just began to read says, "What happens when you dare to ask God for the impossible?" And even though I have looked back on these last four months and have been taken back by what God is doing through Skyline and the leaders, there's a part of me that is wanting more. I have been challenged because I took a good look at the people that I associate with, and realized that almost everybody that I am with, is a believer in Christ Jesus. This saddened me because if Jesus were hear right now, chances are that he would not be hanging out with me. Frances Chan in his book Crazy Love compares Christians that surround themselves with JUST other Christians are like "manure" when piled up, it's just a big pile of nastiness, and is useless, but when spread out over a field, it actually nourishes and helps grow! Isn't that we are called to do? To be a light into the darkness? I'm not saying that it's bad to have Christian friends. By all means, having godly influences in your life to keep you accountable is great, but are we being the hands and feet of Christ, are we being a light to the darkness if the only people we associate with are Christians?

My prayer and vision for this year is this; God I pray that my dreams and visions are intimidating to me, because then they are not insulting to you. Imagine if thousands upon thousands of people, millions upon millions come to Christ, simply because someone would be willing to make a stand.

Seek the Shadows

2011-04-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

I am a person that is always on the move. If you know me at all, you will realize that I am always looking ahead, always dreaming and always planning. If I had to choose one word that best describes me, I would have to say that it would be "DRIVEN." I love challenges and if someone really wants me to do something all they would have to say is, "There's no way you can accomplish that!" There's something in my blood that wants to prove to people that I can do stuff that seems impossible. I have big dreams, but have had to keep myself in check on these dreams. If you were to ask me in the beginning of my years in ministry what I wanted to do, I probably would have said, "Build the greatest youth ministry in the state of Minnesota, and be 500 strong!" But I wanted that all for the wrong reasons. I wanted to be able to say to those that told me that I wouldn't amount to anything, "How do you like me now!" I wanted to feel good about myself and feel important in life.

The biggest thing that I believe everyone struggles with in their life comes from a root issue. Pride. Pride is something that I have to die to everyday, and pride actually roots from insecurities. I would try so hard to impress others and try to manufacture opportunities for myself, but found out quickly that my attempts to impress resulted in me looking unimpressive. For me, trying to accomplish my dreams became exhausting because I was trying to do it myself.

Sometimes you have to die to the dream God has given you so that God can resurrect the dream in its glorified form. And by glorified form, I simply mean pursuing the dream for God's glory. When you stop living for your selfish purposes, the pressure comes off and you begin to write history-HIS-STORY.

My point today? Let God's fingerprints be on your dreams today and step aside. Seek the shadows. We crave the praise of people and want every ounce of credit we think we deserve. But you don't get honor by seeking honor. You get honor by giving honor. So many times we wait to do something right until someone is watching. Do the right thing when no one is watching.

Uniqueness

2011-04-11T13:32:00.001-07:00

Have you ever encountered someone that just seems to have everything going on, and you sometimes wish that you were like that person? I know for me, there are a few people that I really wish I could be like, but I constantly fall short of doing stuff the way they would, and then I find myself frustrated with me because I cannot do stuff the way they do. The fact of the matter is that I will never become that person that I want to be like because I am simply ME!

There has never been and never will be anyone else like you. You are unlike anyone who has ever lived, and your uniqueness is God’s gift to you, and uniqueness is YOUR gift to God. You owe it to yourself to be yourself, and more importantly you owe it to the One that designed you! Because there has never been and never will be anyone exactly like you, that means that you are capable of doing things in a way that no one has ever done, and you begin to live the life and walk out the plans that God has created for you.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Life is so intriguing to me, and everyday that I am alive I discover something new about myself. Lately, I have realized that I was created to worship God, and since I’m created to worship God I can worship Him in a way that no one else can worship him, simply because I am ME. I have realized that I don’t have to sound like that certain person or do something the way someone else does, because I am unique (as many people know that already). God is showing me new things everyday because I have given up on trying to become someone else. Plus, trying to be someone else is exhausting and to be honest, NOT FUN!

It’s time for us to stop trying to become someone else. Like I said before, there has never been and never will be anyone else like you. But remember, that isn’t a testament to you, it’s a testament to the God who created you.

God's Will

2011-04-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

I can't even count how many times that I have prayed this prayer: "God what is your will for my life?" I think that it would be safe to say that almost every person in this world has asked a question similar to that. Everybody wants to know what their purpose in life is, and everybody wants to know what they are supposed to be or where they are supposed to go. My question today is, "Is that really what God's will is for us?" Is what your supposed to be, and where your supposed to go, knowing God's will?

All throughout the bible, there are numerous stories of people that didn't know WHERE they were going, or even knew WHAT they were supposed to be. For instance look at David's life. I can't even imagine how he felt when his brothers got drafted into the military and he get's left behind in charge of tending his father's sheep. He probably felt inadequate and felt that he had no purpose in life. But it was the skills that he learned from tending to the sheep that allowed him to defeat Goliath.

Joseph was left for dead in a cistern, and thrown in jail for years. My point? It's not necessarily WHERE you are at in life, or WHAT you do. God is worried with WHO you are becoming! It took just a day to develop the dream that Joseph had, but it took years to develop him into the dreamer that God created him to be.

Don't give up, don't lose heart if you haven't seen your dreams come to pass. Chances are that God has placed you in your situation for this time, for a purpose. And it's not until your dreams come to pass that you will understand why you had to experience those situations. We have a God that knows the perfect plan and purpose for our life. All we have to worry about is WHO we are, and WHO we are to become!

Take Time

2011-04-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Bible is the most amazing book, and everyday that I read it, it inspires, challenges and up lifts. You can open up to the Psalms if you are feeling down and out, turn to Proverbs if you want wisdom, or turn to Samuel for awesome war stories. If Hollywood were to make a movie on the Bible and portray it just like it is written, it would definitely be rated "R" due to the stories of murder, war, sex, demons, betrayal just to name a few, and wouldn't be allowed to be viewed at Church events (Not to mention, it would probably be the longest movie ever). But every time that I read it, something new sticks out.

Why do I share this? Because I feel that many people don't take time anymore to simply dig into the Word of God. All of life's questions are answered in one single book! God looks for ways to give to us, and all He want's is a relationship with everyone.

My challenge to you today is to simply "Take time alone with God" Go to your favorite place (mine is Starbucks now) open the Bible up, pray, reflect and LISTEN to what God has planned for you. We all make time for the next greatest movie (Cars2 and Pirates of the Caribbean coming out this year) we take time for a sports game or event that is coming up, so let's take time with the creator of the universe.

Even Jesus took time to alone to be with Him.

Mark 1:35 ~Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Chances are you'll probably learn something valuable.

Put a lid on it

2011-04-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

Being married now for almost 4 years has really taught me a lot about myself, other people and how important communication is in life. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have not communicated something to Rachel and as a result, making myself look pretty stupid. Communication is important, BUT one thing that I think we over look or forget is the power of remaining silent. (If only I could have learned that principal during my first few years of marriage.) I think all of us can relate in some way shape or form.

Proverbs 17:28 "Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues"

There is power in words, and that has been something that I have had to learn in just my few years in marriage and in youth ministry. So many times I have been put in situations where I have wanted to spout off at the mouth, but there is that little voice inside that is always saying, "don't say that, you'll regret that." I have seen in many cases people saying things that they wish they would have never said. As a result, relationships have been ruined, and feelings have been hurt that could have been avoided if we simply would have kept our quiet.

Love

2011-04-06T08:39:00.001-07:00

Today I was thinking about a very powerful word, "Love" and as I was thinking about it, my mind instantly went to September 25th 2011. I know that this date doesn't even exist yet, but is a date that I am looking forward to, as this date is the due date of my first child! Even though baby isn't here yet, my perspective on love has changed. I can't even imagine the love that God has for us. Whenever we feel down in life, feel like we are worthless, remember that we have a God that "LOVES" us. Simple thought, but a good reminder

Purpose

2010-11-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

I would have to say that this past Thanksgiving has really got me thinking about life. I can safely say that it's not the turkey talking, but for the past few weeks, I feel like I have hit a wall in my life. I feel useless, not motivated, and even feel a little bit depressed. I remember sitting in my bed at night staring at the ceiling asking myself, "What am I doing in life?" This question has been tearing me apart for the last few weeks, and as I was asking God saying, "What is wrong with me God? Why do I feel this way? I have a great life, my relationship with Rachel is great, I love my job, I love the students of Skyine, but what the heck is my problem?" The problem for me, as God made so clearly to me, was that I am too focused on myself. I ask myself when trying to figure stuff out in life like, what are MY goals, what is MY plan for the future, what are MY dreams? And I have realized that everything has been very self-centered and mainly focused on things that I want in life, and as a result, I find myself lost.

I have gotten lost many times as I have traveled and like most guys, I simply just try figuring it out, and as a result find myself even more lost then when I began. I think that almost every man can agree with that, it is our man nature to figure things out, but I have noticed this pattern in my life also. I am constantly asking myself what do I want, and as a result I end up discouraged, confused, and even lost in life. The answer is simple, if we are lost, what should we do? Ask for directions, and what is usually the case more times than not is that we started in the wrong direction. It is the same with our purpose in life. We must first start with God! What's God's plan, direction, and future for our life look like?

If someone where to come up to you and give you something that you had never seen before, and you had no idea what it was for, and they said, "Make it work to it's full potential" do you think that you could make it happen? I know for me, I would want to inventor or creator to tell me what it was, and at least have the owners manual for the product. The same applies to our walk with Christ. Some of us have no idea what our purpose in life is, I still am trying to figure this out, but the beauty of God is that he has given us the owners manual (the Bible) and a relationship with the creator himself. All we have to do is ask. Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose.

Skiing

2010-09-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

As I was reading and doing my devotionals this week I came across an author that related our relationship with Christ to down hill skiing with no lessons. Of course we enjoy the ski lift. The ride is so nice, so scenic, so relaxing, so beautiful, but when you get off the lift and you make the turn that it hits you: "Where's the lift down?!" You are faced with dangers of going down the huge hill. There are rocks, there are cliffs, and at the very bottom of the hill is the chalet. (Which I have actually ran into when I first learned how to ski!). The only thing left to do, is to lean forward and go for it.
I've experienced this before, as my life got overwhelming, messy, I would turn to God, and He would pick me up, and in other words sets me in the ski lift, but when I get to the top, I'd realize that the journey was really just about to begin. Where ever I made a mess, that's where I have to start cleaning it up. Where ever I failed, that where I had to start. Being a person of faith doesn't mean that I am exempt from this world. I'm still living in the same universe, same skin, same situations, same problems, same weaknesses, and the same circumstances. (Some things don't change). Even though I may not fully realize or recognize this, but what is actually changing is ME. Sometimes it's in the midst in all of our problems that we find out who we truly are. It's when we take the leap of faith even though we may not know the outcome, when we really begin to see the plan God has for us.

Faith- is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. I love reading about Abraham in the Old Testament. It was by faith, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. There is no evidence that Abraham was a bad guy, corrupt, not a mass murderer, or a greedy landowner who needed to get his life in order. All we are told is that he lived in one place where he had security and certainty, and God told him to go on a journey to a place he had no idea of. Just like skiing with no lessons. You will fall, you will face rocks, bumps, may even run into the chalet at the bottom of the hill, but eventually you will get back on the lift, get to the top and realize that you can do this.

The question I ask myself, and I encourage anybody who reads this: Am I willing to move from what I have to what I could create? Am I willing to give up what I know for what I don't know? Am I willing to risk everything i have to create the life I could have?

This is the same tough choices that those who came before us and were marked by faith had to make.

FUNDAMENTALS

2010-09-14T14:06:00.000-07:00

If you are a Christian, why do you follow Jesus? Think about your deepest motivation for following Christ and doing things for Him. I have often thought about why I do the things that I do. Why do I choose to live like Christ did. Have my acts and character reflect true authentic love for Him, or have I been doing things all along just because I have been told my entire life that this is the only way? Are my motives and prayers self centered or are they aimed at honoring God and fulfilling His purposes for my life? I think that every Christian in their life has thought these thoughts, and have asked themselves, "Why do I follow Jesus?"

Last week in Skyline, I preached on "Being Great" and everything boiled down to John 3:30 (He must increase, I must decrease). So the question is, "Where do I begin in order to become great?" As I began to think about this, it simply comes down to "FUNDAMENTALS" When I think about fundamentals, I instantly think of a person who is solid in what they do, and how they do the "basics" perfectly. I relate almost everything to sports since I love athletics, and when you go to a high school basketball game, and one of the player bounces a ball of his or her leg or turns the ball over, the crowd begins to scream/point/laugh saying, "FUNDAMENTALS" Being a fundamentally sound basketball player is what makes them a great player. It's not the flash, its not the fanciness, or hype. It's doing the little thing, and doing the basics perfectly. The same applies to our walk with Christ. Do we do the basics perfectly, or are we all about the flash? Matthew 6:5-6 says, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by man." Personally, and honestly, we all fall into this. We all love the approval of man, and love to look good. But what we do behind closed doors, is where true character is defined. Verse 6 they tells you, "But when you do pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." My question is simple, but I think is a question that we must ask ourselves everyday. "Are we a fundamentally sound Christian?"

Greatness

2010-09-08T13:45:00.000-07:00

As I was thinking about the term "Be Great" I instantly found myself sitting in a tree stand, my Mathews bow in hand, and the cameras in place. It was the beginning of November, and the snow just started to fall as I was sitting there, waiting. You see there are moments in ones life that only come around once in a lifetime, and this was the moment. I looked up, and there he was! The world record whitetail buck coming right into my shooting lane. I started thinking about all the millions of dollars that I was going to make, and all the property that I was going to buy, simply because this was my one shot, the shot of a lifetime to become "GREAT"

For some of you, you're probably thinking that's what you think about when you hear the word "great" but for me that's what comes to mind instantly. We all have our own definitions about what is great, and what is not. My dream is to become a world hunter that goes around speaking to the next generation about God, while sharing my passion for the outdoors. For some of you, it might be becoming the next big lawyer, or plastic surgeon. When I think of great people, I think of, Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, Martin Luther King Jr. Michael Jackson, Amelia Earhart, FDR, Mother Theresa, and Billy Graham. (Just to name a few) I constantly find myself asking this one question, "How did they become great?" Last week in youth group I talked about how God created us from the dirt of the earth, and the reason why he did that was because he has planted seeds in each and everyone one of us. The only place a seed can grow, is in the dirt. We are created to be ourselves, because God has given us something that no one else has, and that is ourselves! No one in this world will be exactly like you, and that's what I believe is the greatness in everyone! OURSELF. I believe all the people that I just listed off became great simply because they just found out who they really were!

I also think of other people in this world that go about unknown. I believe these are the true heros in this world. The youth pastor that is so committed to his students and is in constant prayer for the next generation. The servants in the church that do all kinds of things behind the scenes and give it their all, even though no one may notice. I believe that the people that are out in the secular world building relationships with others, and just being a friend to someone in need are the true heros of this world. It's not who you are what determines what you do, it's what you do that determines who you are! My prayer for everyone today is found in John 3:30. He must become greater, I must become less. Don't think for one moment just because that you are not in ministry that God hasn't called you to Greatness.

GOD LOVES OUR DIRT

2010-08-31T15:14:00.000-07:00

As I was reading in Genesis this past week, I came across a verse that I have over looked for so many years, and have never really thought about. In Genesis chapter 2:7 it says, "the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life, and the man became a living being." For some reason that verse did not just sit right with me. I was like, "God, you made the heavens and the earth, and are preparing a place for us where we 'walk' on streets of gold. Why would you take just a pile of dirt and make us? If you were to have a garage sale for instance, and have a pound of dirt, and a pound of gold, which one would you think has more value? Yet God chose to make us from dirt.

For me, I personally love being dirty, but my wife Rachel hates being dirty. She's always yelling at me saying, "wear shoes you dufus, or take a shower before you go to bed." We are always washing ourselves and cleaning our house and afraid that something might get dirty.

As I was getting a little upset with this passage, I just started to laugh, because God was like, "Jordan, you cant grow anything in gold so shut up!" As I began to think about it more and more, God loves us so much that he made us of dirt. We all fall short, and make mistakes in our lives. Some of us have had a horrible life so far, some of us may be living in lies or have addictions and struggles that nobody knows about. In other words, each and everyone of us have DIRT. But inside all of that dirt, each one of us has a seed waiting to grow. GOD LOVES OUR DIRT. We all have a chance to grow into the person that God has created us to be, and it doesn't matter that we have dirt, and because of dirt, we have LIFE.

Blindness

2010-08-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

It seems like yesterday that I received my very first pair of glasses. I remember it so vividly because I was in 3rd grade and everyone made fun of me. I tried my best to hide all the anger and emotion that was inside, and for those that know who I am, I can get pretty fired up very quickly. (Even as a pimply 4 eyed 3rd grader) 6th grade rolled around and my parents finally allowed me to go get contacts. We went to the eye doctor and basically he told me that I was going to have to wait because my vision was going to continue to get worse and I had a horrible stigmatism. (Once again I went home crying) Finally when I was a freshman in high school I was able to get contacts for the very first time in my life. From my freshman year till the end of my sophomore year my eyes continued to worsen, and my eyes prescription went from a -6.25 to a -7.25 (which a -8.0 is considered to be legally blind. But thankfully I didn't have to wear those coke bottled eye glasses anymore and could still wear contacts!

This morning I was reading out of Mark chapter 8:22-26, and there is a story of Jesus healing the blind man at Bethsaida. We find in this story an interesting twist, when Jesus spits in the mans eyes and touches him, he asks, "what do you see?" the man replies, "I see people; they look like trees walking around." Once more Jesus puts His hands on him and the mans eyes are open. I have always wondered why Jesus didn't just heal him right away, but when we look back in the beginning of the chapter Jesus feeds the 4,000 with just a few loaves and a few fish. After he does this miracle they immediately get into a boat and crossed over to the other side. As they were in the boat the disciples had forgotten to bring the bread except for one loaf. Jesus was aware of their discussions and said, "do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears to hear but fail to hear?"

This absolutely blows me away that the disciples are freaking out right after they have seen Jesus perform this amazing miracle of feeding the 4,000 and yet they are worried that they will not have food. I go back to the healing of the blind man, and realize that this takes place right after the disciples lack of faith. I believe Jesus performed 2 miracles that day as he spit into his face and he saw people that look like trees. I believe the first miracle was Jesus healing the mans spiritual eyes, and they he healed the mans physical eyes. I was able to finally see without glasses when I was entering into my junior year of high school. That same summer, I had an encounter with God that changed my life still to this day. I can see in the physical realm now, but that summer God healed my spiritual eyes, and has allowed me to have compassion for people that are lost.

Grey's Anatomy

2010-07-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

Grey's Anatomy

For the last few weeks, my wife persuaded me into watching Grey’s Anatomy with her. To my surprise, I have fallen into the trap of the show and have grown to love the relationship between Mc Dreamy (Dr. Shepherd) and Meredith Grey. I would say that this relationship is almost comparable to the drama between Ross and Rachel of the TV series Friends. Not only is this series full of drama between certain characters, but it is also jam-packed of accidents, blood and things that we as men love. I think the reason why I am so captivated by this show is because the main story line includes 4 intern doctors whose dream is to someday become a surgeon. As I was watching it last night, Izzie (one of the characters in Grey’s) quit because things just got too difficult for her, and as a result she gave up her dream of becoming surgeon. I have been reading this book called, “Wide Awake” and it mostly talks about dreams. The fact of the matter is that when we are pursuing our dreams that God has given us, sometimes we face difficulties and obstacles. Sometimes things just don’t drop in our laps (sometimes they do) but in most cases we really have to pursue these dreams in order for them to happen. The bible has the best story of a man who was given a dream by God, and it took not days, months, or even years, but decades for this dream to come to pass. We all know him as Joseph. In Joseph’s case, and in most of our cases, the problem wasn’t about how long it took for the dream to come to pass, but how long it took to make the dreamer. We all have dreams, and want them to see them come true, but sometimes we get lost in seeing these dreams come true, that we become someone else. We also have to be careful about what our dreams are also. God is not going to invest himself in a dream fueled by greed, arrogance, self-indulgence, and self-centeredness, and we cannot begin to live the dream God has for us until we stop caring about only ourselves. Joseph is motivation for me to never stop dreaming, and I truly believe that when God puts dreams into our hearts, that they will come to pass. Some dreams may take a lifetime to see happen, but God has his perfect plan, and it might be in the middle of the process where we truly find ourselves.

Wide Awake

2010-07-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

I just began reading this new book called "Wide Awake" and as I was reading through just the few chapters that I have read so far, I actually sat back and re-evaluated my life. The book talks about our dreams that we have, and that many of us struggle to find a dream that doesn't turn out to be a disaster. It talks about how sometimes when our dreams come true, that they are nothing like we thought them to be, and even though we thought that this was the life we always wanted, the life that we would kill for, sometimes gets turned and almost kills us. The book talks a little bit about how the fight sometimes isn't just between good and evil, but between less and more. I have asked myself this many times, "could I have given more" It is so easy to fall into the trap of being content in this world. The world needs us at our best, because this world is made better or worse by the people we choose to become. Sometimes in my life, I have thought, "Is this what God really wants me to be?" I could bet my life savings that all of us have been there at some time in our life. Are we living a life worth living for? Are we living wide awake to what God has in store for us? If we're not, we need to be, because there is so much to be done, there is so many people that need help. If there is that little bit of sadness that greets you in the morning, then maybe you're not doing what you are supposed to be doing. Wake up, and become the hero that is in all of us.

Kyleigh Warner

2010-07-02T16:15:00.000-07:00

This is Kyleigh's story. She is one of our students at Skyline Student Ministries and is just a very cool girl. Listening to her story inspires me, and really helps me stay focused on what matters most in life. Jesus, and reaching as many students that I can while I am here on earth.

This is My Life

2010-07-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

During the month of June, Skyline Student Ministries has been in a series called "This is My Life" This series has been a huge success listening to the stories of students, and seeing how God has touched their lives. As a youth pastor your job is to inspire the lives of students, but the more that you work with teenagers, you find that they inspire you. God has really been doing some great things at Skyline. Two weeks ago, I had the two students that shared their stories on a Wednesday night give the altar response at the end of service, and 7 students accepted Jesus Christ into their lives for the very first time! I am excited for the next few weeks, and pray that God does even more amazing things in this series.

Blogging

2010-06-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

I have finally figured out how to do a blog. I'am stupid when it comes to technology and all that stuff, but I'am determined to continue to do this at least twice a week. So for all that will be following and a checking up on me, be ready for at least two a week. But I am getting ready for a summer full of camps, worship and many trips. PRAY FOR ME!