Is this what I want to be doing when Christ comes back

Is this what I want to be doing when Christ comes back?

This was a question that was posed in the Book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. I highly recommend that you find the time to read this book.

The question got me thinking about all the things I do in life. How many of them would I be doing if I knew Christ was returning at that moment? I am not talking about anything bad. But simple little things like worrying about a sporting event. I am a Cub fan after all. Or perhaps it is having to get into the hot restaurant. Or am I spending more time watching TV or movies then I spend in word of Christ? How many other items get in the way of our time with Christ. I am reminded of the ladies and oil for the lamps. Or the story of the servants waiting for the Master to return.

Are we living our lives in a way shows we truly believe the Bible? Or do we give Christ our left over time?

For the coming year I am asking Christ to help me to chase after him. I want to put him before things. Perhaps with the possible exception of the Cubs winning the World Series. But then again if the Cubs did hell would be frozen over.

In service to Christ.

Dan Johnson
Youth Director
Holy Cross Lutheran Church

November

God is Good. All the time.

Sometimes I find this expression to be a big help. As we head into the Holiday season it is so easy to get lost in the busyness of the season we can forget that God is good. When we are in meetings trying to figure out when the Christmas decorations will go up or when we are in a council meeting discussing the budget, we can get lost in the business of running the church that we need to be the church.

Yes details are important. It is important that we get the budget straight or decide where we are going on our next mission trip. But we need to ask where is Christ in all of this? Do we take our questions to Christ in prayer. Do we take the time to listen to where God is leading?

To often I find my self pulled in many directions. Either I am getting ready for a meeting or I am working on a a computer issue. I am moving things around the church or talking with a youth. I need to also take time with Christ.

Do you find yourself pulled in many different directions? Do you find yourself short on time. Try during this busy time to find a way to be with Christ in Prayer, in Scripture and in Worship. We need to be with Christ everyday.

Three years ago on the Mission trip to Mexico. I encourage the kids to spend time in prayer in addition to the daily devotion time and the nightly prayer. We tried to spend 5 minutes focused on Jesus to start our day. Sometime during the day I asked them to spend a few minutes reading a line of scripture and then asking God what He wants them to get out of the verse. And finally I asked them to spend some time prior to sleep reviewing the day. But instead of beating themselves up over what they did wrong review all that they did right for the kingdom of Christ.

I challenge you to do the same thing. Spend multiple session each day in prayer.

In the Peace of Christ.

Dan Johnson
Youth Director

Sometimes we need to do less.

Pastor Shack begins his medical leave tomorrow October 1st. He will be gone for 6 months. Pastor Jim needs a chance to heal. This was not a sudden event but this is was the effects of a number of issues that have built up over time.

This got me to think about my own health. I recently worked 30 days straight. I also work outside the church. So even on the days that I was "only" at the church for a meeting I was likely working. On top of this I still own my old house and need to maintain this house in addition to our house. So I do not often get time for exercise. Or even time to just be quiet and listen to God. Even Sunday mornings can be busy enough to keep me from being able to worship God.

So during this time I decided that I needed to take time for myself and take care of myself. A couple of weeks ago after an all day church meeting, I finally got back on my bike. On my bike I can talk with God. I can give my body a workout and rest my mind at the same time. I am trying to do this on a regular basis.

Jesus tells us the Sabbath was made for man. God wants us to rest each week. I hope you are taking time to rest.

I hope you will join me in prayer for Pastor Jim's healing.

In Peace,


Dan Johnson
Youth Director.

Less is More?

On Saturday September 18th, the results of a years worth of work by the Strategic planning team and it's sub groups, was presented to a wider audience. The results of this work was well received. I am excited by what the future holds for Holy Cross.

The biggest change coming out of this work is the idea that Less is More. We need to be focused on who we are and what we do best. We need to stop trying to do everything and focus on what we do well. But do it better.

Part of the plan that was presented was a missional map to help move people through the process of being involved at Holy Cross. But the idea of being intentional in moving people to the next step in the map.

An implementation team was established and will begin the important task of moving us forward in a focused intentional direction.

I will write more later.

In Peace

Dan Johnson

Choices

In middle school I had a Science teacher that gave us choices in making decision in his classroom. One choice I will always remember is the choice of pen color. We could use any color of pen we wanted as long as it was Blue or Black. Simple choice. I almost always had one of those colors. Sometimes life can get complicated. The last few months since we returned from the mission trip have been rather busy and sometimes I struggled with what to deal with next. And sometimes when we have 2 many choices we end up not making a choice. Research as show if we are offered to many choices it is often easier to chose to not chose.

Is our faith life like that? Do we have to many things pulling for our time? Do you sometimes just feel like giving up and just turning on the TV? I like some TV shows and I am thankful that I have a DVR and can watch an hour long show in 40 minutes. But sometimes I get caught up in channel surfing and forget to take time in my life for Christ.

During our week at Pine Ridge reservation we truly focused on LESS us and More God. Each morning we had a 45 minute devotion. Think about it 45 minutes each day to spend in quiet time reflecting on God. Talking to God. Listening to God. Each evening we again had time with God. This was in a group setting with song and a lesson. Again this time lasted about an hour. So each day we had almost 2 hours of direct time with Jesus.

When we got back home the normal pulls of life spring back and are in our face each day. Instead of 45 minutes with Christ in the morning we are running out the door to our next appointment. Worship at night????? Really but I have this meeting, or this ball game, the grass needs to be cut, hey my favorite show is on tonight. We all have excuses. But isn't it really about our needs and wants and not God's needs? I know the grass needs to be cut and I know it is important to the boys that I am at their game. But, shouldn't time with Jesus be put aside each day?

Sometimes I wish my choices were reduced to 2. Any color you want as long as it is Blue or Black. Anything you want to do, as long as it honors God.

More God. Less World.

We are back.

After a much to long delay the Blog is back. I promise this time we will update the blog on a weekly basis. With the possible exception of a mission trip week. Otherwise I will be updating this space weekly. Please feel free to give feedback, comments both positive and negative are wanted.

This past summer 11 of our youth headed out to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Three brave adults led the way. We had been preparing for months to be able to give our best to God and the community we went to serve. Perhaps you have heard some of the stories about Pine Ridge. We had. We had guest speakers come and talk with us prior to going. We had watch videos about Pine Ridge. We were prepared. Or so we thought.

What we got was very much what we expected in some ways yet completely different in other ways. Some of the people were very quiet and withdrawn. Others were quite willing to talk. Some houses we saw were in very rough shape. Yet we spent our time working on houses that while needing repair were not in truly bad shape. It was a week of contrasts.

The contrasts helped us to focus on our theme of the week. More or Less. More God and Less world. All we long we focused on how we can have more God in our lives. This more or less theme got me thinking about how we could make a difference in the world at Holy Cross if we had More God and Less distractions.

Next week I will write more about More or Less.

Lent

Lent is an odd season for me.

I struggle with being quiet and reflective. I enjoy worshiping god and I enjoy worshiping him with spirit and emotion. That is not to say that I am not able to worship in a serious tone. I have never given up anything for lent and I have not understood why I should. I know that it is to understand what Christ gave up for us. But, does giving up soda really compare to Christ going to the Cross? If we are giving up things why are we not fasting on a regular basis?

I like to worship with joy and expression. I enjoy worshiping God and I look forward to being able to celebrate this wonderful God who loves me. I try to honor God in my life everyday. And sadly there is enough pain in the world. I worship Christ with my prayers and feel I can be serious without being down upon myself. We Christians have a habit of beating ourselves for what we did today. For listing our sins for God. Why not start with reviewing all that we did well for Christ. Go through that list and thank God.

I do not know perhaps I am making more of it. Let's celebrate Christ Love.

I really look forward to Easter.

Dan Johnson

Florida

I just returned from Florida. I have been back in town for only a few hours and I already miss my classmates. I listen to 11 wonderful presentations from my fellow youth workers. I had the joy of presenting my Youth Ministry plan first. While my report was well recieved I did learn from my classmates and picked up some wonderful ideas that I am looking forward to sharing and putting into place here at Holy Cross.

The Spirit was moving during my time. When 2 or more are gathered..... We had great conversations late into the night. Including a late night run to Wendy's. God is working in the youth of the ELCA. If what I saw over the last couple of days is any indication the youth are in good hands.

The biggest item that we all agreed upon was that we cannot do this alone. The single biggest influance of the faith life of youth is you! Parents ranked number one in all the research data. We as a church need to do a much better job of partnering with parents to create vibrant faith in out families.

Watch for some new things coming soon.

On my drive to work the other morning I noticed a car which was plastered with advertisement for Pacific Tan Co. I wondered, "What made them choose Pacific rather than Atlantic?" That led to "Who named the oceans anyway?" It's not like anyone can say they own the ocean. Being human, of course we think we do. We claim the water off our shores, we fish it until it is empty, we destroy its coral reefs, we dump garbage and chemicals into it, we create drinking water from it, we build walls to keep it out and canals to let it in, and we think we have control over it - but we don't. The ocean moves in crashing waves and overwhelming tides and tsumanis and yet can be smooth as glass. it can be cruel or it can be soothing. We do not control its movement, we only react to it.

God is like that to me. He is all powerful - no one can control him. We abuse our relationship with him, pleading for the things we want or think we need, we ignore him, we try to bargain with him and make promises to him, and sometimes we are in awe of his magnificent power or are overcome by his love. But, we do not control him. God moves where and when he chooses just like the ocean which he created. As for this writer, visiting this reality more often would not be a bad thing.

Cheryl Hick
Administrative Assistant

Youth Ministry Cert School

I am in Florida. Yesterday was the first really nice day. I was 40 feet up in the air walking on a wire. The view was incredible. I could see the ocean. Dinner was at a restaurant on the beach. Sounds fun right? It is. Okay being 250+ pounds up on the wire that shook like mad was scary. But, overall the time has been great. I am learning alot. The big key that I am coming home with is that we MUST do a better job of connecting our faith with the Families we serve. That we must become a partnership with the parents in forming the faith of all of our members. I have a lot of ideas to bring home.

I have often stated that I cannot do ministry alone. We need all members helping out. You are not too old nor too young to teach someone something about faith. I hope you will support me as I try to bring home some ideas.

Please consider supporting the "House of Hope" in Haiti. The High school Youth have adopted a young girl from this place. HOH is based here in St. Louis. I have been informed that the house in haiti has sustained some damage and will need repairs. But thankfully the girls and staff are okay. We are awaiting word on some of the support staff. We are hopefull but.....

Additionally I am here in Florida with a wide range of people from across the US. It has been amazing how many have connections in Haiti. One of the host pastors and her family have lived in Haiti for years. We have prayed and shared about our friends in Haiti. My friend Keven lost a good friend in Haiti. So please consider supporting Haiti with your money.

In the Peace of Christ.

Dan Johnson
Youth Minister.