Confession . . .

Hi my name is Adam Short and I'm a Facebook junkie. I'm not sure how it started, but I know that it is a problem. Maybe it was that first comment someone left me on my status that made me think "hey, this telling everyone what I'm doing at all times could never be annoying to anyone."

I can say that for some reason I enjoy having everyone know what I'm doing, but at the same time can see the reason why some people have a problem with that.

I sense no problem with this and maybe making this confession is a good first step on the road to recovery. But then again, I have no problem with it. There are so many people out there that need to know what we are doing throughout the day, we can not let them down.

For now, we must fight to keep the updates coming, while still being able to admit that there is a problem. I say update often . . . and often update. This my friends will be what brings us to wholeness in our Facebook lives.

My favorite commercial

ok . . . so I'm not really one to put a bunch of videos on my blog, but here is another one of my favorites, it's actually my newest favorite commercial. So here it is . . .

Stop It

I came across this video on the advice of a friend. It is a great training video for those of us who do any type of counseling with people. You will laugh . . .

POWER

If I stick my finger in a power socket, chances are pretty high that I will be electrocuted and possibly killed. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to stick your finger into socket just to see what happens? I'm not saying that I have a death wish, I've just been thinking about power lately.

I look up at the lights in my house and just wonder in amazement at the power that is held within these lights. The same power that can kill me, lights my house; the same power that could kill me entertains me with my TV. That is amazing power!

I think that the same is true with God. We have all heard the old sayings about tapping into the "power of God," but have we truly contemplated what that power can actually do. God's power is strong enough to kill us, yet so many times we have no desire to stick our fingers in the sockets so to speak.

We will wake up everyday and flip a switch and tap into the power that is so strong it could fry our brains, yet we will not do the same thing with our relationship with God and if you think that it is not about a relationship, you are wrong. There really isn't a better way to say that.

A lot of us out there go to church every week and sometimes more than once per week, yet we have no idea how to flip the power switch with our relationship with God. So many times we turn it into a religion more than a relationship. There is an old hymn that says "there is power in the blood," but my fear is that we who are "Christians" either don't believe that anymore, or just never knew what power was to begin with.

God's power can light up our lives to be radiant and to light up the darkness and as cheesy as that might sound, it is so true. If we are believers and followers of Jesus, then we should be the light everywhere we go, just like the light bulbs do in our homes.

I don't know about you, but I want to stick my finger in the God socket!

Taking a Break

I have come to a realization in my life as of today December 18, 2008. I have decided that I just do not like college. I hate that all you out there that read this might be in college and I do not want you to be dismayed. You should complete your degree and stay in school. I haven't said that I'm quitting school, but I do feel like it. That's why after much thought I have decided to take a 6 week break from school. I mean, it's only a 6 week break, then I am right back into hard classes that will help me continue my education towards a degree.

Now for the real reason that I am feeling this way lately and why I believe that while I need to finish school for me, I need to stop worrying about finishing school for anyone else but me and God.

I realize that God just doesn't care about a piece of paper whether it be a degree that says I have completed a track on pastoral studies, or even a piece of paper that says I am licensed to preach the Gospel. Why do we put so much emphasis on the paper more than the calling?

This is pretty much the problem that I am faced with right now. I want to continue to learn the rest of my life, but is a piece of paper saying that I learned really the answer? To be honest I could probably learn more from reading books that I enjoy than getting books for class that I don't like and don't read anyway. I can only say for the three years that I've been in school, I have probably only finished 1/10th of the reading. Some of the books I truly enjoy and still refer to and read today, however some of the books I just can not bring myself to read.

Is there anyone out there that feels that as a "Christian" society we put way too much emphasis on the piece of paper that says we are a preacher more than the calling the God has placed on our lives?

These are just my thoughts . . .

A quickie

It is late, and I am very tired. I haven't made a post in a long time and I'm not really sure the reason. Maybe I have been busy, and maybe I justed haven't had anything to say. I feel like I am beginning to have some thoughts well up inside me though and know that they will begin to come out here.

I'm not suggesting that I will be making posts here everyday, but will be doing my best to make posts as I feel God giving me something to say.

So for tonight, here is what's been going on in my feeble mind. . .

I know that God always has our best interests at heart. I know that he will always be there for us no matter if we serve him or if we fall away from him. I am not saying that I personally have fallen away from him at all, but know that sometimes we can let ourselves slip into a state of thinking that is not healthy. There are so many things that I believe God has called me to be and sometimes it is difficult to tread through that mucky water. I don't think that God will ever put anything in our path that doesn't have a reason. I don't think he will ever give us more than what we can handle.

God will be ther when we need him
God will hear us when we call
God will pick us up when we are down
God will allow us to love without condition
God will give us the desires of our hearts, no matter what that may be, even if it is seeing a relationship be restored.
God will bring us from dark to light
God will live with us
God will direct every step of our lives
God will forgive us . . .

There is nothing that can separate us from God's love and I know that when we feel like nothing will give; when we feel like we are too far away from him, we realize that all we have to do is turn to him for strength, love, and forgiveness.

I don't know if any of this makes sense to you, like I said I am tired and it is late and I am just talking out loud here. Ponder on this . . . where in your life do you really need him today? Where are you secretly crying out for him? Remember, you are never but a conversation away from being in his arms. . .

Signs

I’m not sure why I do this, but maybe you’re like me and do this too. Do you ever make sure and read every church sign that you pass by? I do, basically because there are so many funny ones and then there are the one’s that say, “hey we put a lot of thought into this.” You know the ones that I’m talking about, like the one that says: “sign broken . . . message inside.” Or maybe you’ve seen the cheesy one like I saw this week that says: “if you can’t pray a door open, don’t pry it open.” That’s just funny; it doesn’t even make sense to me. But like I said before, maybe you’re not like me, maybe, just maybe, I am the type that gets pure joy out of the witty, or unwitty thinking of others. It gives me great joy to be able to remember these signs that then be able to tell my wife, or the other youth pastors here about them.

I recently moved and when I did my commute changed. The sad thing about this commute change is that I don’t get to pass by the two churches that always have the best signs. Now on my commute, I don’t get to see any church signs.

So what am I really getting at here? Well, last Friday I had to go to the eye doctor for my yearly exam (6 months late mind you) so I could refill my contacts. On my way to the eye doctor I passed a church right up the street from where I was going. This sign gave me something to really think about while in the waiting room.

Here’s what it said, this is all it said on this big sign: “Visitors Welcome.”

Now I know you were probably expecting something more spectacular, but that’s it: “Visitors Welcome.” I can also hear all of you out there saying, “Adam, that’s a great sign, its showing that visitors are welcome at that church.” Here’s the thought process that my mind went through when I saw that sign. I started thinking about what did that church do to make it necessary to put a sign out that tells visitors that they are welcomed at this church?

It may be absolutely nothing that they did, but why must we even have signs that say anything like that. Shouldn’t that be assumed? Now, I know the old saying if you assume you make a, well you know the rest. I mean, shouldn’t that be a known fact that visitors are welcomed? Shouldn’t we as Christ followers make it a point to ensure that when people do visit that they feel so welcomed, that they go and tell people how welcomed they felt? Would that make it unnecessary for us to have a sign outside that tells people they are welcomed to come?

I know I shouldn’t get this way when I see these things, but I just do. I want Jesus oozing out of me so much that people feel welcomed whether it is at the grocery store or when they walk into my church building. I want people to walk away knowing that there is love in this place. I don’t want a sign to tell people that there is love because we welcome visitors. Maybe I’m wrong here, but I just think that God wants us to love people so much that there is never a time that anyone can second guess whether we are warm and welcoming to our visitors.

My thought is this: When will we stop just putting out signs and really start just loving people?