A Look At Tomorrow’s Yesterday

I loved today. Today was a day when the kids at work were just being kids. Since no kid is perfect, it would be unfair to single out any one, or two, or three that were particularly not perfect. But tomorrow is another day. I noticed after some observations that kids who are constantly in trouble are always waiting for you to come down on them. I tend to look at things slightly different. Perhaps I am young and in experienced, but I think another day is another chance.

Isn’t that how it works with God? He gives us another chance to serve and please Him with every breath He gives us. I say breath and not day because a day it to broad a term. One can argue that each day was filled with both good and bad decisions. But if you look back at each moment and each breath, can you say there was good and bad about every thought, every moment, every breath?

Brandon Heath sings a great song called “Give Me Your Eyes”. In the song, he asks to get the eyes of God so he can see people like God does. Have you ever tried to see the world the way God does? There are sometimes when I am so frustrated at work that I forget to put on my God filtered glasses. But at the end of the day, I can honestly say that after reflecting, I look at each day as a new opportunity. Thus, I must hold everyone I meet to the same standard.

OK, so this all started because a few kids irked me today. It’s hard because I like them a lot. But the upside, I can give them another opportunity with a fresh slate the next day. If however I come in the next day expecting the same negative results, my day will obviously be miserable.

Is every day a fresh start or just the mundane? Ask God to show you a fresh view of the world each day–His view.

I Am A Drummer

I started the day off not knowing that I would end up going to work several hours earlier. I was in such a hurry to get there, I forgot to take me a lunch. When I got to work, I had to sub in the Pre-K classroom. This wasn’t just any classroom, it was a classroom full of the…um…energetic 4 year-olds. Not that they were bad, they were just full of life. That being said, because of their energy, my chances of eating lunch disappeared. Needless to say, that made for quite a long day. At 3, the school kids would show up and there is no time for resting when they get there.

And so is the day in the life of one college student/teacher/child care provider/children’s ministry leader.

Today, a child asked: “Mr. Josh, do you ever get tired of seeing us 6 days a week?” I thought for a moment. Was this a trick question? “Well, not really. Every day is a fresh opportunity for things to go right or wrong,” was my reply. This child thought for a moment then seemed to find his words. “Oh, that’s good. Because we never get tired of seeing you. We feel warm and safe with you.” I was at a loss for words.

Well helping another child at homework, he said: “I can’t do this.” I explained to him that “I can’t” is the same as “I give up”. He gave me the most memorable look–like I has just said the silliest thing. But, he accepted that statement. “Don’t give up” I said, “no matter how hard it is.” It seems to me that kids give up to easily nowadays. But who can blame them? There are adults all around them belittling them. “You NEVER listen” or “Can’t you get anything right?” “Why do you ALWAYS act that way?” Maybe we should give them the chance to show us they can reach the goals we set for them. Maybe we should try encouraging them.

And last but not least, I thought I would wind down the day with a game of Rock Band for PS3. I tried drumming for the first time and thought I was pretty good–until the game refused to give me my bonus points. After about 8 times, I decided to give up. The final thought for the day: I am not a drummer, and Rock Band on PS3 cheats.

Good night!

Watching Kids Worship

Tonight was our Wednesday Winter Extreme program. It went like any other night. During one song, we asked the kids to make up their own motions to the song “Beautiful One”. It was an awesome thing to watch! Kids from 4-11 made their own motion to each word of the song. By the end of the song, they were all in sync with the same motions. We hadn’t even rehearsed this! Any one who thinks kids can’t experienc worship must put God inside a box. Don’t insult their intelligence. Sometimes, kids just need the opportunity to shine. Most often, they will rise to the challenge. Tonight we learned that “all authority comes from God” (Romans 13:1). Our Bible point was “Disciples of Jesus Respect Authority” (we made up a motion for each of these words also).

I leave you with this: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it; the world, and all who live in it.” Psalm 24:1. All authority on earth comes from God because the Earth belongs to Him.

The Notorious “I Can’t”

“I can’t do this Mr. Josh” is something I hear quite often from a student. Whether it was teaching at AVCS. subbing at CCISD, or working at North Pointe’s After School program, kids say that term a lot. In my classroom at AVCS, I did not allow students to say that phrase. I still live by that policy. My thought is, I will never tell them they are not capable of doing something so I don’t want to hear it from them.

When I tell them I don’t believe in I can’t, it’s fun to watch the wheels turn as they try to think of something else to say. Often times, kids say or believe they can’t do something because they are allowed to think that. Even if we are not telling them they can’t do it, if we allow them to think it and let them fall into that mindset, they will end up believing it.

The new kids and students I have had the opportunity to meet over the past few weeks are no exception to the past students I have known. Yet, with only a few positive words, most are willing to put away the phrase “I can’t” and strive to believe they can achieve anything through Christ (Philippians 4:13).

Kingdom Building-Part 1

I was going through my blog stats and you know what? My most active week with the most hits was the first week I had this thing–back during the AVCS days. My most active blog (that still exists on this site) is the one where I posted the Caine Learning article. My second most popular–the blog titled “Browsing The Internet; Browsing Through Life”.

Since I started this blog back in May, I’ve had over 5000 separate visitors. It’s quite a milestone. According to the collection of IP Addresses that have come through, the original audience is waning and a new audience is starting to read. I welcome all of you. Anzanite.com has quite a history to be less than a year old. Yet, I think it has overcome so much. This blog goes back before the days of the Anzanite however. Only AVCS parents would know it though. I once maintained mrjoshclass.wordpress.com which kept parents informed of things going on in the classroom (a site that still exists, but is no longer updated). That was my first attempt at blogging.

As things progressed, I hit somewhat of a low point in my life. I struggled with what God’s plan was for me and I argued with Him and wondered why he would allow things to happen as they did. I was angry because I felt like God and His people had forsaken me. I wondered why I had to suffer. But how arrogant of me to attribute my trial to suffering.

In America, we have the freedom to worship freely. We have the comfort and security to know that we can sing, raise our hands, and shout the name of our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. I heard this terrible story about Christians in Africa. These 6 teenagers were imprisoned and their Bible’s burned in front of them because they refused to denounce the name of Christ. Their prison however was not any ordinary prison. They were imprisoned in shipping crates–you know, the big ones that go on ships. And  yet, they held strong to their faith. I heard a Pastor call them “Kingdom  Builders”.

I wonder, what kind of “Kingdom” is the American church building? Are we creating Kingdom Builders or a culture of Christians who are content with their own belief in Christ? I’ve spent a lot of time in Children’s ministry and from what I can fathom, most do a good job keeping kids engaged. They do very little however in encouraging kids (youth included) to be Kingdom Builders.

We have a generation of kids, youth, and adults who are wimps. They are wimps because they are afraid of ridicule if they share their faith even with those who are close friends. If we can’t even share our faith with our neighbors, how can we ever stand up for our faith in the midst of great suffering like the youth in Africa? I saw a video where a 12 year-old girl explained her experience of being tortured to deny Christ. How many 12 year-old’s in our American Churches could we honestly say would be able to endure such tragedy?

Catch more on Part 2, coming soon!

I Am An American

To start, let’s look at Romans 13:1-2. The NKJV says: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” Now that I have laid out God’s word as the foundation for this blog, let’s talk about the elections. This blog is going to be a little different than the one I posted to Myspace with the same name.

I know that for many of you, especially Christians, the presidential elections didn’t go they way you had hoped. That’s OK to be frustrated. The beauty of America is that we can have different opinions and see things the way we believe. We have the privilege–and I do mean privilege–to vote our hearts. But what happens when things don’t go our way?

I’ve heard many disturbing things since the results of the election. Not about the direction the country is going, but mean, hateful, and horrible things by those calling themselves Christian and the “Christian Right”. Some are saying that we are doomed. Others are saying they are not going to fly the flag or are going to deface it in someway (like turning it upside down). Some have even said they won’t acknowledge him as president. I’m going to address all of these but I wonder, what are we to do as Christians?

If we believe that the Bible is the word of God and it is true, then we have to believe the words from Romans 13. Romans 13 tells us that every government is in place because God wills it to be so. Thus, as Christians, we must believe that the way the elections went has to be a part of God’s ultimate plan. What I have seen however is the opposite. Christians have lost hope. They have fallen into despair and have shouted things like “We’ve lost the country” and other things that make Christians sound as if they have been defeated.

Why do we sound defeated? Are we defeated? Where is our hope? Is our hope and faith in some man-made election system? If that’s the case, we really our defeated. I don’t have my hope and faith in the election process or the results. My hope and faith is in Christ. Because of this, I know that I will still be victorious no matter how elections go or the state our country gets into.

As for the country, I can’t stomach those who say stupid things against it. Those who say “I won’t acknowledge Obama as our President” and “I will not fly the flag” and other things are not just disrespecting Obama, they are disrespecting our country and all of us who are American.

As for the flag, the flag does not stand for just Obama. It does not stand for just the President. It does not stand for just America today. The Flag stands for those who have died throughout the years. It stands for those who fought to give us our initial freedom, those who fought to help bring this country back together during the Civil War, those who fought in the World Wars to help bring peace back to the world–I could go on and on. When you disrespect the flag, you are disrespecting America’s past, present, and future. I’m not saying America has a perfect record, but what country does? Even God’s chosen people Israel couldn’t get it right all the time. To this day, they are suffering for mistakes made in the past.

Here is a challenge to all Christians: Are you willing to stand behind our president and pray for him? Are you willing to accept the decision of the voters and believe that despite the results, it’s all still in God’s hands? We can’t show that we are defeated. We have to show that we have victory in Christ. We also have to acknowledge that Christians don’t always vote the same way. There are Christian Democrats and Republicans. The reason for the political affiliations vary, but they do span both sides.

How do you stand? Do you stand in defeat ready to wave the white flag of surrender? Or do you stand rooted in Christ knowing that all things are possible through Him? Is your hope in the election here on earth or are your eyes on treasures in Heaven where “moth and rust” can not destroy it? Think about these things. And pray for our country and for our President-Elect.

Lessons From Abraham

I have been reading through the story of Abraham and noticed a lot of things about his life that are applicable today. I have been wanting things in my life to work out differently and faster than they are. I have a way I think things should go which are not necessarily the way God sees that they should go. Yet, He chooses to work despite my conceitedness to venture out on my own. Abraham was like that.

When he first went into Egypt because of a famine (Gen. 12), Abram was afraid that Pharaoh would kill him if he though Abram was Sarai’s husband. So, he told a half-lie in order to spare his own life. Here was a man of great faith who talked with God virtually face-to-face and yet, doubted that he would be protected.

God also had a great plan for his life–to make his descendants more numerous than the dust (Gen 13:16). He had a problem though, he had no child. While he trusted God, Abraham had put God in a box so-to-speak and Sarai and him took matters into their own hands. Because of Abraham having Ishmael with Hagar, Israel has had problems with the Arab world.

So, how often do things get out of hand when we don’t rely on God? In the past 5 months, I have learned a lot about waiting on God’s timing and not taking things into my own hands. I’ve also learned that God tests us through trials. He sometimes wants to see whether we will still give Him our all even when things we love the most are taken from us. God did this to Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac–the one God had promised to Abraham (Gen 22). God wanted to make sure there was nothing Abraham would keep from him.

How much are we willing to give God? I know I myself have ran into times when there were things I wanted to keep control of. I didn’t want God meddling because they were important to me. But how important are the things in your life over the life God can give you? Abraham was willing to give up the son that he had waited so long for in order to please God!

Is there something you are holding on too that you just can’t let God have? Perhaps you have been praying and waiting for something and don’t feel like God is working fast enough. Are you willing to work on being patient and seeing the wonderful work of God unfold before your very eyes? Or would you rather rush through something and risk it possibly having a negative affect on you and those around you?

I too want things at time to happen in my time frame but it doesn’t always work that way. We need to realize that God knows best and that God often uses difficult situations to teach us and make us stronger. Through difficult situations, we learn to be humble and accept that we can’t do it on our own.

Are you willing to give God as much as Abraham was willing to do?