Chopstick Churches: What I Learned from 2011

Looking back on the year, I have to say that 2011 was by far the best year of my life. I know I say that at the end of every year, but I take that as a positive sign of God's growth in my life. This year definitely has been a year of transformation. Coming into January, I was mid way through my junior year, and just starting to truely figure out my identity in Christ. I was putting old desires and dreams in the past, as well as insecurities. I felt comfortable and complacent.

That's always a sign that God's about to rock your world.

At the student leadership Christmas party, two of my closest friends and sisters gave me a book to read - nothing out of the ordinary. I graciously smiled, and put the book aside when I got home, picking up my crochet needles for the rest of break instead. Around the time school started, I decided to at least give the book a shot to see what all their fuss was about. My world was wrecked. In the book, The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne challenged everything I had been comfortable with my stances on before: sacrificial love, patriotism, money, war, faith permeating into every aspect of life. This book was so different from all other things I had read before, as instead of stating things and imperatively telling me what to believe, Shane simply asked questions and gave examples from the life of Jesus, as well as amazing men and women of God like Mother Teresa. Through lots of prayer on my part and lots of writing on his, Shane opened my eyes to the apathy and lack of faith of the church. Why do we simply treat the symptoms of homelessness and poverty, but never try to treat the cause? Why do we let petty things like nationalism and immigration laws blind us to the horrors of labor trafficking? Where did this myth of redemptive violence come from, and why are we preaching Matthew 5:44 and then killing those that God said to love?

I began to see that God was more than in a church or Bible study. God was even more than trying to save our close friends. God truly should be a part of every aspect of our lives. We had to "preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words." What's more, we had to tell the world.

With words from Shane and Acts ringing in my ears, I prayerfully signed up for the student leadership mission trip to China. One of the things God blessed me with earlier in the year that helped me prepare immensely was Healing Place Church. While the Chapel was still solidly my home, at HPC I found a body who was radically sold out to the idea of service and love. (They seriously are amazing, and I would really encourage you to check out the book Servolution by pastor Dino Rizzo). Being a part of their outreaches and family really modeled for me what a true servant's heart should look like (and then on Sundays backed it up with examples from Jesus! What an incredible combination.) Eventually the end of May came, and I went across the Pacific with the rest of my team to Guangzhou, China. It was there that God taught me that true evangelism wasn't always about having gospel conversations with people. Everyone is like a puzzle - some are 5 pieces, some are 5,000 pieces. Each one of us is only one piece in their life. But if even one piece is missing, the puzzle can't be finished. He also showed me through stomach problems there, that I have a heart idol of comfort. That realization has exposed the root of so many of my actions. I'm still giving it over daily, but once I gave it over to Him, I was able to focus renewedly on reaching out to others, both in China and in the states.

I feel like everything that happened from January to July happened to build me up for this semester. Shane and HPC taught me to not major in the minors and to put love and service above everything, letting Christ radiate in every area of life. China really taught me what evangelism is. All of them matured me greatly spiritually. This semester, a handful of friends and I felt the call to reach out to our school. We started with prayer in the mornings that soon turned from 10 to 40 people, as more and more Christians started to gain boldness in the fact that they weren't alone. People have been emboldened, families have been prayed for, and the entire atmosphere of the school is changing. God is so at work and his glory's shining in every classroom. Through all this, God has blessed me so much with the chance to lead a Bible study. At first, I was expecting 20-30 people, and was dissappointed when only five showed up. I soon found out though that the smallness of the group enabled me to work more one on one with everybody and be personally invested in each of their lives. It's been a beautiful sight watching them grow and seeing myself grow too as I have to hold myself to a higher standard to lead. I'm dedicating my final semester to investing in them even more and equipping them to develop into the next generation of leaders at our school.

Looking back on 2011, my regrets are few and my list of experiences I cherish is long. But I pray that it'll be even longer next year. I'm praying the same for you too, dear reader, that next year you will grow exponentially like never before in spiritual maturity and as always, that faith, hope and love will abound in everything you do. So let's laugh and cry to put the old year behind us, and join hands and jump into 2012. Pax vobis :)

Legacy

So I was listening recently to a song by The Band Perry called "If I Die Young", which got me thinking, "If I died tomorrow, what would my legacy be?" Some might think that's a bit morbid, but I think it's a question we all legitimately need to ask ourselves. What are we striving for? What are our goals?
It really shows you where your heart is, doesn't it?
If we say we're all in, following Christ with everything we've got, but answer that question with something related to our career or personal life, are we honestly following like we say we are? What's the lifespan of our legacy if we're just living for ourselves? How long after you die will the effects of your American dream linger on? If all we're living for (and by living for, I mean devoting our time and money to) is trying to put in extra to get that promotion, or completely devoting yourself to school to get the best job and salary possible, what are we doing that will last?
As followers of Christ, we're told to not store up treasures on earth, but to store up treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:19-20) and to "make disciples of all nations" (28:19). As humans though, we want so badly to be comfortable and happy. One of the things God really showed me while I was in China over the summer was how much comfort was a heart idol. We get so focused on worshiping that idol by pursuing earthly things, that we aren't reaching people for Christ with our full potential. It's more than just us spending our money on material things though. Whenever we live life all about "me, me, me", we start drawing inwards and living life in a small way. God doesn't want that; he wants us to live big, wide-open lives of influence. He wants our legacy not to be "toys", but disciples (note, not 'converts'). It's like we're living in an identity crisis: Christ calls us to make an eternal difference (Matthew 28:18-20) but so often we're too caught up in this life to notice! It's my prayer today that we'll surrender our idols of wealth, prestige and comfort to God, and that he'll help change our perspective (and our legacy!) to an eternal one.
(link to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM&ob=av2e)

The Greatest of These

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
--1 Corinthians 13:13 (NLT)

So far in this blog, I've talked about faith and i hope to post some hope soon, but rite now I want to talk about love :) When most people think about love, they think romantic love. While that's really a huge type of love, it's only one of many types. Today I just wanna encourage you to not forget about love. And use every opportunity to show it! Love your friends by making them feel valued. Do something special for them that shows that you care. When talking with your coworkers or classmates when school rolls around, go deeper and really see who they are as a person; talk about their dreams and lives. Hug your cousin, your sister, your brother and tell 'em that you love them and you're really blessed to have them (trust me, you are:) And be practical. Yeah, it's good to pray for people -it's great!!- but how are you gonna know what to pray for unless you're actually there for them and listen to them? Spend time with people and make the most of it. Speak life into people and don't tear them down. As Brian Houston so wonderfully put it: "Don't let the smallness (drama) of people get in the way of what God has called you to love, which is people". This is as much preaching to me as it is to anyone (some of these things I haven't been too good on lately...) but God just really layed this on my heart today to say. God has placed people in your life for a reason. Love them, honor them, minister to them. Make the most of being in each others' lives. Trust me: it's wonderful when you do :)

Matthew, Mark, Lukewarm

So I was watching one of pastor Brian Houston's sermons today before going to practice, and was really struck by how important that message is for all of us christians to hear. Basically in part one of his series on spiritual awareness, he was talking about complacency. When we're complacent, we're fine with where we are spiritually; we don't care. It's scary because when we get that way - when we start giving God the leftovers in our lives and because we're not living for him anymore - we stop becoming convicted. That's where it gets dangerous. Revelations 3:16 is one of the most controversial verses in the new testament, for good reason. It makes people very uncomfortable when God says, "...because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth" (NKJV) or as The Message puts it, "You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit." When we're not on fire for God, it makes him want to vomit, and he'll ultimately remove us from him. Wow... that's rough. But why would he rather us be cold? Shouldn't giving him part of our lives at least count for something? Not really.. When we're in that state of complacency, we're not being convicted and not fully giving ourselves to God. Really, we're just numb. At least when we're cold, we know where we are spiritually. We feel disconnected and realise that something needs to change to make it right. To borrow Pastor Brian's illustration, think about it this way: if i'm in a car accident and go to the hospital, i'd much rather my legs be in pain (even though that's uncomfortable) than not being able to feel them at all. God would rather us be cold than lukewarm.

I'm not saying at all though that you should become cold, but rather I really want to encourage you to be hot - to be on fire for God! Just ask him to fill you with a passion for him. With the shedding of complacency comes spiritual awareness. We become aware of all the opportunities around us that God's given us to share the gospel with a friend, or to make a stranger's day. Trust me, true happiness, fufillment and joy come when we give God our firstfruits, not our leftovers. :)

Great to meet you!

So it's obvious that I've switched blogs. I hadn't posted on the old one in over a year, and looking back, it was just so...misguided. It was very political and very satirical, and that's just not who I am anymore. My life has been completely transformed by becoming an ordinary radical for Jesus Christ. And what a better life that is :) So I decided to name this new blog faith+hope+love after the phrase made popular by Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia because that's what I want this to spread. While I'm by no means perfect, it is my hope and prayer that someone's life can be changed by this, and faith, hope & love will be the new epidemics. As always, if you have any questions, want prayer or just want to comment, shoot me an email at braxtonianman@gmail.com . I'd be overjoyed to help in any way I can :) So let's grab a hand and dance & sing for our King as we go into this thing called life together. Here we go!