James--

Take a look at this and let me know if you like it or want to try again on Sunday. The quality I send to the District will be better (this is a low-res version for the internet), but the finished product will be pretty simple. And in this particular take (the only one that looks very good lighting-wise) I realized that you didn't mention the members, baptisms, or salvations. I added the logos to the end, and may play around a bit with them to make them look a little better. I have a pretty simple editing suite on my computer and haven't taken much time yet to play with this. The good news is that it is right at one minute. The other takes came out even darker than this one. I can't say for sure, but I think that perhaps the white shirt may have been adversely affecting the way my camera was reading the light. That, and I'm just not a very good cameraman...

I'm happy to send the higher-quality version of this if you'd like. I'd also be happy to give it another try on Sunday. My thought is that it is passable as is, but we could certainly do better if you thought it was worth it. Any retake would probably have to be BEFORE the service on Sunday as I am leaving for camp right after service. Or you could certainly have Graham or Jim Trammell help you out next week if you'd prefer. Call or email to let me know what you want to do. Sorry. I feel badly, and wish I had gotten a better looking version of one of your other takes.

Loser

Ever feel like a loser? Most everyone has. Some of us feel like losers from the time we get up in the morning to the time we go to bed. I often dream about what a loser I am. But just in case you have never felt this way, let me help you...

• you are too short, tall, skinny, fat, white, black, red, or blue
• you don't know as much about music/movies/tv/internet fads/Brangelina's baby/or other important pop culture references as your friends
• your parents fight... about you. Or at least it feels like it
  
• you're convinced your grades reflect your self-worth, and right now you are worth something between a D- and F+
• you are no good at all sports, some sports, or just the sport that you want to be good at
• you woke up with a pimple or 700
• you can't stick with anything you start
• you don't fit in
• you can count your friends on your thumb
  
• you aren't sure you even know who you are, let alone who you will become, much less who you were created to be
• fill in your own inadequacies here____________________________

There. Hopefully you feel lousy now. Which should make you feel better about not feeling like a loser. Congratulations! You are now like all the rest of us.

Now, here's the interesting thing. If the Bible is consistent about anything, it is consistent about God being all about losers. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find a story in the Bible where God chooses the cool, popular, talented, or good-looking guy to get anything done. No. God NEVER uses those guys (or girls). For some reason, He uses losers.

• Joseph was a scrawny little brother whose siblings threw him in a ditch and sold him as a slave
• Moses couldn't talk! He stuttered! Badly!
• David was a shepherd-- the most common of jobs-- and just a kid when God asked him to kill a giant
• Gideon begged God to find somebody else, and as a result, God cut his army from 30,000 to 300 just to prove a point
  

The list goes on and on. But it gets better in the New Testament. Because of all the people Jesus could have chosen to be his disciples, of all the rabbis, teachers, religious and educated men, Jesus goes and finds fishermen, tax collectors, doubters, and kids. These losers, outcasts, and fatally-flawed individuals are the ones God uses.

And it's not like they join up with Jesus and are suddenly made brilliant, talented, or popular! They remain IDIOTS throughout most of the story! They never get Jesus. Never understand what He is saying. Constantly ask him the same questions over and over again. Argue about silly, unimportant things and miss the big picture. For Pete's sake (no pun intended), Peter flat out lies that he even knows Jesus when the big moment arrives-- this after 3 years of LIVING with Him, talking to Him, laughing with Him, and giving up everything for Him.

And it is Peter the loser on whom Jesus chooses to build His church. Peter the loser who preaches the first great Christian sermon in Acts. Peter the loser who goes down in history as a great man of God.

This is the great thing about God. He is not interested in sugar-coating our hang-ups. We know all about Peter's loserishnesh. It makes the story that much better! It makes God that much greater! You see, God could care less what you've done, where you've been, or how bad you've messed up. The only thing He cares about is what you are going to do with Him right now. The bigger the loser you are, the more God gets to do His thing. He loves nothing more than using a loser like you. And me. And all the rest of us.

So quit spending so much time trying to be cool. Or popular. Or perfect. You are not. I am not. God doesn't want to you to be. He doesn't want me to be. He uses losers. He loves losers. He loves you.

So embrace your loserishness. Your inner-Peter. If God can use him, surely He can use you. And remember... it's not about doing anything! That's God's job. You just concentrate on allowing God to be a part of your everyday life. Talk to Him. Ask Him questions. Listen for answers.

Read about some of the other losers He's used. And decide today that you are His kind of man or woman. You're a loser. Believe it or not, that's good news. But don't take my word for it. Jesus said it best in Matthew 16:25-- "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." (NIV)

Blurring the Lines

My 2-year-old son, Aidan, and I have invented a game. It's called "Bonk." Here are the rules: Aidan throws a beach ball at Daddy's head and yells "Bonk!" Daddy falls down, and tries (halfheartedly) to get back up before Aidan can gather the ball and do it all over again. The game can last anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour, depending on Daddy's energy level. Aidan's energy level is never an issue.

Last week, we were playing "Bonk" when the game evolved. You see, Aidan has been learning about the story of David and Goliath in church over the past few weeks. He knows that Goliath was a giant, he knows that David "bonked" the giant with a stone, and he knows the theme of the story he was taught which is "God is with us!" This last part is usually shouted at the top of Aidan's lungs.

Anyway, last week while playing "Bonk," we soon found ourselves play-acting the David and Goliath story. Aidan was David. I was the giant, Goliath. And you can probably guess the role the beach ball played. After a few trial runs, we were ready to perform for an audience-- Mommy.

The story unfolded and everyone hit their marks. Aidan declared himself to be David, bellowed "God is with us!" (perhaps a bit too soon) and let fly the beach ball. It was a direct hit. Daddy/Golaith fell to the ground with a thud. Mommy began clapping, and we waited for Aidan to take a bow. (For Aidan, the story ends with a bonk. Thankfully for me, Aidan has not learned the part of the story where David pulls his sword and beheads Goliath.) But before I could get back up, something strange happened.

Aidan began running full steam across the room. I stayed put, not sure what to expect. Before I could react, Aidan launched himself airborne and did a full-on belly flop onto my chest. As I struggled to catch my breath, I felt Aidan wrap me up in his tiny arms and squeeze with all his might. With his face burried in my neck, mid-hug, he simply and sincerely said, "I love you, giant!" He held on a few more moments, then got up and, never missing a beat, proceeded to ask if we could do it again.

"I love you, giant!" Not what one would have expected to hear, from David or from Aidan. But for Aidan, there was simply no other way to express what he felt in that moment. There was no distinction between the game we were playing, which was not real, and his joy and love for his father in that moment, which was very real. For Aidan, it was only natural that the two should be merged together. It is, in some strange way, all equally real to him.

We can get too comfortable living compartmentalized lives. We can keep God in a box that we take out on Sundays, and put on a shelf during the week. We can act one way with our family in the privacy of our home, but treat them differently when in public view. We can rationalize our own choices based on unique and changing circumstances. And you know what? The more we do that, the less real any of it remains. Suddenly, we find that it is all a game. With different rules at different times. It gets hard to keep track of. It wears us out.

What would happen this week if you blurred the lines in your life? What crazy, unexpected, and memory-making moments would you create? Jesus said that the secret to His kingdom, and all the power and wonder it holds, was for us to be like kids. Kids blur the lines. They aren't afraid to look foolish. They act on their feelings, whether their actions are in the script or not. They live and play with total abandon, because it is all intensely real. Isn't that the kind of life you want? To be the ultimate rebel? To actually, really, not care what other people think, instead of just pretending that you don't?

That's what I want. And I've still got a long way to go. But I'm going to get started today. I'm going to start blurring the lines. I'm going to do something unexpected. I'm going to identify the areas in my life where I'm simply playing a "God" game and instead, I'm going to throw myself headfirst into Him. I'm going to look the Creator of the Universe straight in the eye and exclaim loudly and sincerely, "I love you, giant!" with all the joy I can muster. I can't think of anything our Father would love to hear more.

Welcome to The Fusion Life

Welcome to The Fusion Life, the official blog of Calvary Church's Fusion Student Ministries. Get all the latest news about Fusion right here!

If you have questions, need more info, or just want to drop me a line, you can reach me at jeff@calvary-church.org.