1.14am on Christmas morning and I'm hunched over my parents PC in the suburban paradise of Tawa. Meanwhile, they sit downstairs engrossed in a broadcast of last year's Christmas pageant from the Crystal Cathedral's 'Hour of Power'. Opinions on this broadcast are most welcome.
This year Christmas has arrived as something of a non-event. There is not tree in my flat, no presents, no dash to get a few prayers in before the end of the year to raise my quota for 2006, no friends for that matter. I've been all by my lonesome round the flat for the last few days. Today, in an act of desperation, I even watched Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman star in the romantic comedy, 'While You Were Sleeping'.
However, while my opening paragraph suggests a very desperate and depressed emotional state, I must say God is doing some great stuff. Looking back over 2006 I can't believe how blessed I've been. Since becoming a Christian in 2000 (4th form), It has been on my heart to work in youth ministry. Amazingly at only 20 God has even found a way for me to be paid doing this! I'm seriously waiting for it all to fall apart. Fingers crossed it doesn't...
A particularly cool thing Jesus has been up to in my heart this year is growing a passion for a.) his people, and b.) his word. I've had a few amazing experiences this year where God has taken my mere opinion and shown me how his word backs it up. It's always exciting to find your discernment isn't as piss-poor as you thought it was. A passage I was particularly into recently comes from 1Corinthians 2.
This chapter essentially involves Paul telling the Corinthians how best to reach people with the gospel. Much of my experience with trying to reach people at Zeal this year has been feeling around in the dark hoping for Jesus to do something, so the title of this passage ('Telling about Christ and the Cross') screamed out to me from the page. As I read through the passage, hoping for some kind of check-list or golden-rule I came accross an amazing verse. In 1Cor2v3 Paul says (with reference to his first attempts to tell the Corinthians about Jesus), "At first, I was weak and trembling with fear".
I was blown away. Paul...The dude who gets his ass handed to him by God himself on the road to Damascus, The guy who starts church as we know it, The man who endured a bizarre number of lashing, shipwrecks and stonings - THIS DUDE!...was 'weak and trembling with fear' on account of having to simply share Jesus with some foreign dudes!
What an encouragment to me! I remember being at high-school and being too afraid to go to Zeal because I'd heard all the rumours about drugs, alcohol, and people having sex in the toilets (rough, i know). As irony would have it, this was to become my workplace for 2006. What can I say? I started 'weak and trembling with fear', but it's amazing how God has given me strength to share his love, mercy, and compassion with hundreds of young people during the course of this year.
There is so much more I could rant on from the chapter, but my eyelids are drifting into stand-by mode. To tell you the truth, I tremble with fear a little at the extremely intellectual company this blog falls among - please be gentle ;)
Scottie Reeve
This year Christmas has arrived as something of a non-event. There is not tree in my flat, no presents, no dash to get a few prayers in before the end of the year to raise my quota for 2006, no friends for that matter. I've been all by my lonesome round the flat for the last few days. Today, in an act of desperation, I even watched Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman star in the romantic comedy, 'While You Were Sleeping'.
However, while my opening paragraph suggests a very desperate and depressed emotional state, I must say God is doing some great stuff. Looking back over 2006 I can't believe how blessed I've been. Since becoming a Christian in 2000 (4th form), It has been on my heart to work in youth ministry. Amazingly at only 20 God has even found a way for me to be paid doing this! I'm seriously waiting for it all to fall apart. Fingers crossed it doesn't...
A particularly cool thing Jesus has been up to in my heart this year is growing a passion for a.) his people, and b.) his word. I've had a few amazing experiences this year where God has taken my mere opinion and shown me how his word backs it up. It's always exciting to find your discernment isn't as piss-poor as you thought it was. A passage I was particularly into recently comes from 1Corinthians 2.
This chapter essentially involves Paul telling the Corinthians how best to reach people with the gospel. Much of my experience with trying to reach people at Zeal this year has been feeling around in the dark hoping for Jesus to do something, so the title of this passage ('Telling about Christ and the Cross') screamed out to me from the page. As I read through the passage, hoping for some kind of check-list or golden-rule I came accross an amazing verse. In 1Cor2v3 Paul says (with reference to his first attempts to tell the Corinthians about Jesus), "At first, I was weak and trembling with fear".
I was blown away. Paul...The dude who gets his ass handed to him by God himself on the road to Damascus, The guy who starts church as we know it, The man who endured a bizarre number of lashing, shipwrecks and stonings - THIS DUDE!...was 'weak and trembling with fear' on account of having to simply share Jesus with some foreign dudes!
What an encouragment to me! I remember being at high-school and being too afraid to go to Zeal because I'd heard all the rumours about drugs, alcohol, and people having sex in the toilets (rough, i know). As irony would have it, this was to become my workplace for 2006. What can I say? I started 'weak and trembling with fear', but it's amazing how God has given me strength to share his love, mercy, and compassion with hundreds of young people during the course of this year.
There is so much more I could rant on from the chapter, but my eyelids are drifting into stand-by mode. To tell you the truth, I tremble with fear a little at the extremely intellectual company this blog falls among - please be gentle ;)
Scottie Reeve
1 comment:
Mate! Welcome to the blog sphere.
Was great to catch up the other day (ableit briefly). Must do it again soon. Would love to hear what God's been up to.
Coffee at Soul Survivor?
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