ReSunday-ing September 28th
I don’t even know where to begin today. It’s Monday…morning. That is always a tough realization for me. But nevertheless, life goes on. We keep plugging away. We’ve got a busy week coming up: Third Day/Switchfoot/Jars of Clay concert on Friday ($20-meet at WHCC, 5:00 pm) and laser tag for the junior high on Saturday (7:30 pm-meet at Laser Quest). I’m really excited about everything going on.
Alright, what you’ve all been waiting for: SUNDAY. Sunday’s class was an interesting one. The kids and I had a heart-to-heart, cleared the air, and are all best friends! This past Sunday was the first of a six-week series during which we will look at what it means to be God’s people. We’re going to look at God’s people in the past, how He worked in their lives, and what that means for us as God’s people today. I think that it is important to understand who we are as God’s people so we can then understand further our purpose and goals for this life as He has set for us.
This Sunday we found ourselves a little tight on time. So, I strongly encourage you to bring some of this up if you get a chance. Now, I’ll give a little bit of background on class. The idea behind this first week is that we are God’s people because he created us to be that way. The first couple chapters of Genesis chronicle the creation story and all that it entails. Our story as God’s people begins on the fifth day. God creates man in his own image, gives him a purpose and sets him in the world he created. From the beginning, God nourishes and cares for his people. When man is lonely, God created a companion for him, an equal to share life with. And so we see the beginnings of the people of God.
This all seems pretty simple. Everyone knows the creation story, right? But this is the BEGINNING! This is where everything we believe and the faith we hold on to begin. It is in the moment God created Adam that our stories begin. While we might not experience God in the same ways we read about in the Bible, God is still alive and active in our lives as he has been in the lives of His people for all of history. It is our responsibility as His people of today to learn for the past and do everything we can to be people that honor God and reflect his love to the world.
The verse I keyed on in class this week is James 1:18. I particularly like the wording in the New Living Translation.
“In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession.”
God has chose us to be his people. He gave us His word and instruction to help explain what that means. We are HIS. And that’s what we are striving to understand and learn about over the next six weeks. I am praying that over this time we (myself, the teens, and you as parents) can all take ownership of our identity as the people of God. I pray that we will find an excitement in this call and a new outlook and commitment to living the way God desires his people to live. Thank you for being examples of this to your children. As I said in previous posts, the strongest example of faith for a teen is the parents and guardians they see each and every day. This week be the men and women of God our teens need. I’m praying for us all and can’t wait for next week!
Sports Fan
Sports can be a good or bad topic when talking to someone. Mostly because people either love sports or hate them. For example, I LOVE sports. I’m the kinda guy that will watch Sportscenter two hours in a row even though they run the same stories. However, I realize not everyone shares my enthusiasm. So please, stick with me. I promise I’ll get to a point.
I have had a hard time finding people that do not like college football. Something about the sport just excites people. Whether it is your alma mater or the place you wish you had attended, it seems that everyone has a favorite. Fans get so passionate about this game. Last night (Thursday) I watched the fourth quarter of the USC/Oregon State game. I didn’t bother watching most of the game because USC was supposed to win by 27 points. They were ranked as the best team in college football almost unanimously. In fact, I wouldn’t have seen any of the game if I hadn’t switched channels to watch Sportscenter. Everyone just assumed USC had this game in the bag. But as I watched the last five minutes of this game, I saw unranked, underachieving Oregon State finish what will probably play out to be the greatest upset of the season, beating #1 USC 27-21. As I watched the post-game reports and Sportscenter, I was floored by what the commentators had to say. Leading up to this game, all they could talk about was how USC was going to go undefeated and play for the national championship in January. Everybody else was just playing for #2. After this monumental upset, those very same commentators spoke of how USC was almost guaranteed to be out of the championship picture. In a matter of three hours, these “experts” went from being sure USC was the best there was to saying no hope existed for them to win it all.
Now, those of you who are not sports fans are probably rolling your eyes and looking for an opportunity to leave, but WAIT! That’s when I realized why people love college football. Despite everyone whining about the ranking systems and how they decide who goes to what bowl and how bad the NCAA needs a playoff system, people love it because it is the way it is. College football teams live and die with each game. A team is forced to give everything it has every game. If they don’t, if they lose, their hopes of a championship are gone. One loss can end it all. A team can be the best their is for 10 or 11 games, defeating every team they face. But if they lose that last game before the championship, it doesn’t matter who they beat or how badly they won, they still lost. They are still going to fall in the rankings and miss the championship they worked so hard for. But people love that. They love the suspense. The love that you have to use every last bit of strength and every last shred of hope and honor to just have a shot to keep your dream alive.
And then it hit me. There are days I love the suspense and the sacrifice and the battle of college football more than I love the faith I live by. And I am a person that has chosen to spend my life helping others discover such a faith for themselves. How can I honestly hold this game above a faith that calls me to make all the same sacrifices?
In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, the author writes of running the race:
“For you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crwon that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after i have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
If you want suspense and sacrifice and battle, here it is. Our life is our race. We run it everyday whether we want to or not. Somedays we are leading the pack and others we seem to be fading and losing ground. But we still run. We are called to run, but not just run. We are called to run to win the prize, eternal life and salvation with Jesus Christ. Later in Hebrews 12, it is written that we are to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” so we may “run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” We are called to do more than wake up and run each day. We are to give our all and sacrifice everything to run the best race possible. The best part of all this is that you just have to want it bad enough to strive for it. God has put the prize within reach and even give us instructions and guidance on how to run for it. Just like a football team competing and hungering so badly for a win and the ultimate prize or a championship, we must hunger for the life God has called us to live. We must lay it all on the line to finish the race strong, the way He intends for us to finish. I’ll leave you with a passage from 2 Timothy. Here the author just reiterates the struggle and sacrifice of a life spent following Jesus. He tells of how it costs a great deal, but is completely worth it. I challenge you, as well as myself, not to just read these words and then finish your race today at a jogging pace. I challenge us all to elevate your play to the excitement and challenge of the race God has laid out for you. I challenge us all to sprint to the finish. Today and everyday.
“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
2 Timothy 4:6-8
This blogging thing…
To be perfectly honest, this blogging thing kinda blows my mind. I remember when people first started “online journaling” back toward the end of my time in high school. Way back in 2004, it was so cool for everyone to run home after school and write in the internet diary about how his or her day went. The best part was that your friends could then get online and read everything you had typed. My big problem with the idea was this: if I’m going to take the time to write my personal thoughts and feelings down like in a diary, why in the world would I want some stranger reading it? And that is how Jordan Charles Ferguson missed the blogging boat.
Since the days of my youth, blogging has developed into an unbelievably popular medium of communication for people of all ages. In the immortal words of that kid who tried to convince you to stick your tongue to the frozen flag pole: ”everybody’s doin’ it!” And I mean everybody. Teens, ministers, teachers, businessmen, moms, dads, sisters, brothers, scientists, gardeners, bakers, zoo keepers, and millions of others have signed up to have a blog. WordPress.com alone boasts over 4 million different blogs on it’s home page!
So, I’m giving in to peer pressure. Not because I’m not strong-willed. Not because I want to be considered cool by my peers. Not even because I was bored and just wanted something to keep my mind busy. I’m giving in because it is an opportunity to connect. I want to connect with the teens I work with. I want to connect with their parents. I want to connect with my friends and family. Do I think I really have some revolutionary message to share with all these people? Not really. But who knows, maybe God has something to say.
So here’s the plan: most of my posts will be random. I have no idea how often or how much I’ll type. BUT EVERY MONDAY, I will be posting thoughts from my Sunday morning class. I want what my junior high group discusses to be something that does not stay contained in the classroom. I want it to be something that reaches to life outside of the church building. I’m hoping that both students and parents will read those thoughts and have discussions at home that spark Spirit-filled conversations. I believe some of the most important conversations we have in our entire lives occur at home. What better place to grow and deepen our faith than at home with our families?
I guess we’ll see what happens. Like I said, this will mostly just be me rambling. But maybe something good will come of it. If nothing else, it gives me a chance to practice my spelling. And when someone walks by my office I look like I’m doing something official since I’m staring at the screen and typing. I pray everyone is doing well and God is blessing you deeply. Later!
