Romans 8 – body

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

I have not suffered greatly in my body. I know some that have. Carolyn, who I went to Bible school with, whose MS had imprisoned her great mind and soft heart in a body that didn’t function well. The chaplain who lived with great daily pain, but continued his ministry in Folsom prison to the intimates. They have known suffering.

What do we do with the pain and suffering of body?  Youthworkers study to know how to walk with another person through their suffering.  Some have great gifts to walk with those hurting, others learn how to care and comfort.   But how do we deal with our pain when not all is right?  How does the minister minister to oneself when their own body is at odds with themselves?

What do we do when we are diagnosed with a chronic physical illness like arthritis, diabetes, asthma, heart disease or cancer?  Do we just write off the body and look toward wholeness in heaven?  Do we  get angry with God or pray for a miracle?  Do we ignore the problem and continue to play the martyr?   Do we struggle with the cause and effect, which may bring about guilt, shame, or depression?   Yes.

I have been diagnosed with two chronic illnesses and have done all of the above at various times.   I didn’t always take care of my body, so I felt the guilt.  I indulged in poor eating, and felt the shame.   I thought my call was over and felt the depression.   I gave up….got anger…felt self-pity…denied…and blamed.  

This is the part where I tell you the secret to dealing with these conditions.  Or this is where my wisdom and experience give you hope, guidance or a kick in the butt to take care of yourself.   Can’t do it.   The suffering is part of life.   Unavoidable.    Living with suffering is life in this tainted creation.  Jesus knew suffering. 

In the Message Eugene Peterson puts it this way [from Romans 8:9-11] “But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!”

Christ embraced the suffering that he had to experience in this creation he came to redeem.  So we must embrace our bodies in their suffering.   We can do alot to be healthy, but don’t be so focused on ourselves, see yourself through the eyes of God.  

For those of you who suffer, hear again Romans 8:26-28 from the Message, “Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant  condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.  

There is hope in suffering!  There is good that comes from all that is offered up to God.  But it also sucks to be ill!   So be honest don’t deny.   Also do what you can to live for God’s glory in suffering and health.

If you are walking through suffering, and would like someone to walk with you, contact me at fosterbraumbe@hotmail.com.  This is one of the things this oldhorse can offer to youthworkers.

Romans 8

I am going to spend the week reflecting on Romans 8. Why? It may be one of my favorite chapters in the Bible.   I hope you find it one of yours too.

1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

I heard a message on this verse in my first year of youth work. It was by Bob Lenz preaching at a Four Square church. Obviously I have never forgotten it. This was not the first time I had heard the passage. But it may have been the first message I had heard based on it. Got to remember that back then I was a young colt.

I am sitting at this very alive evening worship service, with two youth who I had only known for a couple of months. Why they were with me at this service?  I have no idea. They were both on the fringe of church. Parents had gone through an ugly divorce and the church seemed irrelevant and idealistic to them. So here we are at a happy clappy service. I thought they would hate it…these kids were all in black, before Goths were in style.

Here is the strange thing….they loved it. Both the kids and I found the joy to be lifting. But Bob’s message was releasing. No condemnation. Both kids were not angels. They knew that and they knew I knew too. I was no angel, and had been far from it when I was a young teenager. I had made sure they knew that too.   So here we sat and heard that God did not condemn us.   In Jesus there is no condemnation.  

Do you do youth work free of condemnation?  Do you work with shoulds and oughts and have to be’s?   I am the type who hates to miss opportunities.   A wasted opportunity is a thing to be condemned.  In youthwork there are many opportunities.  So there is also lots of room for condemnation for the ones I miss.   And when I look at the kids that drift away….or run away from God….I wonder if I missed the opportunity I had with them.   I condemn myself for the wasted chance.  

You are probably thinking, which is more clear headed then I am, that we can’t save them all or it is not about us, but about the work on the Spirit.    True.   But there I still sit wondering “if only.”

Romans 8:6 goes on to say, “⁶The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;”   When I want to know if I am working in the Spirit or the flesh, I look at what is controlling my mind.   Is condemnation [death] my focus?  I missed, messed up…screwed up.   Or do I find peace and life?   Do I find hope and rest in that the Spirit of life is at work? 

The two kids back in my young colt days?  They didn’t stay involved in church or youth ministry much after that.  I would see them maybe 5 times after that.   Condemnation says I missed.  The Spirit of life….I remember the message and still draw hope from it….could they be doing the same?   I didn’t miss an opportunity with them.  I was given that opportunity and I saw them experience joy and hope, if only for that one evening.   But the Word of God was heard.   We know that God never wastes anything.  Not a chance, not suffering, not a moment or a word heard.  

There is no condemnation!  The Spirit of life gives life and peace!

born of God

John 1:12-13 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

I wanted to express my thoughts on youth ministry, how to endure in doing it and debate the trends in my blogging. So where do I begin? I begin with God. Not unique, but essential for me.

I got into youth ministry by accident, not intentionally. I was a youth when God called me to something, I didn’t know what at the time. But the call came to me when I realized the God of the Universe, the Creator, loved me and invited me to know I AM.

Years later when I was struggling with the call to youth ministry and wondering if I should be doing something else I had one of the “God moments” where you ask for a “word” and you get it in an unexpected way. I was sitting outside on a college campus during a respite on a summer mission trip. I was tired, discouraged and feeling alone. I had been waiting on the “word.” I got three of them. I heard these words, but no one was speaking. “Child of God,” was what I heard. I have gone back to that moment, that phrase, that invitation, the affirmation, many times over the years.

Why do I do youth ministry?  There are a lot of good reasons.   A key one for me is knowing that I am a child of the Living God, Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth, the Alpha and Omega.   Knowing that I am loved as a child by God gives me the desire to love other of God’s children.  It motivates me. 

Maybe I do this work with teenagers since I remember the need, blessing and privilege it was to discover this myself as a teen.  I know that each time I remember this, I am motivated to do the work of my Father. 

Luke 2:49 The words of Jesus, “And He said to them, “Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

How this can go…

I am not going to worry a lot about my grammar and spelling…because I want to do free-flowing writing.  I am happy to have people disagree with me, but I hope those who do will explain why and those who don’t will do the same.  When I share from my life, it will be to illustrate, so reflect, don’t judge.  When I share my thoughts, a challenge is good.  When I make a mistake, please forgive me.  When I disagree with you, it is not a judgement on you, it is an opinion from my perspective.  

So I hope to share, challenge and give what I can through the posts to make them worth reading.

Beginnings

I have been given a gift, a gift of time. With this gift, I want to give. Advice? Probably, I am a guy so that comes naturally. Perspective? I hope so. I am not the wisest, oldest or most experienced youthworker, but I have a couple decades under my belt and hope that if what I share can encourage another youthworker, it will be a good use of my time. So I hope to share some thoughts and elicit some others to think and respond. Let’s see how this works.