I went to Mars!

I know it’s corny, but it’s true… I went to MARS!!!  Let me explain:

       Over the weekend my mom spoke at a pastor’s wives retreat in Michigan.  My good friend and prayer partner Matt and I were already planning a road trip to Grand Rapids so we decided to stop in and surprise my mother.  So three of us (Tara, whose mom was also there, brightened up the journey) spent the afternoon/ evening at the pastor’s wives retreat in Howell, Michigan.  The 35 or so women at the retreat greeted us warmly and graciously allowed us to crash their party.  Mom spoke dynamically as the Lord used her to drench those women, as well as Matt and I, with an anointing of love.  We rediscovered the love story that is played out in our relationship to Jesus Christ and the many sacred delights that He send our way.   <Good job mom!>

       Later that evening we drove on to Grand Rapids eager about the second leg of our journey.  We woke up on Sunday morning after spending the night in a friend’s apartment at Grand Valley State University.  While we were quite exhausted from a late night of laughing and carrying on, we immediately perked up as we pulled into an old shopping mall.  While the mall has been stripped of its stores and no large signs were visible to designate why hundreds of cars flocked into the parking lot, we knew that this building was Mars Hill.  For those of you who don’t know about Mars Hill, it is the church the Rob Bell started and is the fastest growing church in America.  This counter-culture church shatters every stereotype of the traditional church and seeks to truly fulfill the call of the Holy Spirit by being what is stated on the door…. “A Jesus Community.” 

       What a beautiful concept of being committed to Loving God and Loving people!  Let me paint a picture for you of the experience…

       As you enter the doors of the stripped mall you immediately encounter greeter after greeter in the hallway.  The feeling of “we want you here” illuminated their face and warm greeting.  As soon as you entered the gathering place the greeters faded away as the unique setting in front of you seemed to immediately focus your attention toward Christ.  The room looked like it might have been a large department store such as JCPenny or something like that.  The walls and all frills had been stripped out and the ceilings were left bare.  The room was a giant rectangle with a square stage in the middle.  The best way to describe it might be the setting of a boxing match minus the stadium seating and boxing ring.  As you meander your way down the isle in awe of the simplicity of the setting where over 800 have gathered you notice that the lead worshippers… (notice plural)… (also notice that they are worshippers themselves)… are standing on the edges of the square stage and are all facing inward.  This fact meant that all the people worshipping on the stage were truly part of the community which had gathered, everyone was focused in the same direction… everyone was focused on Christ, obviously the foundation of this community. 

        This particular Sunday Mars Hill had invited a drum line to join them for worship and so we praised God with “the crash of cymbals, with resounding cymbals” (Psalm 150).  Worship was so unique as everyone was united in this atmosphere of focus, setting Christ as the focus. 

        Looking around for symbols, posters, paintings, anything… nothing was to be found except for that which appeared on the big screen that was designed with four sides, similar to a hockey score board.  On each side a projector was busy as a bee as words to music joined hearts and unified voices.  There was even one song where no words were sung… we worshiped by reading the words projected on the screen.  (words of songs, scripture, thoughts, questions, and praises) 

After the music was finished Rob Bell walked onto the square stage….

He placed his swivel stool in the middle of the stage and began to teach.  As he spoke he was very intentional about spinning ever so often so that he could connect to each side.  It was an intimate connection as he brought the Word of God to our attention.  Of all the Sundays we were there he decided to teach about HELL.  (I’m so glad he did!!!) 

If you’ve ever read Velvet Elvis you will recognize some of this… (note that I could never fully regurgitate all of the ideas and insight that I have been processing for over 36 hours)  He began by giving us a survey of every time that hell was used in the New Testament.  While there were three Greek words used for hell only one stands out and was used in the Jesus passages.  Most of them are found in the gospel of Matthew, represented by the word Gehenna.

Gehenna

GE=VALLEY

HENNA=HINNOM

VALLEY OF HINNOM 

Let me share just a few of these insights… (also I must note that all his sermons are online at the mars hill website, and they are free!)

First of all the Valley of Hinnom was a real place.  It was the town dump, which was on fire most of the time (the only way to get rid of trash).  OK… so the people Jesus was talking to would realize what this valley was and the implication of the word Gehenna (hell). 

Second, just an interesting note, “gnashing of teeth” was a phrase that was used to describe when two dogs (not the domesticated dogs we have today)  would fight over a piece of trash and their teeth would hit and grind. 

so who was Jesus talking to when he used this word Gehenna?  In each occurrence Jesus was talking to the religious people, disciples and religious leaders!  He referred to Gehenna as a place for teachers and leaders who got in the way of people coming to God, creating even worse “children of hell” as they were.  <a brood of vipers>

Let me give you the Matthew references: Matthew 5v22      5v29,30   10v28       18v6,9      23v15,33

These passages are about anger, lust, fear, causing others to stumble, and hypocrisy.  Hell to Jesus was a present reality with future implications… in the same way we are to live out the kingdom of God here and now!  HELL was used as a warning to Israel to be Israel!

The final question was:   Is your understanding of hell Biblical or cultural?

—Jesus wants to save Christians from making hell about THEM, THEN… instead of US, NOW—-

We can either bring heaven to earth or hell.

Praise be to GOD!!!

Changes…

As I look back (like I do quite often) I can’t believe how many things have changed this year already!  Let me just throw a couple out there so that you can get a sense of the life change that is taking place in my heart. 

First of all a big change is coming up for my family as a new member will be added!  Linda Gross will be marrying my brother in early November and we are excited about welcoming her into the family.  She is a woman of God who is respected by her peers and anointed in the work that she does.  God has His hand on her life and I know that he will use Adam and Linda in mighty ways as they begin their adventure together. 

The second change that has taken place is my move to an apartment and out of the dorms.  I have to say that the apartments are extremely nice and we are extremely fortunate to be living here.  While moving into the apartment gave a place of privacy to escape to and a nice place to prepare our own food and live… it has also opened the door to many other changes that are just starting to show their head.

One of those changes has to do with my friends.  I have been blessed by a solid group of friends who live with me or one floor below us.  They have been a wonderful stronghold through these many changes and I could never thank them enough for the support that they bring.  The change comes when you talk about other friends.  When you are in the apartments it is so easy to seclude yourself and be surface level with so many others.  This fact means that you have to treasure a certain amount of intentionality about getting to know your other friends.  The all important planner is vital for this! lol

Another change that has taken place is that Lauren and I are no longer dating.  While this has been a hard adjustment, I have to give a testimony to God as He has given me a peace ever since day 1.  Once again I praise God for the friends that He has placed in my life that have been devoted to praying for me, hanging out, and just listening.

Classes this year are also different as I dive even deeper into my core classes.  God has orchestrated my class load so that certain themes have emerged… such as learning about the Jewish heritage of the Christian faith.  I’m excited about how God is molding me through these classes and how He will continue to make me into who He wants me to be.  <please pray for determination as the reading load extends>

The last change that has flipped my perspective on things is on the ministry side of my life.  I have counseled at South Meridian COG for 2 years now and started this year by speaking at Labor Day Camp.  I love the church and the group and would enjoy being involved there, which might happen later, but I also feel God leading me toward some other areas.  I will be participating in Prison Ministry, Neighbors, Work Projects, and the prayer ministry.  Already God has moved in so many ways through Neighbors and I’m so excited to see how He will use us in the future. 

Needless to say I’ve felt a little shaken up in the past two weeks, but I’m here to say that I serve a God who never sways.  He has remained steadfast through it all, the ROCK!  “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness…”  While I might have had times when I felt distant from God I know that I am the one who drifted… but He was there waiting on me to come back with open arms!  Praise be to the faithful God!

Travel!!!

AFRICA

When I first came to AU I was introduced to the idea of travel.  Immediately my heart and mind was eager to know more.  With every story that I hear and every picture that I see my curiosity expands and my heart cries connects with the eyes of people all over the world. 

Last Christmas I had the opportunity to travel with some of my close friends to the Dominican Republic.  Many of you remember to emails that I sent just after that experience.  They were packed to the gills with reactions that were still processing in my heart 4 months later.  I’m not sure if I ever finished those emails or not, but I do know that the D.R. forever has a place in my heart as the eyes of those young children who were starving for love pierced my inmost being.  I was changed… I saw Christ in those little children, most of which I will never see again. 

At the end of the summer I received an email from a person for whom I have the deepest respect.  Her name is Cassie and she recently worked for Church of God ministries.  She shared with a hand picked group her heart for Uganda, Africa and the burden to make a connection there. 

When I got back to campus the talk began to spread and soon I realized that the group who was hand picked included most of my close ministry friends, all of which I connect at a unique level to.  This made my curiosity spike as I searched for God’s will.  Soon after that initial spike of interest I felt my heart yearning to go… so I signed up. 

We will be traveling soon after Christmas to Uganda and heading to a land stricken with AIDS and fighting.   Like I’ve hinted at a couple of times I am pumped to be able to travel to this land and spread the love of Christ.  I know for a fact that this trip will be a transformer in my heart and life as God continues to mold me into the man He wants me to be. 

There are two ways that you can get involved…

   First and foremost PRAY!  As we begin to prepare for the purpose that God would have us go, we need clear direction and provision.

   Second you can give monetarily.  I know many of you are unable to help right now and I respect that.  What I ask is that you pray to God and ask if He would have you give.  If you looked at the pictures above and felt a tug in your heart to get involved shoot me an email and I can send you some more info about what is needed.  (jweiger@charter.net)

Thank you for reading this blog… thank you for your support in prayer and otherwise.

Love God love people

Joshua Weiger

Proverbs 3:5,6

More coming soon!!!!

Steady On

Through the pain… traversing life’s ups and downs… amidst confusion, there is a persistent sense of peace.  “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for You are with me.  Your rod and Your staff they comfort me…” 

This summer as I was serving a church in Alabama I was able to hear one of my favorite speakers.  Pastor Ken is a dynamic speaker who captures the hearts of those who listen by teaching in a way that is clear and personal.  One Sunday I remember talking about Jesus as the Shepherd, outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. 

 ^{Matthew 7:13,14  13}“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Using the illustration as Jesus as the shepherd and us being the sheep, a picture was painted completely reforming my view on this illustration.  You see in our day a pasture is surrounded by a fence; therefore, I always assumed that once we entered through the gate we grazed in the pasture belonging to God.  As I am learning more and more it is imperative that we, as Bible believing Christ followers, to read the Bible through the eyes of those who wrote it.  In that day sheep were kept in the open fields… In this instance the gate would be referring to the Shepherd.  OK… so if Jesus is the Shepherd and the gate, we must come to Him to have life.  Yes I understand that… the part of this that will always confound me is how we (sheep) always stray away from the shepherd.  When we do we are still in the pastures of His grace.  WOW!  How wide, how deep, how long, and how high is the love of God!!!  We will never be able to put into words, or even understand for that matter, the boundaries of that grace.  Why would we want to test those boundaries, when Jesus… the shepherd is the only way to life. “I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through me.” 

We were created to be in relation to God.  Because of sin that relationship has to be in the context of Christ Jesus, the gate. It’s a beautiful picture when you realize that the gate, the one that leads to true life yearns for you!  He yearns for me!  He comforts us, He guides us, He sustains us, keeps us from the attacks of the enemy.  There are times when we stray, but He is always there ready to take us back into His arms. 

Praise be to God for His peace that passes all understanding!

Love God love people,

Joshua Weiger

Proverbs 3:5,6 

Pain

Hurt, loss, withdrawal, void, emptiness, etc. -  all of these and many more can be feelings associated with the word pain.  It is something that every single person deals with at one point in their life and in most instances quite frequently. 

In my experience it seems as though pain causes numbness.  It causes all other things to be put to the side as that open wound receives all the attention.  The wound that exists always seems to get more painful before it gets any better.  Even the process of cleaning a wound is in many cases hurtful.  Therefore in many cases additional hurt in the present is actually saving you from hurt later (infection).  The connection that I’m making here is between a physical wound (one that occurs to the body, actual skin) and an internal wound (one that occurs within the emotions, the heart or soul). 

So my question is how do you deal with your internal wounds?  Because you can’t drink peroxide to clean the wound and then coat it with Neosporen and put a bandage over it… what do we do?  How do we cope?

I’m not an expert, in fact I believe that we are all students in this aspect as we are faced with new types of pain all the time.  Here are some thoughts:

  -Examine>  find the problem… where does it hurt, what caused the  hurt, what is the extent of the hurt, how bad is the wound? (Many times our initial examination is wrong.  Because of the adrenaline or the hype of the situation we misdiagnosis, either to harshly or not enough)

  -Beginning to clean>  it is important to get the dirt out as quickly as possible.  The big pieces of dirt are hard for the body to fight against and so those things have to be removed.  Sometimes it is better to just let the wound bleed, but other times additional tools are necessary to clean the wound.  Another part of this process that is important is the fact that our wound in many cases is hard for us to clean without help.  The pain might be too much to handle, one might not be able to see the sight of blood, or the wound might be in a place that the person might not have a clear line of sight. 

  -Once the wound is clean, free of any debris that might cause later infection, the next step is to dress the wound.  Substances from outside the body need to be applied to help the body heal.  In the same way internal wounds need a supplemental applicant to aide in the healing process.  This supplement, one might say, comes in many different packages.  (Friends, Family, Holy Spirit, Music, Bible, Books, etc.)  The list could continue for quite a while.  The main thing to remember while choosing which supplements to apply is the relevance to the wound.  You wouldn’t put hemroid cream on a cut.  What are the ingredients of the supplement?  What can it handle?  Is it Doctor (God) recommended?  I mean He does know us best…

  -The next step is to cover the wound.  Now read this step carefully… The wound must be covered during daily interactions with the world so that more infectious material does not find its way in.  However in clean environments the wound might need time to breath or air out.  It is even appropriate for some care to remove supplemental substances for proper healing. (sometimes we have to spend time alone with Christ in us) 

  -Finally… the last step in the proper care of an internal wound is patience.  The wound is not going to heal overnight.  In the same way our internal wounds need time to heal properly.  We might even carry the scar from that wound the rest of our lives, but this is where the interesting part of this process comes in.  Through our scars (experiences/ pain)  we are able to relate to others.  It is an evidence to others that says “I’ve been there”  “I know how you feel.”  Pain, even though difficult is an enabling experience, it allows us to walk with people through their hurts and pains.  (empathize)

Is there a way to keep these ideas in our head and heart as we journey through our pain… as we persevere through hurt, emptiness, and a feeling of missing something of value? 

I don’t know

I pray that I might be able to look to God… the author and perfecter of my faith through my pain.  When I feel most lonely, God, I pray that my eyes will be fixed on you.  As I seek after your heart and desire to be your hands and feet to all people… teach me to deal with pain in a way that would bring you glory.  Father God I ask that you would help me to lean not on my understanding, but on Yours!  I know that this life is not easy and that there are many things that cause pain, so God I pray that I would quit trying to analyse everything and would lean even more on You.  I know that your peace transcends my own understanding and your Identity upon my life means more to me than anything I could ever experience.  Father be glorified   -Amen 

Speechless

Have you ever been utterly at a loss for words?  Like when an experience happens that is completely out of your control and there is no explanation great or small that describes what is at the core of your being.  I have had two of those experiences in the last week. 

First of all has to do with the way I witnessed God’s Spirit move at South Meridian’s Labor Day camp.  Teens were coming to grip with who they were, but more importantly whose they are!  The theme for the weekend was B.A.S.I.C. Training.  When I was first asked to speak, I knew that God had an appointment with me for that weekend and so I enthusiastically said yes and within ten minutes had the whole weekend outlined.  Battle Atonement Sacrifice Identity and Called

We talked about the battle that started in the Garden of Eden, Atonement that was required for their sin and the Ultimate Atoning Sacrifice of Christ,  Identity was covered, and a challenge was given to those who bear the name of God.  It was a powerful experience that changed the lives and hearts of those in attendance.  The Study time that I was able to have pumped me up as the Word of God permeated my in most being.  God had a purpose that weekend for every person at the camp.  It was a humbling to be a part. Praise be to God!

The second experience that has left me speechless has to do with a certain relationship.  I have only experienced minimal loss (either by death or otherwise) in my life time… every time I experience such a loss or find myself in the company of one who is going through such a loss words just seem to slip away.  Maybe it’s just the way that I respond to loss, but a simple embrace says more than a million words. 

Speechless…

Just a little added note from Streams in the Desert

“Thou remainest” (Heb. 1:11).

There are always lone hearth-fires; so many! And those who sit beside them, with the empty chair, cannot restrain the tears that will come. One sits alone so much. There is some One unseen, just here within reach. But somehow we don’t realize His presence. Realizing is blessed, but–rare. It belongs to the mood, to the feelings. It is dependent on weather conditions and bodily conditions. The rain, the heavy fog outside, the poor sleep, the twinging pain, these make one’s mood so much, they seem to blur out the realizing. But there is something a little higher up than realizing. It is yet more blessed. It is independent of these outer conditions, it is something that abides. It is this: recognizing that Presence unseen, so wondrous and quieting, so soothing and calming and warming. Recognize His presence–the Master’s own. He is here, close by; His presence is real. Recognizing will help realizing, too, but it never depends on it. Aye, more, immensely more, the Truth is a Presence, not a thing, a fact, a statement. Some One is present, a warm-hearted Friend, an all-powerful Lord. And this is the joyful truth for weeping hearts everywhere, whatever be the hand that has drawn the tears; by whatever stream it be that your weeping willow is planted. –S. D. Gordon