Thinking Differently

This was sent to me by a friend, sounds like WOLBI students over a long weekend:

Skyler Bartels kept looking over his shoulder. It’s a habit he picked up living at the Windsor Heights Wal-Mart for three days.
Really living there. Eating, sleeping, checking out the DVDs, never leaving. The plan was to spend his entire spring break there. Under the radar.

Bartels got the idea from a commercial. Was it true what those happy, shiny people were telling him: “Always low prices. Always”?
Could the biggest, most successful discount store in the world really meet his every need? Twenty-four hours a day? That’s what the TV spots were telling him. “That was the goal,” he said. “To buy everything I needed at Wal-Mart.” His father told him to go for it and offered to bankroll the project. On Sunday, his girlfriend dropped him off at the front door and drove away. The game was on. He lived off energy drinks, doughnuts, yogurt and Subway sandwiches.

The best place for dozing was lawn and garden, where the lights weren’t so bright. Nobody worked there between 2 and 4 a.m. Bartels found a lawn chair, kicked back and wondered how life could be better. Life would be perfect, he discovered, without the worker who showed up before dawn to stock plants. Bartels hopped up and pretended to be looking for home patio furniture.

That 1 to 4 a.m. shift was the daily low point. Subway was closed. Bartels was often the only Wal-Mart shopper, which made it harder to blend into the cosmetics and sporting goods. “It’s just me and the stockers then,” he said, “and every once in a while somebody who needs a Swiffer at 2 in the morning.”

By Tuesday morning, not even halfway through the great experiment, the store was on to him. His debit account was frozen. He was exhausted and paranoid. Game over. His med-student brother picked him up and took him away.

He even filled out a job application. “I wasn’t sure how to answer some of the questions,” he said. ” ‘Where can we reach you?’ That was a tough one. The electronics department?”

read the whole story here.

And in other news, I went to the first ever Word of Life: Masquerade. The costume party was fun, and food at the Word of Life Inn was delicious. I went as Indiana Jones. Check it out.

I stand upon the crest of the
Next Big Thing
Behind me the power builds and surges
Ahead the world lays
Unsuspecting
Above my High King directs the wave
Within the Spirit guides
Ahead Jesus leads
and I follow as
a Child of the Revolution
the Revolution against
Darkness
I am a son of light a son of the day
A son of God
One of the many
Children of the Revolution

This week I am studying through Philosophy of Youth Ministry taught by Mike Calhoun, Vice President of Local Church Ministries with Word of Life. This guy has the most passion for youth that I have seen contained in a single being. He loves them and will do anything to reach them. He stands solid on God’s Word and travels the country helping churches reach young people for Christ. He has such vision.

I am catching some of that vision, like a desert muad’dib (ref: Dune by Frank Herbert), and it is giving me such energy. God has given me a vision and a goal, and all that I am learning is expanding that vision with dimension and flavor. Possibility lies at my fingertips, and the world is mine to take for God.

Recently I have been contemplating this idea of God as High King. Before the Church Age, and coming after, is the autonomous rule of Jesus the Christ, as King. Israel was originally to be a Theocracy, ruled by God the King. It will be again as the human and divine collide in the person of Yeshua who will rule as the rightful heir of the throne of David. As a Church Age believer, I will have the privilege of serving in that kingdom during the earthly Millennium, and afterward into Eternity. So what keeps me from serving my High King today? I say High King because I am told in Romans to be subject to governing authorities here on the planet. That means I am subject to my RA all the way to the President of America. But God reigns over all, so He is High King.

Its an awesome idea that takes me back to the legends of King Arthur, and Lord of the Rings. As C.S. Lewis once told, the Bible and its High King is the greatest faery tale ever told, because it is true.

So I serve my High King as StormRider here on earth according to the Logos, His Word. Just part of my governing mythology, only its not myth at all.

Anyway, time here at Word of Life is simply amazing. No other adjective adequately describes what is going on in my life. God has radically transformed so many of my attitudes and thought patterns that I am surprised at myself so much. I am having a world of fun and learning time here during second year. Not to say that there isn’t any frustration or down times, cause there are, but not that often actually. Wow, is God so unbelieveably good.

As I find myself saying so often, “Hardcore!”

(Which I find as ironically cool, since my ambition as given in my graduating yearbook was to be “A Hardcore Christian”; I think God is fulfilling that desire in completely unexpected ways)

So I live and abide by God these days: hanging out working tech (sound booth, shooting video, editing), hanging out with awesome friends, hanging out with my PE class walking the natural wonders of God’s creation, hanging out with my ministry team seeing the lives of others impacted and changed by God.

What else is there? I submit: Nothing At All.

“My cup runs over!”

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

“God gives more grace!”

“Rejoice always and again I say rejoice!”

“For the Lord God helps me, therefore I am not disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed!”

Today’s thought: If you reach infinity, does that mean you have reached God? Does this formula balance: 1+(Infinity-1) = God ?

Anyway, I have been progressing through year’s beginning with much joy and fun.

Today, as part of tech, I was invited to be part of a storyboarding session for our Snow Camp openers. Snow Camp is much like Summer Camp, except is during the winter, and only for a weekend. We came up with a bunch of hardcore ideas that will rock this Snow Camp like never before. I actually cannot wait.

I am eating dinner, a combonation of PeanutButter and Jelly, Doritos, Pop-Tarts, and water. That’s because today’s dinner isn’t worth eating, really, according to a trusted roommate.

I am having fun in classes, too. This week we have one of our resident lecturers teach on Contemporary Problems in the Church, specifically, confronting the Charismatic movement. Most of today we focused on the history of such a movement, which was interesting to see. It actually to me was a stong indication of cessation of sign gifts, because after the last apostle died, it was 200 years before someone claimed to speak in tongues, and then another 1300 years before the “modern” movement began, which it didn’t get off the ground until the late 1800’s, and didn’t explode until 1960. So, if what they say is true, why wasn’t God working during the Dark Ages, considering the supposed activity today? Smells fishy if you ask me.

I totally love this aspect of learning all the facts, and being able to know for sure from Scripture what I believe.

Not really much else happening, so I will end this post. Love you all, miss you.

Peace and Grace.

~ the StormRider