Remarks on the Passing of Steve Jobs

Not surprisingly, I found out about Steve Jobs’ passing from my iPhone. I received a text that simply said “Steve Jobs :(“. I opened my iPad to look up information on the news, and read more articles about his passing later that evening on my MacBook Pro. 3 devices for which he was directly responsible for.

Say what you will about the ideals and behavior of Steve Jobs, but that the man was an absolute genius cannot be argued or denied. Apple is one of the most desired brands in the world, and the company owes almost all of it to the man who’s desire, ambition, and passionate pursuit of perfection drove the company to innovate and capture the hearts (and wallets) of millions of consumers around the world.

I owe my job (literally) to that man, and his attention to detail and love for making design and functionality intersect peacefully will be sorely missed not just by Apple, but the electronics industry as a whole. The products he pushed upon us have set the golden standard in electronics design and function for years now.

Steve Jobs, in a much-quoted and much-linked commencement speech to graduates at Stanford in 2005, had this to say (among other things):

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

He didn’t waste his time.

So long Steve. Thanks for defining the awesome. You’ll be missed.

Putting Things into Perspective

One cannot deny that getting in a wreck, at any time of the year, stinks. But getting in a wreck the night before your birthday? Talk about a kill-joy. I rear-ended someone with my car last night and dealt significant damage to my own vehicle. I’m alive, and no one was hurt, so I am very thankful for that.

I hit rock bottom last night when I got back home. After everything I’ve gone through since I’ve gotten back from FUGE, why this? One more issue/problem piled on top of the mountain of obstacles I’ve had to overcome. I lamented the damage to my car and, more specifically, the potential cost to fix it.

This morning my mother helped put things into perspective: metal can be repaired or replaced. Lives can’t.

The situation could have been a whole lot worse. No one was hurt in the accident, and the people I ran into happened to be people I knew well, and they were very gracious towards me in light of what happened, despite being justified in being upset with me if they so desired to.

In light of everything that happened, I move on from this incident with a fresh perspective on life, and a renewed determination to overcome and grow through whatever is thrown at me.

“Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” ~ James 1:2-4 (HCSB)

Beauty in Brokenness

The idea that God would send Jesus to the earth to live a perfect life and then die by being nailed to the cross in order to take the place of the hideousness that is myself and my sinful nature is nothing short of beautiful.

We use the word “beauty” freely and often in our culture. We use it to describe a variety of things, whether it’s a dress, or the way the landscape looks, or the sunset, or a person; our definition and usage of the word beauty is broad. But what does it mean, really? We typically only use the word ‘beautiful’ to remind of things that are physically attractive, but what if the word goes much deeper then that?

We’ve all heard the phrase: “Beauty only goes skin deep.” When I refer to beauty, I’m not referring to that, and I’m going to avoid that phrase and meaning here. I’m talking about something much, much deeper then you or I could properly comprehend.

Let’s talk about beauty from a different perspective: God’s. When you see someone who you define as “beautiful”, I think its safe to assume that God sees something totally different. Not just because God sees that person’s heart…God sees their nature.

We have a broken, sinful nature. And it makes us all ugly. True human beauty was destroyed in the garden, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit: original sin.

The act of Jesus dying on the cross restores that beauty, and the symbolism behind that death is, in itself, beautiful. Think about it. What do YOU think of when you see the cross? Redemption. Freedom. Salvation. Repentance. Victory.

The cross is intended as a torture device. Before Jesus died, the cross was a symbol of death. Instead, after Jesus died upon it, a torture device became a symbol of love. Similarly to the way that a cross went from a symbol of death to a symbol of life and love, we ourselves went from the personification of death…to being a visible mark of His work.

Beauty, truly, is found in the exchange of His life for our redemption. It is found in the complete brokenness that is our sinful nature being transformed into an image molded by the hands our Maker.

Authority

This summer at FUGE, one of our bible study themes for the day was “Relating to those in Authority” and it talked a lot about the authority of Jesus and how He had the authority of God.

Through the process of teaching that study through the summer, it brought up several questions in my mind about the authority of God. More specifically, trying to grasp the nature of His authority. I’m not an organized individual, but I like to plan things. I like to sit down and work everything out in my head and have a plan, like, “I’m going to finish college and get married to this person and go on have career doing this-or-that in ‘this place’ or ‘that place’.” But the more I start to plan, the more I realize that I am not submitting to God’s authority.

On the same night of that particular FUGE bible study, one our actors would go on stage and do a bit of what we call a “poetry slam.” It’s basically a monologue, and on that particular night, it was about submission, and the basic idea of what it was saying was this:

Submission to God’s authority is recognizing that authority.

So, when we refuse to submit to God’s authority, what we are really saying is that we don’t recognize that authority, and the reality of that is that it’s a sin. If we aren’t recognizing God’s authority, then who’s authority are we recognizing?

We live in a culture that is consumed and obsessed with technology and social media. We spend countless days playing around Facebook, playing games on our iPhones, and consuming a ridiculous amount of news media. While we love to talk about how some of these things can be used for ministry, we usually just find ourselves completely wrapped up in it.

These things, these distractions, influence us more then any of us realize. We often post our ideas or plans on Facebook, hoping to receive some kind of recognition or feel-good nudge in the form of someone easily pushing a link that says “Like”. We get that notification, and BAM! Instant gratification.

When we do that, we start to place our security in something else that isn’t God, then we back away from His authority. In essence, we are telling God: “I don’t think that you are enough. I do not think that you have the authority or the ability to take care of me.”

Some of my favorite passages in Scripture are the ones that talks about the things that God does. For example, Psalm 147.

“Hallelujah! 
How good it is to sing to our God, 
for praise is pleasant and lovely. 

2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem; 
He gathers Israel's exiled people. 
3 He heals the brokenhearted 
and binds up their wounds. 
4 He counts the number of the stars; 
He gives names to all of them. 
5 Our Lord is great, vast in power; 
His understanding is infinite.
6 The Lord helps the afflicted 
but brings the wicked to the ground. 

7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; 
play the lyre to our God, 
8 who covers the sky with clouds, 
prepares rain for the earth, 
and causes grass to grow on the hills.
9 He provides the animals with their food, 
and the young ravens, what they cry for. 

10 He is not impressed by the strength of a horse; 
He does not value the power of a man.
11 The Lord values those who fear Him, 
those who put their hope in His faithful love. 

12 Exalt the Lord, Jerusalem; 
praise your God, Zion! 
13 For He strengthens the bars of your gates 
and blesses your children within you.
14 He endows your territory with prosperity; 
He satisfies you with the finest wheat. 

15 He sends His command throughout the earth; 
His word runs swiftly. 
16 He spreads snow like wool; 
He scatters frost like ashes; 
17 He throws His hailstones like crumbs. 
Who can withstand His cold?
18 He sends His word and melts them; 
He unleashes His winds, and the waters flow. 

19 He declares His word to Jacob, 
His statutes and judgments to Israel.
20 He has not done this for any nation; 
they do not know [His] judgments. 
Hallelujah!”

Or Colossians 1:15-20, which speaks specifically of the authority of Jesus:

“15 He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.

16 For everything was created by Him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities-
all things have been created through Him and for Him.

17 He is before all things,
and by Him all things hold together.

18 He is also the head of the body, the church;
He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that He might come to have
first place in everything.

19 For God was pleased [to have]
all His fullness dwell in Him,

20 and through Him to reconcile
everything to Himself
by making peace
through the blood of His cross-
whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

So then, how we can read all of this, and think that God doesn’t have the authority or the means to meet our every need or fulfill the desires of hearts?

As our actor would say it on stage: “Recognition is submission.” To recognize God’s authority is to submit to it.

He knows what’s best, and He’s just waiting for us to listen.

The Life of a FUGE Staffer: Part Two

With Week 1 of 7 in the books and Week 2 peeking around the corner (starts tomorrow), it’s a great time for me to reflect on what’s going on here this summer.

A FUGE week is a strange one. You don’t really think about what day of the week it is (Monday, Tuesday, etc.). Instead, you think about what camp day it is (Day 1, Day 2, etc.). That became the most clear to me this morning, when I woke up and looked at a fellow staffer strangely when they talked about going to church.

In the FUGE world, we have something we call the “camp bubble”. Life outside of camp, including family, friends, relationships, and general goings on at home and anywhere outside of the camp world, seems really distant, vague, and not important to the day-to-day life in camp.

This past week I found myself distracted by things outside of the camp bubble, and its hardly ever a good thing when personal issues penetrate the camp bubble. I am the type of person who finds himself occasionally putting too much thought and concern into things outside of his control, and I have found in my experience that it often gets me into trouble, but its an issue that’s difficult to face and is one that I’ve struggled with for a few years now.

By about Day 3 or 4 of this past week this issue was really starting to get to me until I found myself reading the last few chapters of Job, where God starts laying in Job about significant and powerful He (God) is Job is not. He finishes His long dissertation with a challenge:

“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct [Him]? Let him who argues with God give an answer.” Job 40:2 (HCSB)

It’s not my business to worry about what’s going on when there are things outside of my control. Who am I to stand before God and fail to trust that He has everything under control?

“He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17 (HCSB)

That’s my prayer for this summer going forward. He holds everything together.

- Kyle

The Life of a FUGE Staffer: Part One

Going into this summer, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I've been around the FUGE camp world for a while now, having been to FUGE both as a camper and as an adult chaperone. I've also been around a lot of people who've been on staff for FUGE camps in the past and have heard so much about it. Despite all of this, I quickly figured out that there's nothing you can read or have anyone tell you that would prepare you for what you experience as a FUGE staffer.

We as a FUGE staff are currently in the midst of staff training, where we spend several days working through all of the elements that make up a FUGE camp as a team. We prepare for bible study, our track times, recreation, worship programming, and all of the other elements that goes into making a week at FUGE an awesome experience each week for every camper. It's incredible, and there's no way you can fully understand everything that goes on behind the scenes to make this stuff work without actually being a part of that work.

God is teaching me so much through that. It's amazing how much you grow when you surround yourself with the people like those that I've been working with for the past week. There are about 27 of us and they are all near and dear to my heart. We’ve been working so hard over the past week to get everything ready for camp.

Our team is stationed at Union University in Jackson, TN, and we’ll be here for the next 8 weeks. We have 7 weeks of camp coming up, starting next week, and we’ll be continuing camp through the end of July.

Please pray for our staff and the students and adult campers that we’ll be ministering to. Pray for staff unity and focus. Pray that we’ll be focused solely on ministering to campers and not on our own selfish goals, and pray for the concerns and burdens that the students will be bringing forth.

It is our hearts’ desire that these students will lay those burdens down at the cross.
~Kyle

Cost

What is the cost of following Christ? That’s a heavily loaded question, and I knew it as I typed it, but I ask the question anyway.

The reason why I ask is that I’ve been reading a lot lately from Gospels about Jesus’ interaction with the disciples. I taught a small group bible study for a Youth retreat at a local church last weekend, and we studied the relationship that Jesus has with His disciples, and how He inspired them to change the world.

One of the things that we really looked at was the cost of being a Christ follower. For the disciples, it costed them everything.

Jesus was a pretty strange teacher in that anytime He gathered a large group of followers, it always seemed like He would turn around and say something that seemed kind of out-there and different, like:

If anyone comes to Me and does hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters- yes, and even his own life- he cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:26 (HCSB)

And after He would say this, it seemed like all of His “followers” would balk at His decrees and take off. To be honest, I can’t say that I wouldn’t in that day and age. To follow Christ isn’t to be popular and comfortable. To follow Christ is to make a huge commitment that brings conflict, criticism, and even danger into your life. The disciples knew this, but they stayed committed.

As one reads through Bible (especially Acts) we see the price that the disciples paid to be called followers of Jesus. Throughout history since Jesus’ resurrection, we read the stories of people who paid a high cost to be called a follower of Christ.

But what if it feels like we haven’t paid a very high price for our faith? Wouldn’t that make us less committed?

I ask this question after looking within at my own life. As I sit down and think about my faith and pray about my testimony in preparation for what the summer will bring, I think about the fact that I haven’t really paid a high price for my faith. The life that I try to live for Jesus has not brought much criticism or strife, and in fact has left me pretty comfortable. I have a lot of friends. I have a nice job, an amazing girlfriend, an awesome family. Living the American Dream.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I don’t feel committed. I read the stories of people in other nations who are suffering for the kingdom of God and here I sit, comfortable at my desk, typing briskly away at my computer. No one will come knocking at my door tonight demanding to take me away for preaching the Gospel of Christ. I will not fear for my life tomorrow as I head to church to gather with fellow believers. I will not fear for my life Monday when I return to campus and walk to my class. Those are fears that believers around the world are living everyday.

So where does leave us? I think it leaves us in a unique position where there isn’t anything inhibiting us from being fully committed to Christ. I think it becomes easy for us to be lazy. There’s no pressure. It’s part of the American lifestyle to be laid back and relaxed, while our brothers and sisters around the world toil and suffer everyday, all in the name of Jesus.

It seems like I am ranting here, and maybe I am, but as I sit here I just can’t help but think about everything that is wrong with the life I am living right now. And the catalyst for this revelation in my life occurred that weekend at the Youth Retreat.

--

The group of students that I spent time with that weekend grasped what the Bible means when it describes “denying ourselves, taking up our Cross daily, and following [Him]” (See Luke 9:23). the felt the same thing that I felt. They felt that we were living far too comfortably in our American lives, and that there were so many opportunities for us to step outside of the box and into an American world where Jesus is tolerated but not accepted.

That humbled me in so many ways. Their wisdom and understanding of the matter at such a young age, it really inspired me, and it gave me so much think about and dwell upon.

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So, a bunch of young high school students are ready to commit their lives to Christ. So shouldn’t I be as well? The disciples of Jesus weren’t living regular comfortable lives. They weren’t cool. Most of them were poor, a loser, practiced a hated profession, or all of the above. They took what Jesus taught them to hard, and devoted their lives to His service.

So, in our comfy, cozy, Americanized lives, shouldn’t we do the same?