Where do I go from here?

     During our Good Friday service we were given the chance, as a visual illustration, to write what separates us from the Love and Power of God onto a piece of cloth that represents the veil. 

     I wrote two words on my piece of cloth, “inadequacy” and “qualifications.” I wrote them on the veil and tore that little piece of red cloth and set it in the offering basket at a broken offering to my God, to consume and remove from me.

     When I wrote those words, I very much expected to be in conflict with them. Giving your Humanity and what separates you from God a name, tends to create conflict in your spirit in order to remove those barriers from your life. I don’t find myself in conflict with pride, lust, or gluttony and sometimes I do wish I was. However, my separation from God, and everything else for that matter, is inadequacy, and ineligibility to do God’s work. To minister to students, to live a life with my wife. What kills me is my inadequacy. Whether it’s at work and not having proper credentials, or ministry and not having experience. 

     God created me with Himself in mind. When God began Creation, it was incomplete. In need of the perfection to complete it, to make it good. So God set in motion the series of events that will eventually lead to the reunification of Creation to Himself, through Jesus Christ. I understand that I am incomplete and in need of perfection to intervene in my life. That in all my “goodness," I can never be deserving of a life with God.

     This paltriness leaches itself into other parts of my life. I find myself at odds with...myself. I never graduated from “real” college. I don’t have pieces of paper that signify myself as someone “qualified” to perform ministry and the acts that are associated with it. Sometimes when it comes to fighting for what I believe in, in order to see the Kingdom of God established on the Earth. As a young man in the body of Christ, I know that I will have to face adversary through out my stint in leadership within the Church. However, one tool designed to save me, instead sometimes cripples me to the point of laying down. 

     Moses had his speech problem, Jacob had his past to contend with, Paul had Saul the list goes on, I have my lack of credentials (human papers). Through all of this I understand and have to know, that in order for the world to come back into alignment with God, there needs to be conflict. There has to be someone who is “not qualified” to step up and have tough conversations, take leadership and lead individuals towards Christ. 

     My name is Ryan Hansen, I am called to the Ministry of Jesus Christ, in order to spread, show and give the Love that has so redeemed me. Whether I am afflicted in ever way, perplexed, persecuted, or struck down. I will gird my loins and carry on. Pray for me and my wife, I’m getting back on that horse. 

• Inadequacy
• Qualifications

Fruitful and acceptable worship begins before it begins. - Alexander MacLaren

Fruitful and acceptable worship begins before it begins.

Alexander MacLaren

Most of the Body of Christ gathers to worship corporately in song and praise for a good solid 30-50 minutes a week which equals to1560-2600 a year. There are 525,600 minutes in a year this makes the percentage of the Church gathering to worship together, 0.3957382039573821% of our year….[i]  Funny enough, if every Christian that’s the same percentage of our lives that we worship God together in our lives. Does it seem weird when we do something once a week, but we look at the numbers it is so little?

            This isn’t a shame on you essay. It’s a thought essay. I want to find out what I’m doing as a young Christian. This is my way of taking inventory, if you will, relating it to myself; and, understanding my walk with Christ. I don’t intend on presenting a problem, harp on said problem then not offer a solution to the problem. I digress.(did I use that right? “I digress” is a phrase I have always wanted to use but have never used it right. Just like the “when in Rome” scene in Anchorman, a grossly inappropriate movie.)

            Now my math may be way off. I did take a lot of math classes in High School, they were just remedial and repeats because I had initially failed the course. The percentages can be different based on denomination, occupation, residence etc… What if…(dun dun dun) the church gathered for at least 1% of the year and worshipped and sang to Jesus? That’s roughly two and a half times more than we do now. I understand that worship carries through out the day. But there is something to be said for coming together as a body and praising Jesus through song. Right?

            There used to be a church on the interstate between Austin and Dallas that had a banner that plugged it’s 30 minute service. There are other churches that have plugged their streamlined easy experience services. I cannot tell you about the motives behind these practices, but I can ask the question again. Why don’t we spend even one percent as a church together in worship of our creator. 

            We all need to know that what we do during the day can be fragrant to God.[ii] But there is something to be said for gathering together as a family, as a bride, as a body to worship Jesus. This intent isn’t to call anyone out, or to shame anyone into raising their hands during worship; but, rather, to talk it through.

            Is it realistic? Is it conventional? Or even do able? I don’t know. But what if? What if admiration and worshipping the Creator of everything took precedence in everything we did? Altering how we even do the smallest business? Our careers, our lives our plans all revolved around Jesus and whether or not we’re fragrant in our public and personal lives?[iii]

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[i] Taking the average time a year, which would be 2,080 minutes.

[ii] Read a book called Praise Habit by David Crowder.

[iii] For the record, that’s how our lives are supposed to be…..

Take Heart!

Acts 13:51,52

“But shaking the dust off their feet against them, they proceeded to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.”

You take hits, and you take tumbles. And when you are on the ground you will get kicked. Hits and falls are inevitable, right? You can’t avoid what will come to pass. There are great resources out there about picking yourself up by the bootstraps and carrying on. It’s a common theme from old testament themes to WWII the slogan for the British Isles, cleverly, “Keep Calm and Carry On.” I can think of no better motto for ones life.

One could assume that tumbles and falls are associated with a poor prayer life. I beg to differ. Romans 8 talks of suffering and how suffering is life with Jesus. The book of Psalms is full of several accounts of suffering. Now the word suffering is such a general word, why would we want to use that word? It ranges from being short for your bills to cancer and broken limbs. Let’s streamline this entry and just lump every single suffering, tribulation, hard time, challenge etc. into one word and we’ll use challenge, yes challenge. Doing your taxes is challenging, finishing a test is challenging; walking through surgery and cancer is challenging, parenting (from what I can witness and hear) is challenging. Yes, from now on, for this essay, Challenges is the word for everything unless otherwise specified.

How can Christ relate to our challenges? After all, the Bible does say that Christ can relate to our sufferings.  The goodness and glory that is given to us by grace is something that was worked for with blood and pain. Christ suffers with us. Bottom line. Jesus is relatable to anyone in the world with any condition. Tempted and tried like us, except he defeated temptation and trial. [i] The power behind Jesus is great. So great in fact, that when He died, the world changed and life changed, death changed[ii]. So great, even His name is power.[iii] Bottom line, Jesus is the way to true power, more so,  to true life.

Back to “challenges”; our standard, as Christians, has been set high from the time of Moses. The effect of challenges and things on a young adult can be just as powerful as a mature adult. Only, we are learning how to take hits. We aren’t used to them, when we were adolescents our parents, mentors and educators took our hits for us, or at least lessened their blow. Now we take our own challenges. We pay the bills, we get our own credit cards, we make our own money. For the majority of Twenty-something’s in America, life, real life, is beginning. Many of us are getting married and having kids. We are taking the proverbial first flight, cutting our safety net. Gander on into Acts and you’ll find a church that was starting to take on it’s responsibility, you could say that they were starting to pay their own bills, and cut their safety net. 

We can consider it great joy when we face trials, and we can dust ourselves off and proceed with what we are to do, and that’s to share Jesus with those who don’t know Him. To show love to those who are hard to love and to those who will not welcome you. Jesus tells the disciples “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town.”[iv] Community, do not dwell on the things that hurt your feelings, challenges that get the best of you or when you get run out of town. That’s ok, just dust yourself off and try again. God brings grace, and love for a reason.

Bottom Line: Whenever we face opposition, it’s no big deal. Just dust yourself off and move on with Jesus. You cannot let a wall keep you from being able to share Jesus or progress in Life, School, Work, your Marriage etc. Keep Calm, and Carry On....

Matthew 10:22-23

“You will be hated by everyone because of My name. But the one who endures to the end will be delivered. When they persecute you in one town, escape to another. For I assure you: You will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

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[i] Matthew 4:1-11

[ii] The Jewish view of death is that of Sheol. A time at which even with atonements and sacrifices one could still go to Hades, the land of the Dead, and have to wait for the Messiah to come. When Jesus died, it was finished and He “led captivity captive” Death could not hold Jesus, even covered in every sin in the world and time.

[iii] Acts 3:6-7, When Peter said to the man, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazareth…” He walked….. When we do things in our own name[power] we can and will fail; however, when using the name of King Jesus, things get done.

[iv] Matthew 10:14