Life Lessons from Barbacue Sauce

3 weeks ago I got a job at Damon's Bar and Grille. It was a blessing, because I had been looking for a job for about 3 months. Correy works at Damon's, and ended up getting Link a job there. One day, Link and I had to run an errand to Correy at work, and the Kitchen Manager happened to be in. Correy asked him if he needed a dishwasher, and he said yes. So, on the spot, I got a job as a dishwasher.

I was pretty excited. So, have been working the weekend shifts for the past few weeks. Work pertains of me standing in one spot for multiple hours, scrubbing lots of barbecue sauce off of dishes, pans, plates, trays, and the like. Damon's also specializes in their "Famous Onion Loaf". Because of this, I often come home reeking of onions and barbecue sauce.

Yesterday, about 2 hours into my battle with the barbecue sauce, God taught me something. Usually when I work, I either let my mind drift to Alpha Centuri and back, or sing worship songs. Yesterday, my mind had been drifting for about 2 hours. I realized that the subject matter of my mind as it drifts usually pertains to my future. I think about all these things that I think will make my life better. Usually my thoughts go like this. 'So, 1 year from now if _________ happens, then that will lead to ________, which will help me achieve ________, which will then make me happy.' The things in the blank lines differ, but it all comes back to the same thing. I am not content with what I have. I am not rejoicing in the things God has given me. I am not loving Jesus today.

For most of my life, I have thought I will be happy when ________ happens. It has been all about the next experience. It has been all about the next adventure. In my mind, I have been seeing through the things God has blessed me with. Some of those things are...my brothers in Christ that I live with, being mentored by Don and Travis, my family, my friends back home, all the stuff that I have that I don't really need in my closet in Ohio and in Massachusetts... etc. CS Lewis said it well.

"You cannot go on seeing through things for ever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. . . . If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To see through all things is the same as not to see.”

I have not appreciated the things that God has given to me to enjoy. I have been so focused on "the next thing" that I have been thereby seeing through the things God has placed all around me. My inability to be satisfied with the things God has given me now has blinded me of the joy in treasuring those very gifts. I think a new adventure will bring me joy. And then when I am on that adventure, I am not satisfied. All I can thing about is the next adventure, which I think will bring me joy. And then it doesn't produce again, so I think about the next adventure. The cycle endlessly repeats itself.

That is the reason I have such a hard time committing to being in one place for an extended amount of time. Thankfully, by the grace of God, He is changing that.

So yesterday, God hit me with a verse. Timothy 6:7-10 says

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

and then it goes on to say in verse 11

"But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness"

I believe Godly contentment is one of the most valuable lessons we can learn in life. To be content in every situation, whether in riches or in rags. Only through the love of Christ is this possible. If we fix our eyes on Jesus, and set our minds on the things that are unseen and eternal instead of the temporary, then God will fill us will all joy, peace, and contentment as we trust in Him.

"But you, man of God, flee from all this. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love endurance, and gentleness."

"For Godliness with contentment is great gain"

God had to use barbecue sauce in New Philadelphia, Ohio to get that to penetrate my heart. Sometimes the messy things in life teach you the most. I wonder if it will be onions today? I will find out.


JN

Truth

The question was posed yesterday "What is truth?".

So, I ask you. What is truth? Take a few minutes and think about it.


Yesterday, we were watching a video series called The Truth Project. The video showed clips of normal Americans giving their answer to the question "what is truth?". There were a variety of answers. Here are a few

"Truth is honesty"

"Truth is whatever we make it to be"

"There is no such thing as absolute truth"


(And one of my favorites, that I disagree with, but I still enjoy listening to the answer.)

(me paraphrasing)
"Picture the human race standing in a cathedral. (A really big cathedral). Upon the ceiling there are glass window pains with light shining through them. Near the alter all the light comes together to form one really bright light. But when we look up at the windows, we see all different kinds of rays of light, all shining to the center. Truth is the collection of all of those rays of light. We may look at truth through the lens of Christianity. We may look at truth through the lens of Agnosticism. We one look through truth through the lens of science. But ultimately, all truth is relative to us and we are free to believe what ever truth we want to believe."

The interesting thing is that most of the people that were asked looked like they were trying to figure out what their definition of truth was as they were talking. That kind of baffled me, because, at least for me, what I believe is true is the most important think about how I live my life and how I look at the world. I know there are many people who are going to read this blog and disagree with my view of Truth, that Jesus Christ is The Truth (John 14:6) and He is the Son of the living God (John 1:1-18, Philippians 2:,5-11) and that is fine. But I would think that if what we believe about truth defines how we live and how we look at the world, we probably should know how to articulate it if we were asked.

Here is why I enjoy thinking about this answer about the cathedral.

If you did not know, that answer is from the position of Universalism. In simple terms, a universalist will believe that there is a little bit of truth from every religion and when you combine all of them, then you will find truth (or some of it is truth and not all of it. Both positions are valid in that church). If you want to read more about Universalism, just follow the wikipedia link or google it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universalism. What is interesting about this answer, is, that it is probably the most common answer we see in America today. The idea that truth is relative, is a very popular idea today. Many people will not associate themselves with the Universalist Church, but still believes a lot of their doctrines without realizing it.

So, my point in all of this, is this. If truth is relative to us, then how do we know it is truth? If one person says "Christianity is truth", and another says "Buddhism is truth", and yet another says "The flying spaghetti monster is truth", and all three of those agree each position they hold is valid, how can we know which is true? Are they all true?

Truth must be objective in order for there to be truth. Another question... If one hold's two positions of truth, for example, say someone believes the idea that God just created the world and stepped back from interacting with Creation but also likes the Mormon idea that every man will rule their own planet with over 50 wives (don't quote me on the number of wives), and chooses to believe both, then how can he believe both? How can he believe more than one truth?

I love what this 13 year old kid said on the in an interview. "There has to be a fixed truth for the universe to function properly"
I agree. Take morality for example... If truth is relative, what if one believes that murder is good and apart of culutre, like many tribes do in Papua New Guinnea, and then another person believes murder is evil? Then each person has a right to believe whatever they believe because their interpretation of truth is truth for them. So the guy that thinks murder is good can go kill as many people as he wants because he lives by his view of truth. It doesn't matter that the other man thinks murder is evil, because murder is 'good' for the one man and evil for the other. There is no absolute moral law that defines what is good and what is evil. That is the inevitable outcome of everyone believing truth is relative to themselves.

So, here are a few question to think about.

If you are a follower of Jesus:

Can you explain what you believe is Truth?

Does your belief of truth affect how you live? And if so, to what degree?

Jesus says in Luke 9:23 "If any man would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me."

Is that your response for believing Jesus as truth, denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Him?

If not, why?



If you are not a follower of Jesus:

What do you believe is truth?

Does it affect your every day life? to what degree?

Are you satisfied with your life in regards to your belief of truth?



Thank you for bearing with me on this blog. I know it was longer and a little deeper than the past ones. But I feel like this is a discussion that needs to happen. If anyone has any questions, or would like to dialogue further, shoot me a message on facebook or an email at cjoshuanims@gmail.com


If you want to probe this issue further, I reccommend reading Mere Christianity, by C.S Lewis. If you really want to try and tackle it, read The Reason For God, by Timothy Keller.



Thanks for reading and hearing my thoughts. Feedback is always appreciated, even if you disagree with me. :)



Loving Jesus,

JN

Let Your Kingdom Come

This past weekend I was in Texas. Yeah... Texas. That's what I said. I still can't believe I was there. I went with a group of 13 college age adults from Wayne and Holmes County. We drove through 4 states (Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas). I had never been to any of these states, so my eyes were fixed out the window for a good part of the trip. We left on Thursday morning at 7, and then drove for the next 23 hours... not getting into Waco, Texas until 7 the following day. (There is a time change). The reason we went to the Lone Star State was for a missions conference called World Mandate. The mission for the conference was pretty simple... Let Your Kingdom Come.

I have never been so filled with joy, then I was the last 3 days. Gathered with 4000 of my brothers and sisters in Christ, we jubilantly declared that His Kingdom Will Come. There were hundreds of stories of faith that were told, mostly by a man named Jim Yost, who has lived in Papua New Guinnea for the last 30 years of his life living out the gospel and proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ.

I was reminded of the goodness of God, and how in His love, he has set me free and taken of the chains that have held me down for so long. For a lot of my life I have believed the lies of Satan. Satan often tells me I am a loser and I am not worth anything. He tells me that no one likes me and no one wants to be around me. For the last 8 years of my life, I have struggled with self identity and self worth. I would walk into a room and be so afraid of what people think of me. Jesus Christ released me from that this weekend. He told me my name. He told me that I am Joshua and I am a Son of the Most High God.

God deeply cares about humanity and desperately wants to give us life... so much, that He did. He sent Jesus. In Hebrews, it says Jesus is the exact representation of of God. Essentially that means that if God were to become human... (which he did) Jesus is what God would look like, (And Jesus is what God looks like in human form, because Jesus is God).

This weekend I was reminded of the simple truth that we all have learned in sunday school... that Jesus loves me.
He loves me. Me.

As I sit on this comfy couch at New Grounds Cafe in Sugarcreek, I can not help but rejoice that Jesus loves me.




More to come from my memories of Texas


Be Encouraged that you are loved by the King


JN

random thoughts from a coffee shop

I am sitting at the Daily Grind next to Correy. He is fixated in his book, Crazy Love. I am just sitting here, thinking. I love local coffee shops... for many reasons.













One, being, the non-corporately brewed coffee that is cheap... not the equivalent of 2 gallons of gas. And I love the simplistic names they have for their sizes. Small. Medium. Large. My non college educated brain can't take anything else. One time I was in Starbucks and I was trying to figure out how much a small coffee was, but I didn't see the word "small" on the sizes. I saw "Venti". It really confused me. I wasn't sure if Venti was equivilent to a small, or a little bigger than a small, or a little less than a medium. I don't even know what Venti means. I think its a Greek word or something. (Yes, I do have some opinions against institutionalized coffee. Can you tell?)
Two, I love the local feel. This coffee shop in New Philly epitomizes Ohioans. Simple. Friendly. Sincere.
Three, I love the smell. Every half hour or so Tammy, the owner, grinds up some beans. What is sweet about it, is that there are about 50 containers of coffee beans around the shop, just set out for inquisitive customers like me.
Fourth and last, I love that I would thoroughly enjoy sitting here all day with one or two close friends.

I was thinking about the Church and coffee shops and how the Church has set a subconscious precedent that coffee shops are where discipleship happens, one hour a week. I disagree with that mindset.

When I look at the Gospels, I don't see Jesus sitting by a java bar in Jerusalem, interviewing his disciples, using a structured text in order to prepare 12 men to change the world. I see Jesus walking by the shores of Galilee, yelling at two fisherman "Come! Follow me". I see the two brothers look at each other and throw the caught fish back into the water as they make their way to the shore to take up Jesus's offer. I see the three of them walking, and Jesus saying "Hey, there is this party I got invited to. Its a friend of mine's wedding actually. Lets go!" I see Jesus and the twelve climbing mountains, walking miles in between towns, staying in peoples homes, and eating breakfast at sunrise on lake Tiberius. The point I am making is that discipleship happens in the context of life, not the context of a coffee shop. I agree that a coffee shop can absolutely be setting where discipleship takes place, but the coffee shop is not the means discipleship. The Holy Spirit is.

I love Off The Wall because discipleship happens. It happens in a variety of places and in a variety of settings none of which are constrained to a specific location. The idea of "lets get coffee and talk about the depths of your life in one hour" is so American. Now, I am by no means bashing weekly 1 hour coffee meetings. In fact, I have them regularly. But, the people I meet with understand that our meeting is not the means of an end. Discipleship will not finish when I get in my car and go home. Because, I am being discipled by Jesus, through the Holy Spirit and God's Word, under the authority of Travis Troyer and Don Stubbs who are both under the authority of Countryside Chapel and Almighty God.

Life is so interesting sometimes. God reveals something to you that gets you thinking for weeks and then you realize that what he revealed is just a piece of a bigger picture. And I am like "shoot!". "God, i want to know now!." That is kind of what I feel like now. God is teaching me so much... and I don't know what it is for. But I know "that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

If I knew the reason for everything, it wouldn't be an epic adventure anymore... would it?

It is amazing what a little coffee and the Holy Spirit can do. Now I am excited. And I am going to Texas tomorrow. Sweet.


JN

Quenching the Spirit

I was at the gym this morning in the locker room, and I heard Don singing. Don sings all the time. This morning, he had 'Stronger' by Hillsong United stuck in his head. I think that one is one of his favortites.

Before I came to Off The Wall, I was never much of a singer in public. I have a crappy voice and I never really wanted to have other people hear me sing worship songs in the grocery store or wherever I happened to be in public. But the funny thing is, Don has a pretty bad voice too. He jumps keys all the time and forgets lyrics and mumbles. But he keeps on singing. For Don, singing is about worshiping Jesus, and he doesn't really care what people think or where he is.

I remember the fist time I met Don. It was about a year ago. We were in a Starbucks in New Hampshire, and Don walked in singing as loud as he possibly could. This was my first 'Don experience', as I like to call them. I stood next to him as he ordered his coffee and sang 'The Motions' by Matt Redman as loud as he could to the barista. She just looked at him like he was crazy and didn't really know how to respond. I wanted to go hide in a corner.

In 1 Thesselonians, Paul commands "Do not quench the Spirit of God" or in another translation "Do not put our the Spirit's fire".

I quench the Spirit so much. Probably every day. I can not recount the number of times I have been in a setting of worship at a church or at youth group and God tells me to get on my face and my response is "NO!". I am like "God, what will all these people think of me!?" But the worst part about it is that I am worshiping God with my brothers and sisters in Christ! Why would anyone of us care what position we take in worship. That is the reason we all gather, to worship. And the funny thing is that whenever I happen to see someone on their face or with thier hands raised, I am like "wow. that is awesome. I am going to worship like that." But why are we so hesitant to get on our knees when no one else is. It really should not matter.

Yesterday I was in subway ordering a sandwich. I love subway. It is by far my favorite fast food restaurant. This subway is right across the street from the house and I tend to be a frequent customer. So I see the same guys working there. God has had a way of telling me to talk to people. I don't know what it is, but something inside of me says "talk to this person". I get that a lot. So i am standing in line and I hear God say to talk to the guy making my sub. And I am like "no, i don't really want to right now. I don't want to inconvience myself." So I stood there fore about 2 minutes watching him make my sub and that urge would not go away. So i finally just couldn't take it anymore. So I asked the guy if he liked working at subway and told him that I wanted to get a job there really bad. The conversation really was not that big. I talked to him for about a minute and he gave me my sub and I left. As I was walking home, thoughts just filled my mind as to why I don't listen to the Holy Spirit. So often I repeatedly tell Him "No".

If we are to grow in Christ, it is essentinal that we do not quench the Spirit of God and put out it's fire.

Can you say confidently that in this season of your life you are growing in Christ?

If not, have you ever asked yourself if you quench the Spirit?

Would you define yourself as a passionate, obedient follower of Christ?

I feel like God is teaching me so much right now. I hope this blog encourages you to chase the Spirit and followe wherever He leads. When we are obedient in the small things, like listeing to "God tugs" and asking the cashier at Walmart how her day is, God faithful in giving us opportunites to Glorify Him in the big things.

JN

my random thoughts on Christmas day

I am sitting here on my couch in my parent's warm home, snuggled up next to my dog with a hot cup of amaretto coffee on Christmas afternoon. The vacation has been really, really, special. It is my first vacation as a non-resident of 21 Essex Avenue in South Hamilton Massachusetts. So Christmas is different, but still very much the same.

In a lot of my blogs, so far, I have either told a story or just shared my thoughts. This one, however is going to be written on the spot... meaning, whatever I am thinking at the moment is going to appear on your screen.

It just hit me how much I haven't appreciated the people in my life, until recently, specifically, this past October when I left for Off The Wall ministries in Ohio. Two days ago, I was on a train by my self, headed for Boston. I was going to see 7 of my friends from the Compass program. (This past summer I spent 1 month with 26 youth from all around New England hiking mountains, taking seminary courses, and teaching children English in Costa Rica, all the while learning more about life and following Jesus.) As I was staring out the window, seeing the harbors of the Atlantic pass by I got a very depressed feeling. Now I like being alone, but I am realizing I much prefer the company of people that I love. I am learning that I could go on adventure after adventure to the four corners of the Earth, but if I am not with people dearest to my heart to share the experience with, then the experience is only an experience, not a memory. I feel like to define something as a memory, it must be an experience that is shared.

So as I was on that train, I started thinking about my friends who were awaiting my arrival in Boston. And I got really, really, excited. But the reason I got excited was not that they were just my friends, but they were by brothers and sisters in Christ. I call a lot of my friends brother or sister, but I never actually stop to sit down and think about what that actually means. It blows my mind that my closest friends, are not just my friends, but through Christ's blood, have become by spiritual family. Took look into the eyes and call someone 'brother' or 'sister' knowing that their heart has been captivated by the same Savior that has captivated mine.... that is an indescribable joy that only God could think up. (And He did)

Well I am going to have to sign off. My parents are taking my sister and I on a walk to strawberry hill, a now snow covered marsh that's shores kiss waves of the Atlantic.

So on this Christmas day, I wish you joy and peace in abundance. I pray that you are filled with awe and wonder at the mention of the name of the King, who, about 2000 years ago, lay in a manger as a helpless babe. (historians think Jesus was actually born in March, but that is beside the point)

Remember our Lord today and everyday. His birth, life, death, and resurrection.

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2:8-14


JN

Hope in the midst of sorrow

A good friend of mine recently got back from Piedras Negras, Mexico. Joe has been going there once a month for the past 2 years. He has been building relationships with locals, working with a children's home and doing service projects. His last update really inspired and encouraged me, so i thought I would share it with you. Blessings

JN


"Wow what an amazing gift to have a home in Piedras Negras. This past weekend renewed my mind and humbled my heart. This is the common trend among those who are willing to admit that the power unto all life is within the hands of God. His hands are like that of a mighty warrior, strong to uphold those who are faltering and powerful to defeat the enemies coming to take away the joy of the destitute. Five of us had the oppertunity to follow and learn from a small group of prison ministers this weekend. Somthing amazing happens when you leave your comfort zone and personal agenda behind for the call of Christ, suddenly you become part of the human race. Within the prison walls you find ripe ground for deception, cold stone floors to rest upon, flys to walk upon your skin, cold steel to encamp your spirit, and faces in an ocean of ambiguity wondering why on this planet they exist and wander. Their names are traded for new ones describing their sadness, prostitute, criminal, dog, scoundral, son or daughter of shame. Yet Gods plan is to change those names to ones that represent the sons and daughters of a king. However stern walls and razor wire fences ensure that hope is out of reach, the sky becomes their only means of of escape, yet often that is stolen with their detention to a rigid cell. Yet there on the unforgiving chilled stone floor you find the stark truth of the human condition. We are all beggers, our souls are bare before the Lord who sees our deception, dishonesty, and disgrace. His understanding and insight of who we are as ones fighting against his Lordship brings us into awe of his grace. This weekend the power of the gospel washed my life all over again.
The word contrite, used to describe those with whom God dwells in Isaiah, is not just a mere brokeness. Contrite means ground into a powder, not just undone and sad, not just fractioned into a few pieces, not self pitying and low but crushed and ground into a dust. This is what I experienced in the prison among the the cells. The word gospel, used to describe the message and life of Jesus, is not mere good news. Not simply ask God into your heart and he'll help you do what you can not do, but surrender your life to his Lordship and follow him unto life. It is unparralleled possesion of the entirity of the eternal power of God by gift in Jesus Christ. This is also what I experienced in the prison. The contrite powder of those womens souls was mixed with the water of life, which produces a solid foundation as powdered cement mixed with water produces a solid foundation for a home. Four women in the prison asked to recieve this water of life. After listening to the witness of a restored heart they all were found wanting. Every one had been known as a prostitute, had given their bodies away in hopes to find a lasting relationship of love. Yet none had found it. Anna, the lady who shared her life story, was molested at the age of 5 by her uncle. Everytime she saw her uncle until she was 12yrs old he took advantage of her, forcing her to perform sexual pleasure for him. She made a promise in her heart to kill any man who ever touched her again. She eventually heard how Jesus came to earth, a gift from God, and lived on earth. How he taught and claimed to be the representation of the almighty God that created this very earth. How all people have choosen to reject God and sought to find pleasure in inferior things. How he promised to take away the barrier between herself and this pure God. So she surrenderd her life to him. He changed her name, that now she is a princess, the daughter of the most high king. She still harbored anger and pain in her heart from geing molested from such a young age. She could not believe that she could ever be restored. She was pursued in college by a man, whom she told to go away many times. Eventually she went on a date with him. But she would not allow him to touch her. After some months he asked her to spend the rest of her life with him. She decided she would tell him her story. She told him that if he touched her she would kill him, he told her that she would have to kill him then. She was amazed he wanted her after finding out she wasn't a virgin,a big deal in Mexican culture. The honeymoon night came and she knew what was expected. The next morning her husband said "You're a liar, you told me you were not a virgin". She realized that through her walk with Jesus the former shame had been taken away and Christ had restored her 100% percent. Now she has 3 children, a loving husband, and a satisfied soul. She gives her life to the women in the prison to show them that there is no situation or condition of the heart that cannot be washed clean in a response to the call of Christ.
Now my heart and mind burn. What is it going to take to wake us from our slumber? How many more hours will we waste infront of the television. How many dollars will we throw away on emptieness? What will it take to shake our souls into life and quit living in fear? How could any one witness this and not be changed? And guess what your story is just like Annas. You have been scared, you have been taken advantage of, you have lived in unforgivness, you have hated your fellow man based on your pain. You are the child who throws your life into empty things that don't satisfy, rejecting his ways of love, honesty and purity. We are the children of shame selling our lives out to idols and things. What will it take for us to see that we no longer are under this curse? How long will we refuse to accept Gods way and look for our own glory in every situation? Wake up oh sleepers for tomorrow we die, who then will get all the things we have reserved for ourselvs? What are we living for that will truly be used and sustained when we're gone? The giving away of our lives every day in shareing and bearing the burden of the broken is our call. For out of the salvation of God we discover that the meaning of life is vast and deep finding its root in God, Jehovah. How can we complain about our jobs, or our school work, complain about our rich food not being good enough. Who are we? We are but nothing in sight of the almighty. When will we awaken, when will we throw our lives away for the love of him? When will we live in faith and say "Today is the day, the Lord is my rock eternal I will lean on his power and trust only in is insight and strength."
WAKE UP, ARISE, PULL MY CHILDREN FROM THE PIT, STEWARD YOUR BLESSINGS WELL, DEPEND ON ME, I AM FAITHFUL declares the Lord and we turn our deaf ears to him time and time again.
This is what sitting in prison does. This is what following Christ produces in your soul, to pleasure most and find your joy in doing his will. I hope you have found some encouragement in this. I pray you find some conviction in it to examine your heart, to be honest with your heart. I pray you discover the treasure and Joy Christ truly is, for in it is life. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"

In humility and power,

Joseph Courage"