Hey team!
These are the thoughts that were supposed to accompany the conversation questions. Sorry they are coming in this order! Thanks for your patience as we together navigate this new system. Hopefully the conversation questions will make a little more sense!
John answered them all, "I'll baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Luke 3:16
Last week, I was awakened by the LORD at 4:00 a.m. I could not sleep and the list of things I needed to do grew long in my mind. It made me think of a t-shirt I once heard about: "Why count sheep when you can count on the shepherd?" Might sound cheesy, but also pretty great theology. At any rate, when the LORD awoke me, my first thoughts were about this week's kick-off. We had decided to call kick-off IGNITE, and I started to think about forest fires, how they ignite, and the incredible damage that they do.
This past summer, the Gunflint Trail was ablaze for days because of the carelessness of a match-obsessed camper. It still amazes me that one small flick of a match can cause such devastation, but it can, and does. We read about places west that have wildfires every year. We read that the fire is necessary for the earth to recreate itself.
The next thought I had was about my faith and the song, "Light the Fire." How is it that Jesus baptizes us with fire and His Spirit burns within us, but so often we feel cold and dead inside? How does that fire go out? How does the wildfire keep burning in the wilderness? In a word - oxygen(air - you chemistry people can correct me if I'm wrong.) keeps that flicker alive and burning into an absolute force of nature. For me, the question has become this: If Jesus' Holy Spirit is my fire, who or what is my oxygen? What keeps me burning so that not only my life looks different, but so does the world that I encounter? I would love us to explore that thought. What is your oxygen? What keeps your Holy Spirit Jesus fire burning bright? For me, and many of you know this, it is people that are my oxygen. It can't be all that (people) because the Hebrew word for breath is ruah, and the same word ruah is Hebrew for Spirit. They are one in the same!
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8 comments:
yeah so i pretty much have the best connection ever. i saw someone at the state fair wearing that shirt. i thought it was funny, maybe a little ironic at the time since i hadn't slept well the night before. anyway, as for the question posed of who is my oxygen, i think for many of us the oxygen is the desire to not let our community (CPC) down. i know that i feel some pressure (good pressure) from CPC to not let my spiritual life get away from me. i'll bet i'm not the only one.
I think the analogy of oxygen keeping the fire burning is a good one, which the kids can relate to. I agree with Wheeler, in that the oxygen that keeps us going can be the positive peer pressure from the church community, but I also think that the oxygen is the leaders and role models that show us how to keep our lives on the right track. I think that we not only receive the oxygen, but we now get a chance to help be the oxygen for others.
Dan Rosenthal
MMmmm! Your not alone! I definitally agree with that good pressure comment. You said what I was thinking! Thanks. I think an oxygen would be serving people in need. I am thinking of Mission Greenbay and Mission Chicago. Sometimes people who dont have "plenty" are more thankful than people who do.Seeing this pressures me to acknowlede that I have a shelter-home-roof over my head every night, food everyday, and a place to go to school. Seeing this motivates me to share what I have and it brings me to pray about what I have been given. In turn thankfulness....
I had never seen that t-shirt before but it sounds so cool! I defintely agree with what people have said about their oxygen being. For me, I would say my oxygen is getting to know people through Christ whether it is volunteering with something at CPC or serving in the community. That has always been something that makes me exicted about Jesus, just getting to see the different plans that he has for everyone, and trying to be the oxygen for others.
-Holly
I definately agree with the people above about the CPC community, and leaders or role models being the oxygen that keeps us burning but I would also like to add that anybody you surround yourself with, is an oxygen. I find that even my friends (and family) who don't go to CPC but who do believe in Christ can be big influences in my spiritual journey.
:) Emma Swift
I am writing a paper right now and the words on the T-shirt that you mentioned, "why count sheep when you can count on the shepard" are really making an impact on me. I know I am not going to sleep or anything (probably won't get to sleep for a while) but it made me think about life and how instead of counting all that I don't have and all of my stresses in life, I should count on Jesus to shepard me through it all. He is my guide and my strength, and maybe...just maybe life is what it is because he wills it to be so. Maybe I am supposed to be stressed out, maybe I am supposed to get no sleep, maybe I will get a bad grade...Maybe just maybe I should trust in the Lord.
Kristin Groth
For me many things act as the oxygen for the spirit of Jesus in me. Being a part of leadership is the main source. Every Wednesday I feel inspired to do something new. Even right now, talking and reading these thoughts and answers make feel connected to the church and Jesus. Although these sounds like church answers, to me they are how I feel. Also, I feel like the oxygen is at its peak on the retreats that we take. If we could find a way to take the "Jesus high" and bring that into the real world, that would be beneficial for us as leaders and the kids we lead.
That last comment was me, jack schechinger, sorry i forgot to but my name, haha.
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