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I was driving back to work from a meeting at Starbucks today. I had my window down as I was pulling to the stop light at the intersection in the Walmart parking lot at Union Hills & 83rd Ave (it’s one of those parking lot intersections that can be a little confusing to people for some reason). Anyway, my window was down, and somebody was confused at which direction they wanted to go as they were entering the parking lot, so the person behind them decided to lay on the horn, just outside my window. Still shaking due to the amount of caffeine I had just ingested, the horn scared the crap out of me. And I was a little upset.

But I love those moments where you actually see that happen to somebody else because you realize how foolish it is. I’m thinking, “Dude are you serious? This guy hesitates for 2 seconds and you gotta blast your horn at him?” Then, in that moment I thought of a great invention. Cars should come installed with a taser feature. Every time you use your horn, you get tased (that would be awesome to see). I think that would help keep things in check. Humans are a weird breed. I just have to laugh at how we treat each other sometimes. I could go into a big sermon here, but I can imagine you get my point.

Today, may I be considerate to others even when they cause me a little inconvenience. I’m thankful for those reminders. I’m also thankful that MY car didn’t come installed with the taser feature. Happy driving.

I had a moment this week where I realized that thriving in ministry is about the simple things. I think these moments (though simple) are the really big moments where I feel God speaking from some invisible place into my very visible life.

I was watching the movie Despicable Me (which I thought was a very good movie, especially now as I reflect back on it) when out of no where I received a text from David, a youth that had previously attended our church. I hadn’t seen him for 6 months or so.

Now, go back with me “6 months or so” earlier to that moment when I saw David. At that point in time, I hadn’t seen him for probably a year or maybe longer. So it was random that I saw him. We caught up on life for a few minutes and I gave him my number; told him to call if he ever wanted to hang out. As it turns out, this was clearly a significant moment in time because he would take me up on my offer.

Which brings us back to today. His text message was an invitation to come watch a basketball game he’d be playing in the next night. He was very proud that he had made the varsity team and thought enough of me that he wanted me to be there. I thought it was pretty cool that he wanted me to attend his game. After all, I was this apparently insignificant person in his life due to the fact that I never see him, or so I thought. But it wasn’t until the next day that I realized the depth of what had just happened.

The next morning when I got to the office, Patty (who is closely connected with David’s family) greeted me with such excitement. She said something to the effect of, “You must feel so encouraged huh? You deserve it! I felt so proud of the relationship that you have developed with him, that he would invite you to his game. You really have made an impact on his life.”

Wow. It was very encouraging to hear those words. And it was in that moment that it hit me: these “moments” make the difficult times worthwhile. I can remember times when David didn’t really seem to care about what I had to say. But without spending that time together, without being there for him week in and week out while he’s in my life, without continuing to offer that invitation to hang out even when I randomly run into him after he had apparently left my life, I don’t always experience the fullness of what life has to offer. No, without those difficult moments I can’t always experience the good moments. Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when he said, “In this world you will have trouble, but I give you my peace” (John 16). I think there’s a lot of wisdom you can learn from this, if you haven’t already.

I like those moments where you randomly see people you haven’t seen in awhile. And I like when those moments turn into something bigger. I’ve always thought “God Moments” are weird. Is it really God working or do I just over-Christianify it (yes I made that word up)? I don’t know, but I do know that I was truly encouraged by what took place. Thank you, God for this simple moment in time. Thank you for allowing ME to have relationships like these!

Every Tuesday at 9:30 am we have staff meeting. It’s usually a rip-roaring good time, but I suppose it comes with the job. I guess I shouldn’t make it sound so bad, because it’s not. I mean there is FOOD, a lot of joking around, and typically some good conversation about what is happening at Peace. One of the aspects I appreciate most about this time together with the staff is an opportunity to share the moments from the previous week where we felt an encounter with God. It’s cool to hear each person’s stories every week.

The other day I was thinking, “Hmm…maybe I should start posting my God moments on the blog. That would be a simple way to not only share what God is doing in my life and in Peace youth ministry, but it would also be simple to do.” So, I’m going to give it a shot.

Let me begin with a definition. When we say “God moments,” we’re speaking of the Greek word Kairos. In Mark 1:15 we read, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near.” One of the commentaries I use to study the bible says this about Mark 1:15:

“Jesus witnesses to God’s action by saying, ‘The time has come.’ Time here is not simply chronological time but the decisive time (kairos) for God’s action. With the coming of Jesus, God was doing something special.”

A God moment, then, is a time when God is literally acting, or moving in your life.

It’s not always easy to notice these moments on a weekly basis, but I’ve found you begin looking for them when you’re asked to share one every week. And they aren’t always good things either. Sometimes God is working through the rough parts of our lives.

Contemplating Sermon Thoughts

I’m going to begin with a simple God moment from this past year that I happened to take a picture of. This is Jessi (you can tell from the Ninja Turtle hat). It was taken in February at the Ash Wednesday Service. Jessi was reading her bible and writing down some thoughts from Pastor Al’s message. Honestly, sometimes it’s easy for me to feel like nothing I do really matters. Sometimes I feel like no one really gives much thought to my messages, or to the conversations we have about who God is. Even though I believe whole-heartedly that God is working through the relationships being developed at Peace, it’s really cool and extremely encouraging to see such a simple act as this. Thank you Jessi.

Do you have any God moments you’d like to share? Hmm…maybe I need to get others posting on here as well. More to come!