This idea is so interesting to me. Like so many intangible things, it is something that I always want more of; but the more I gain, the more I realize I don’t have.  This is something I yearn for, I am still such a mystery even to myself.  Things I know about my behavior that I have no explanation for, or why I act a certain way in a certain situation, I have no idea.  All the time I wish I had a manual for myself.  These days we have many tools to help us gain knowledge of ourselves, what our personalities are and how they function, how we behave in social situations, what our greatest strengths are, and for Christ-followers, even how the Holy Spirit has gifted us. It is amazing to use these tools and see how accurate they truly are when they describe us merely from answering a set of test questions (though they definitely can be wrong). Yet these merely tell us the bare bones of who we are, there is still so much to understand, experiences to take into account, and change occurs constantly.  There is only One who knows us through and through. We can seek Him and know Him better each day, and as a result we tend to learn more about ourselves as well. To know ourselves can help us in so many ways, especially when it comes to understanding the people around us. To know what we are and how we act, allows to understand people that are not like us and helps us to love them more effectively. So pray for your own self-awareness and learn to understand and interact with others better as a result.

OK, so I thought that this might be an interesting conversation we could all have together. This means that I’m hoping some people might comment and give their opinions. We’ll see what happens.

So, here is the topic. Evangelism. I know that in today’s day and age, the word gets a bad rap….in many cases, for good reason.

This coming Sunday, Oct 25, I’m preaching. I’ll be talking about the gospel, that it is meant to be lived and it is meant to be shared. For many of us, we do OK with the living part. It’s the sharing part that throws us for a loop. I think that the reason many of us don’t share our faith more is because of fear. (If you are still reading this, you are getting a pre-release of my sermon!)

So, here is where you come in….
What keeps you from sharing your faith? I want to know. Tell us about it.
Here’s another angle. Maybe you are not a Christ follower. What do you think of Christians sharing their faith? If someone were going to tell you what they believed, how would you want them to do it? Let’s learn from each other here. Interested to know what you think……

Matt

It never ceases to amaze me the depth of people’s stories. We all carry around so much that makes us who we are. Whether it’s good memories or bad, they all make marks on us, shaping us into the people who we are today. However, we forget this so easily. We end up being people who become familiar faces to one another or small talk buddies without ever diving into one another’s stories. This is what I loved about the CAM retreat. All of a sudden, for an entire weekend, a group of us are stuck together in an environment where small talk can only take you so far and frankly, get’s old rather quickly, and you are forced to begin to share your story with one another. I love this because it’s in sharing our stories that our relationships are built. It’s in sharing our stories that we realize we are not the only ones to think something or feel something or to have done something. It’s in sharing our stories that we go from being a group of separate people to becoming a family. And, deep down, I think that is what we all want. We all long to be in a place where we are accepted for who we truly are and safe to share our story, knowing that as we share, we are loved and valued more. It’s the way that we can really be Christ to one another. Think about it…..Jesus knows us. He knows our story and still loves us more than we can ever comprehend. Like I said, this is what I love about the CAM retreat. It’s the opportunity for us to reach out to one another and start being Jesus to each other and in the process, experience more of Christ’s love ourselves. I guess what I am trying to say is, the CAM retreat last weekend was a blast!!! Check out pictures on our Blackhawk CAM FB page…..and don’t miss the next one.

As some of you know, I spent the summer of 2007 in Japan doing missions with college students with the Navigators. One day my fellow missionaries and I rode a bus downtown. Well one thing to know about Japan is that people riding on public transportation, even if they’re friends, don’t really talk to each other to prevent being overheard; for they are an introverted society, very comfortable with silence. Another thing to know about Japan is that they, as a country, are fairly environmentally conscious. So, for example, when a bus comes to any extended stop (like at a stoplight) they actually turn off the bus. Well the first time I rode on the bus in Japan, you can imagine the feeling of awkwardness that came over me the first time they actually shut off the bus. The combination of no one talking, no motor running, and just not knowing what was going on made for an extremely uncomfortable moment.

Why was that moment so uncomfortable? Well the main reason, I think, is that as Americans we have an incredibly hard time dealing with silence. Most of us straight-up don’t like it; and when we are in silence, its really only silence externally, while our minds and hearts are still racing with thoughts and worries of the day-to-day inside. How do we just sit in complete silence comfortably? Well one method is to live in Japan for three months, you’ll get real used to it real fast But I think it really just takes discipline. We need to take time out of our day to really just sit and reflect. And bringing God into the picture, those are moments that He will be able to speak to us the best, when we aren’t distracted by everything else, when we are simply taking some time to be alone with Him and nothing else.

So how long has it been since you spent some time alone, in silence, and allowed God in? Hours? Days? Maybe months? Well when you think about it, God above all else, deserves the very best part of us and our time, as He is the source of all that is good in our lives and our lives in of themselves. Doesn’t He deserve the best? Give it a shot and I’m sure God will meet you where you are when you make an effort to take some time for Him.