For Now We See Through Glass Darkly, But Then...

I never cease to be amazed at the goodness of God or how little I know about Him and His ways.

We (the illustrious members of the unfortunately named "Big Time Ministries") held our bi-annual retreat for the junior high students, the fifth installment was dubbed Bravehearts, this past weekend, and I, more than a week later, have still not quite found the ability to articulate the ways in which God moved or all that He showed me. First, it was simply unreal- we had 130 boys from Mountain Brook Junior High School, plus 30 of mine and Coach Skip's high school guys come as leaders. Something only explainable as supernatural happened at Camp Mac, and thirty-one of those students said that they, that very weekend, had finally understood what it truly meant that Jesus died for them.

These high school guys were so pivotal; we held a meeting four days before we left and cast a vision for them- essentially letting them lead (with some guidance) and explaining to them how they could have such a tremendous impact for the Kingdom. They caught it, and it was incredible. They loved on the kids, mixed up with them during lunch, team times, stayed in their cabins, worshipped alongside them, asked them the hard questions, and, most importantly, portrayed Christ to them. That, more than anything else, was the most striking difference about last weekend. Two of my eleventh graders, including Alex, a student I mentioned in a previous blog who became a Christian a mere two months ago, shared their testimonies, and the j-high students are still talking about them...

It also got me thinking- wait, wait, have I so often overlooked one of my primary roles as a Christian? To cast a vision for others about how they can make an impact for Christ in this life? Isn't that what disciple-making is all about? Simply saying: The light of Christ is in you, now here's how to best let it shine that you might ignite a spark in others? And so often I am foolish enough to believe that I have been saved merely for my own sake, instead of catching a glimpse of God's greater plans at work...

Apologizing for my inability to be anything other than either ultra-serious or utterly inane