Preach it, teacher.

In this process of updating my blog, I'm posting several things I've written for other blogs. I wrote this about 9 months ago -

People are so skeptical of authority these days. Maybe they’ve always been skeptical of authority, but it seems to be getting worse. This makes the job of teaching tricky. “Why should I care?” “Why do we have so much homework/so many tests?” “I’ll never need to know this when I’m older” are questions and comments that have to be subliminally answered in every class period.

I’m always trying to prove to my students why what they’re learning and how they’re learning matters. And I always want to make sure that it’s true - that I’m not wasting their time - that what I’m communicating will better them in some way - that they will be smarter, more informed, a better critical thinker, a better problem solver, better at a certain skill by the end.

A prime example: I am teaching my health class about STD’s tomorrow. My opening line comes from a pastor in Seattle, Mark Driscoll: “Is sex gross, a god or a gift?” I want them to know I’m not trying to scare them out of having premarital sex. I’m not trying to use my authority to make sure they “behave.” No, I’m not trying to communicate tomorrow that sex is gross. I am a firm believer that sex is a gift, a beautiful gift. However, STD’s (or STI’s) are real and affect a great number of sexually active individuals. They range in severity everywhere from curable by antibiotics to deadly. And most teenagers can throw around the words “chlamydia” and “syphilis” without really having any idea what they do to your body. I want my students to be informed, intelligent human beings on the subject.

People always want to know why. Heck, I always want to know why. If I can’t see a good reason, I don’t want to do it. Because of that, I always want to have an applicable answer to the question, “Why are we doing this?” (Note: a close relative to the question, “Who cares?”). Students may not have the humility, foresight or perspective to always agree with my answer, but I want to be confident that it is valid. If it continues to pay off in the classroom (much like a coach who continually pushes his team towards perfection), I hope to get the students on my side, working hard for me and with me.

Law & Grace - A Speeding Ticket

This is another old-school post from Christ Community's blog, but this story is also worth the re-visit:

It’s Rachael Mirabella here, part of the second year Protege team at Christ Community. I want to tell you a real-life story that developed over the past couple months for me. It’s a story about the law and grace, and I hope it’s encouraging to you:

The story begins as I was driving home in mid-August from one of our youth group girl’s homes in Madison County. It was the afternoon, and I was headed back to my house after the day’s work with not a lot on my mind. All of a sudden, I saw flashing lights in my rear window and heard a siren. ‘Why am I being pulled over?’ I wondered aloud to myself. I checked my speedometer – only going 5 miles over the speed limit. ‘Well, good thing I just got my new license in the mail yesterday.’ My old license had been expired for 3 weeks.

When the officer approached my window, he asked the typical question, ‘Do you know why I pulled you over today?’ ‘No, I really don’t,’ I replied honestly. He told me: ‘You’re in a school zone and driving 15 miles over the speed limit.’ His words hit hard. To be honest, my first thought was that since I’m living off support, this felt like worse-case scenario. I don’t have money to just throw around for being irresponsible.

My first response was to ask for a favor. ‘Sir, I genuinely had no idea I was in a school zone. Is there any way I could get away with just a warning?’ You see, I was passing Athens Christian School that day. If you’ve never seen the school before, it’s set about a hundred yards behind a line of trees on Hwy 29. Granted, there’s a sign right off the road for the school and a flashing light saying ‘School Zone’, but in my lackadaisical mood and missing the typical signs for a school (like a building you can see), I was totally unaware. 

Anyway, in short, his answer was no to my favor. He dropped my speed by 1 mph so I wouldn’t get any points on my license, then wrote me a ticket and sent me on my way. Driving home, I was unbelievably frustrated. I felt deserving of grace. ‘I really didn’t know I was in a school zone! I can’t believe he wrote me a ticket.’ But before I even made it home, it hit me … I did deserve the ticket. Whether or not I was aware of my breaking the law, I was breaking it. I owed the debt. So I decided to learn a good lesson – being judged under the law is awful; I don’t want to take for granted that in life, grace is mine in Jesus and I am no longer judged under God’s law. ‘Good takeaway, I suppose,’ I thought. But fortunately that’s only half of the story.

I kept putting off paying the ticket because I simply didn’t want to pay it. I knew it was due sometime in October, so I forgot about it all through September. For whatever reason, as the due-date approached, I continued to avoid paying it. Finally, four days after it was due, I got the ticket out to pay it online. Total amount due: $220. Way more than I expected. $170 for speeding in a school zone, and $50 for the late fee. ‘I am a fool,’ I thought, and ‘This would happen on a day when I feel especially connected to the Lord.’

A mere twenty minutes later, something incredible happened. I received an e-mail that read like this: “Your payment has been REJECTED.” ‘Oh no, what did I do wrong?’ I wondered. When I opened the e-mail, I was shocked by what I read. There was no record of my citation under the number I had entered or by my name and birthdate. Since the court date had passed, the case was considered closed and they would refund my money. I couldn’t contain my joy as I was blown away by grace and the metaphor for my life. My offense was erased from memory; it was as if it had never even happened. Over the next three days, I received 2 more e-mails, a phone call, and a letter telling me my payment had been rejected. They wanted to make sure I got the picture. My roommate described it like this: “The Lord is screaming grace at you.”

Yes, He was. And is. I’m listening. And forever grateful.




John 1:16, “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”

The felt love.

This is an old-school post I wrote for Christ Community Church, but this story is worth a re-visit ...


In a sermon from Luke 7:36-50 by Matt Adair a few weeks ago, he made this statement:

‘The greatest power to set you free from the addictions, afflictions and assorted troubles of this world is the felt love of Jesus.”

I think we can all say we know the difference between believing we are loved and then feeling loved by someone. We have asked members of our church to share stories of a time when they really felt loved by Jesus. There is so much power in the stories of believers, so we hope you are encouraged by these.

Our first post is by protege member Rachael Mirabella:






One day in 2008 I was sitting in my bedroom in Athens shortly after I got back home from a summer mission trip in Peru. I was really wrestling with how to hear the Lord’s voice. I heard Christians I knew talk about it often. They would say, “The Lord told me to do this” or “The Lord told me to go talk to that person.” How in the world did they know that? How could I be sure it wasn’t just my voice talking in my own head? And if we were going to get all hyper-spiritual, how could I be sure it wasn’t the devil talking? Maybe I just wasn’t giving Him the chance to speak?

So I decided to sit down with the Lord and have a chat. I sat on my bed and talked for a while. I told Him all about my fears, insecurities, dreams, hopes, likes, dislikes – just like I would a friend. Then I told Him it was His turn. “Please speak if you have anything to say!” All of a sudden the reference John 20:15 popped in my head. Now I’ve tried the whole flip-open-the-Bible-to-a-random-page-and-see-if-a-verse-applies-to-this-situation trick before. It hadn’t worked. But I decided to skeptically open my Bible and see what John 20:15 had to say. This is what I read: 15 “ ‘Dear woman, why are you crying?’ Jesus asked her. ‘Who are you looking for?’ She thought he was the gardener. ‘Sir,’ she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.’ “ I quickly realized I was reading a verse from when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb to find Jesus and could not find him. Then I read the line before verse 15: “It was Jesus, but she did not recognize him.”

I couldn’t believe it. The Lord had spoken directly to me through a verse. And more than that, He had spoken into my mind. I felt so known, so understood, so loved.  ”Okay, Jesus, You’re telling me You are here with me and I just don’t recognize you. Help me to recognize your voice,” I asked. The next day I had a conversation with a believer friend of mine who said, “I usually just assume that if something good, something pure, something servant-minded, or something loving pops into my head – that thought probably did not come from my sinful nature self.” So now that’s how I operate. If I feel drawn towards a certain person in a crowd, I go with it. If the thought pops into my mind to serve my roommate by making her bed, I go with it. That’s the Holy Spirit living inside of me directing my steps and changing my heart to be more like His. And if He lives inside of me, I am known. If He lives inside of me, I am His. And the Bible promises that if I am His, I am loved. That moment was such a defining one for me that my Creator and Savior knows and loves me.

RestoreBrazil.

Hey everybody, it’s Rachael Mirabella (soon-to-be-Boyd!). I was privileged to be one of four leaders on our youth group’s recent mission trip to Brazil. I could talk about a thousand different things from our week in Rio, but I want to share is the two biggest lessons I learned.

Passion for your City

I was floored by the three pastors we worked with while in Rio – one was American and two were Brazilian. You want to see people who love their city? We saw them. As they took us to a church to do VBS, to an orphanage to play with kids, to a homeless shelter surrounded by transvestites, to a street in the City of God (one of the poorest slums in Rio), they were not strangers. These were not places they just take teams of Americans every once in a while to give them an experience. These are places they go, week in and week out, to tell people about Jesus. They bring spiritual and practical restoration to some of the darkest places on earth. They are loved by the people in these places.

The name of their organization, Restore Brazil, is very fitting. That is what they are working towards. And they are working hard! They know their city, they know the needs, and they are working tirelessly to meet them. At first it made me ashamed to think of these pastors coming to Athens. What would they think when they saw how little I knew my city? Then I realized there is no need for shame. Jay, Paulo and Rabsom were very quick to admit that working for restoration is a long process. I don’t need to be ashamed; I need to be inspired.

And I was inspired. I want to know whatever city I live in the future as well as they know Rio de Janeiro. I want our church to know Athens / Watkinsville and work to meet their needs. I want you to go to Brazil, meet these three pastors and all the other wonderful people down there  

God answers prayer

Over and over again, Collin and I prayed for one big thing. We prayed that the Spirit would move. We asked Him to move in our hearts, the hearts of our students, and the hearts of the people in Brazil. The whole trip was pointless if Jesus wasn’t there; He is the one that changes people.

I was blown away moment after moment as I watched God change hearts that week. Some were very small changes, some were very large (our bus driver became a believer!), all were a blessing of grace from Him. Personally, God was working away at my pride and cultivating humility. He by no means achieved perfection in my heart, but He did some good work. He also encouraged my faith by allowing me to see Him answering prayer.

So to recap the two big lessons learned - God answers prayer, and I want to be passionate about my city because my God is passionate about people.

Why Jesus?

I took this post (and several others) off my church blog (www.missionathensblog.com) ... enjoy!

 

In the last two youth group meetings of the school year, leaders Collin Ross & Rachael Mirabella answered the question for their students, “Why Jesus For Me?” Jesus says it is costly to be His disciple in Luke (9:57-62), so why follow? Why did the men back then decide it was worth it (10:1) and why do we think He is worth it?

It was a really fun question to think through and answer.

Collin’s answer – “Jesus treasures the people the world throws away.” The weak, the lame, the sick, the poor, the dumb, the untalented, the unattractive, the hungry, the meek, the poor in spirit, those who mourn … He wants them all.

Rachael’s answer – “Jesus makes this crazy world make sense.” He answers the question of suffering. He answers the question why it seems like bad people get away with bad things. He promises to return. He promises to deal with sin, and He graciously offers His Son as payment. His holiness and glory answers why Jesus asks so much of us.

So, why Jesus for you? Some people call their answer a testimony. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us we should always have an answer for the hope we have. What’s your answer? Why do you follow Jesus? Why is He worth it to you?

Height, Depth, Breadth and Length

    


If you don’t know that Christ Community has a youth group, you’re missing out on knowing one of the greatest groups of people at our church. Not that I’m biased as a leader. Each Wednesday, we usually act as a community group and review the sermons from Sunday gatherings, asking questions and applying the Word deeper into our lives. That’s the goal anyway.

But the last few weeks we have been doing something different. We have opened the book of Ephesians and read through one chapter a week. This past Wednesday, it was my job to go through Ephesians 3 with the students. The first half of the chapter is about how the Gentiles have been added to God’s people through Jesus. Paul calls himself the least deserving of all God’s servants to bring this news to the Gentiles, but he is privileged to do so by God’s grace.

As much as I like the first half of the chapter, the second half is one of my favorite parts in all of Scripture. Paul kneels down before the Father to pray for the people of Ephesus. He had prayed for people in chapter 1, but he begins to pray again for the power of God to come. He prays that Christ would make His home in their hearts. He wants them to have power to understand. What does he want God’s power for? That they might understand the love of Christ. Not just in one dimension, but in three – the height, depth, breadth and length (3:18). That describes a shape that is three dimensional. It’s literally an all-encompassing love. 

It is a love that surpasses knowledge. And when we have the power to understand that love, we are filled with the fullness of God (3:19). Forgive me if I am wrong, but that sounds a lot like the Holy Spirit filling us and us becoming more aware of His presence in our lives. Jesus possessed the fullness of God (Colossians 1:19, 2:9). He understood God’s love for Him. He acted out in it. And what happened when Jesus acted out of that love?

Miracles.

Verse 20 tells us that God is able to do more than we might ever ask or think through the power at work within us. I’m not saying we’re going to raise the dead. I never have and probably never will. I think that’s a miracle reserved for God. But it is a miracle when I am able to act in true humility or love selflessly or give grace when I am hurt. When those things happen, I know the love of Jesus has really changed me. His power has overtaken me as I experience the three dimmensional, all-encompassing nature of His love.

Let’s pray together with Paul that we as a church would be able to understand the love of Christ through God’s power. All this to His glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. (Ephesians 3:21).

Daughter, Bride, Temple.

Just what is an identity?

When you enroll in classes in college, you become a college student. On your wedding day, you take on a new role as a spouse. When you have a child, you become a parent. Maybe you see your identity as "employed" or "unemployed", "friend" or "loner", "reader" or "musician", "introverted" or "extroverted". We label ourselves and give ourselves identities or the outside world does. Some identities you have no control over. When you're born into a family, you immediately become a daughter or son, and perhaps a sibling.

But here’s the real question I want to get at, what does God say about identity? The Bible tells us God has many identities - Father, Counselor, Lord (Master), Savior, etc. So by telling me who He is, in response He tells me who I am. As I took a walk by myself the other night, I thought of three identities He has given me that really change everything. They tell me that He loves me. They tell me I am taken care of. They tell me I am always at home with Him. They tell me I am never alone. Though I may often forget these things, that does not make these identities untrue. They unfold from His trinitarian nature. Let me explain -

1. Because God is my Father, I am His daughter.

John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Galatians 3:26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

2 Corinthians 6:18 and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”

So He provides for me, takes care of me emotionally, and protects me.

2. Because Jesus is my Bridegroom, I am a bride.

Hosea 2:16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’

Ephesians 5:25-26, 31-32: Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ... “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Revelation 19:7-9 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
8 it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

So He has made an eternal covenant with me, knows me, and loves me passionately.

3. Because the Holy Spirit dwells within me, I am His temple.

Galatians 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

John 14:26-28a 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’

1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

So He is always with me, makes me capable of obeying Him, and brings me peace.

Our God is bigger than we will ever understand; it took him 66 books to explain Himself, what He has done for us, and how He feels about us. He is far more than what I have written above, but He is very much those things above. In the same way, we are far more than what I have written above, but we are very much those things above.

Today I am so thankful that grace upon grace is mine because of God's fullness. I am His daughter, His bride, and His temple. I am protected, loved, and never alone. Though I know I am unworthy of such love, He deems me worthy, so I will choose to revel in the beauty that has become mine.