Jake's Blog

Revolution of the Heart

2006-08-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

I am back from vacation! It was wonderful. School starts today and let's pray for our teens!

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I have often thought, as well as many others have, that if we can find the perfect “system” or way of doing church – then we will become what God wants us to become. This line of thinking has led to most of my conversations about church being about what we like and dislike and what would be better and so on. Tragically, thinking and talking about systems has only led to me and many others becoming jaded because we don’t get our way or our system put into place.
Maybe you are in this boat with me? Think about it. When you talk church, do you talk about the system of church?
Now, in sharp contrast to our line of thought is the challenge of Jesus. Interestingly enough, Jesus very rarely if ever talks about the system of how to do church. Jesus did not send his students out to start churches as we know them today. Instead, the disciples were sent out to establish communities of people who were being renovated from the inside out.
The revolution of Jesus has been and always will be in the first place a revolution of the heart. It does not proceed by means of social institution, government, laws or even by the “perfect church system”. Rather, His is a revolution of your character and of my character.
The church fails because we focus on the system instead of the revolution of our hearts. Can we instead, shift this paradigm and become a church that is transforming individuals to look like Jesus? Isn’t that the goal?

The Wrong Questions?

2006-08-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

A good friend asked this question the other day. He said, "If we are the only ones that see the problems in the church, then does that mean we are the problem?". In other words, he was saying that if everyone else is happy with the given direction, vision and ministry of the church maybe we are the ones in the wrong to question that direction, vision and ministry.

A tough question, but also a very humbling one. I realize I do not have all the answers nor will I ever. I also realize that while I don't have all the answers, no one else does either. I also realize that I may not be the right person to answer that question because I want to say that the answer is NO. (Come back to this one).
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Another Question:

Does the church ask all the wrong questions?

Do we sit around and ponder the internal questions so much that we forget the external questions? (i.e. How is church supposed to be done? Instead of: How do we reach this community? How can we be community?)

What do you think? Is your church asking you the right questions?

2006-08-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

Leadville Mission Trip:

We are now a few days out from our return to OK after our mission trip to Leadville. There was definately some huge highlights that we want to remember.

Danny and Jenny Swick. The new missionaries are going to be awesome. They have a great vision for the town and for what church should be. I can see an amazing movement starting with them and a few others.
The Prayer Walk. Sunday morning we went out around the town in four teams and prayed for specific parts of the town. It was incredible. God allowed our eyes to see like he does. It was heartbreaking to open our eyes to the brokenness of the city. The relationships, sin, addictions and other sins became so aware to us and so did our mission.
Teens. We had an amazing group of teens that wanted to be part of the whole trip. They enjoyed every bit of the class but also participated in every event with us.
Prayer. We prayed more than ever and now we need to continue that!

Look forward to seeing things as they develop in Leadville. More to come on this.

2006-07-19T06:31:00.000-07:00

Several Random Thoughts:

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The youth ministry is preparing to leave Friday for our 22nd mission trip to Leadville, CO. The trip is much anticipated. We can't wait to see what God does. Please pray for our teens, the VBS and the missionairies in Leadville (Danny and Jenny).
We also welcome the change in altitude (10,200) and climate. The local Leadville people think it is hot when it gets to 75!

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Amazing things happening in our ministry. God is using our teens to serve and give and to reach out to young people everywhere. There is a great story that I will share when things slow down a little.

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Final thought for the day. What if a shift occured in the way church thinks about itself? We tend to spend most of our time thinking about how we do church (liturgy, who preaches, who leads singing, etc...). What if we spent less time on that and more time on how we are church? Jesus to the world. Incarnational. We need this.

2006-06-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

What if instead of using attendance as the only catalyst leading to discipleship, we began to measure transformation as a means to becoming like Christ? What if church leaders stop looking at the ABC’s (Attendance, Budget and Cash) and started looking for real acts of righteousness in our members?
Now, I am saying right now the same thing you are. Transformation and real discipleship is very difficult to measure. But as you think that, think about this. What if we just made them priority?
Wednesday nights this summer at “Paid N Full” the youth group is going to be looking deeply at the parables of Jesus. The parables are simply amazing. Not only were they Jesus’ main way of teaching but they reveal to us a depth of what God is like and what the kingdom is to be about.
As you read the parables, you will notice most of them leave the audience a little confused. Today they do the same, and once you are confused you have two choices. One is to leave and say “This is a waste of my time”. Or two, you can respond with eagerness saying, “I want more”. In this way the parables have a capacity that goes beyond information and numbers; parables have the power of transformation.
The stories of Jesus should invoke in us an eagerness to interact with the text. They make us humble, inquisitive and persistent people. Simply they should make us seek the life of Jesus.
So can you measure righteousness and transformation? – No. But can you tell if someone has a deeper yearning to want more, to ask questions and to seek Christianity out? – Yes. The kingdom of heaven belongs to children.

2006-06-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

I didn't write this, (Grant Boone did) and I agree 100%

Poll taken from
USA Today.
*64% of white evangelicals agreed with the statement, "Immigrants today are a burden on our country because they take our jobs, housing and health care."
*51% of white mainline Protestants agreed with this: "The growing number of newcomers from other countries threatens traditional American customs and values."

If these results are accurate, all I can say is Pew. And I hereby renounce my whitehood, as well as my association with anything mainline or remotely evangelical. In the true spirit of a Protestant, I protest.Although I'm not particularly loco about aligning myself with Rev. Sam Rodriguez either, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, who wants amnesty for immigrants. He said his constituency supports traditional family values such as heterosexual marriage and a ban on abortion, so he expects reciprocal support - that traditional political value - in this case from white evangelicals.Since when did entitlement, protectionism, and back-scratching become Beatitudes?

I don't care where you stand on this very complex issue, please quit identifying yourself as a God-follower if you're primary concern is shooing away the pests trying to infest your big honkin' slice of American pie.

---Another poll shows President Bush's approval rating having plummeted to historic lows. According to the latest numbers, it's now at only 32 percent, down from 50 percent just last December.

But before you Bush bashers rub it in, keep in mind that the margin of error in that poll is 3.1 percent. That means his approval rating could be as high as 35.1. So there.

2006-05-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

Mothers Day

From all indications my wife is going to be a great mom. For the past 3.5 months she has done a wonderful job with little Anderson. So Allison here is Anderson's first mother's day card to you.

Mom,

Thank you for feeding me and helping me be such a good boy. You never complain when I make a mess and you never get mad when a poop my pants. You are a great mom. Indeed, you are the bomb dot com. You sing such great bath time songs. They are beautiful and so are you!

Love,
Anderson (translation by Jake Perkins)

2006-05-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

We had a great retreat this past weekend with our youth. It was challenging relevant and life changing for some. I pray that the decisions made by our teens will last. Let us all live one life for Christ and when we see a need let us fill a need.

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Here is a quote from evilbible.com about Christians. Like it or not, many in the world hold this perception of Christians.

Christians practice what can only be described as “selective morality”. What they like, they cling to and shove down other’s throats; what they don’t like, they ignore vehemently… that which is inconvenient, or self-denying is only applicable to those addressed 2,000 years ago. Their hypocrisy is so rampant that even the validity of calling oneself “Christian” is in question.

What do you think? True or untrue? Who is at fault?

2006-05-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

The youth ministry is off on a retreat this weekend. We are all hopefully going to move more in liine with the life of Christ. Please pray for all of us to combine faith with action.

In other news my son learned to read...

2006-04-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend several of our teens did something spectacular! From 9 am to noon, the walked around the neighborhoods south of our building participating in a prayer walk. Basically, a prayer walk is a door knocking walk where our teens ask each individual house if they have any prayer needs and then we pray for them on the spot. The response we got was amazing. So many of our teens were welcomed and were able to pray with many families around Edmond.
In our attempt to simply show that we care, one response that about 25% of the people gave troubled me. After being asked if we could pray some people would respond, “I already go to this or that church”. We would kindly respond with, “So…”
In our attractional church mode, most people in Edmond and all over the Bible belt respond in this likeness. We have been so flooded with the mail outs, commercials and other media outlets of the different flavors of Christianity that our first thought when someone knocks on our door is, “Uh-oh I am being recruited to attend their particular church.” The time has come for us to rise above that. While we want people to come worship with us – that is not our number one priority. Showing them the life of Jesus is.
Attractional mode church has taught us to fill the seats, fill the budget and then outdo every other church in town. To date, I have not found one teaching of this kind in the Bible!
If we are On A Mission, it is not our goal to check of the ABC’s (Attendance, Budget and Cash). Instead, our mission is to lead a dying world to a risen Savior. We don’t recruit people, we love people. We don’t count people, we show them that they count to God!

... more to come on this!

2006-03-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

A Shift in Thought

Like many others who are similar to me, I struggle with knowing what is right and actually doing what is right. My brain for some reason has been shaped to think that if I know all the right answers then I will do all the right actions. Church has been a contributor to this thought. In Sunday school, we continually learn what the right way of thinking is and then assume that the right actions will flow from this teaching. Makes sense - right?

Well, recently I have come to believe that while good in theory this sort of thinking is completely wrong. As any un-churched person can tell the church is full of people who know how to think, but fail in everyday life. That is why so many of us are called hypocrites. This is why we may study the Bible three hours a week, but fail to use it for one hour of service to others on any given week.

Here is the technical part: We have learned Orthodoxy instead of Orthopraxy.
Orthodoxy: assumes that if you change a persons thinking we will in turn change their actions. (i.e. - 40 years of Bible class should equal kingdom living)

Orthopraxy: is a system that believes that right living provides the context for us to embrace right thinking.

The church is in need of shift. A shift that involves showing people Jesus in order to let them think like Jesus. We all know that just knowing something does not necessarily cause us to act on it. Believing and becoming are two separate things. Faith is not an objective set of statements. Faith is a life lived out in the practice of the kingdom of God.

2006-03-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

Off to Mexico today for a 10 mission trip. Please pray for all of our Mission efforts:

VBS
Work Crews
Water Line
People that don't know Jesus
Safety

Mission trips are always an experience in growth and in patience. They teach us what we can really do when we unite and they show us a glimpse of what kingdom living is all about. They teach us that we are lucky enough to walk into the story of God in that area.

The only thing that bothers me is that they always finish with the cliche - "Let's do this back home...Let's get on a mission." There is nothing wrong with that statement only that life always seems to continue just about the same way it did prior to the trip.

So, what is going to change in us? Why do we call it mission trips? Shouldn't we call it "Traveling to do what we always do"?

2006-02-28T06:37:00.000-08:00

Is your church on a mission? Here is 12 indicators of being a missional (sent out) church.

The Missional church proclaims the gospel.
The Missional church is a community where all members are involved in learning to become disciples of Jesus.
The Bible is normative in this church's life.
The church understands itself as different from the world b/c of its participation into eh life, death and resurrection of its Lord.
The church seeks to discern God's specific missional vocation for the entire community and for all of its members.
A missional community is indicated by how Christians behave toward one another.
It is a community that practices reconciliation.
People within the community hold themselves accountable to one another in love.
The church practices hospitality.
Worship is the central act by which the community celebrates with joy and thanksgiving both God's presence and God's promised future.
This community has a vital public witness
there is a recognition that the church itself is an incomplete expression of te reign of God.

2006-02-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

It was 7 years ago Valentine's Weekend that Allison and I had our first date. We had a little setup through our campus ministry with an activity called 'Secret Valentine'. It was nice to be part of the ministry staff!

Allison has been the greatest influence in my life these past 7 years. She continually prays for and works with our youth. She is making an excellent mom for 17 days. Most importantly we connect through prayer with each other almost daily. Our connection to God that we share has been the strength of our marriage.

Love you Al!

2006-02-08T06:55:00.000-08:00

In 2006 the Edmond church of Christ is “On A Mission”. Well, what in the world does that mean? What is our mission? Better yet, what is the mission of God?
These questions could be answered in many ways given the rich tradition of Scripture. The mission could be to live in the kingdom, or it could be, like Paul, to call us into living out a new created life. Also, it could be many others. So we still beg the question, “If we are on a mission, where is it leading us?”
Despite the numerous biblical concepts of mission, certain features appear consistently throughout Scripture when taken as a whole. Looking at the Bible holistically we can discover what our mission is.
Simply put, God’s mission (since Eden) has been to call His children back to participation in his life for the sake of the world. When called these people then work to call others back into this life. Notice that this definition is not primarily evangelism, nor is it primarily saving the saved. The mission of God is to call people into the life of Christ and then in turn they call others into that life by their actions, words and faith.
Our mission and what we exist for is to participate in the life of Jesus. We are identified in this because we show faith, hope and love.
In other words, in 2006 God has called the Edmond church of Christ to be Jesus to their world. God sent his Son, Jesus sent the Spirit and the Spirit sends us. Be On A Mission this year!

2006-01-31T14:17:00.000-08:00

Tuesday's Top 5:

The top five things I learned during the birth of Anderson.

5. They call it labor for a reason.

4. My wife is the toughest person around. I dare you to challenge her to 20 hours of contractions.

3. We have an incredible loving family.

2. We have an incredible loving youth group.

1. Babies are a miracle - hands down - no doubt!

Well I will shut up here are the pictures!

2006-01-23T14:36:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting question, “Does Satan care that you go to ‘church’ on Sundays and Wednesdays?” Does it hurt his wishes for your life that you show up with a bunch of people and say the same things and then go home? Do we bring down the principalities and powers of this world, simply by showing up for 3 hours a week?
No. Satan does not care what you do in “church”. It does not hurt his plan if you go to all the services and all the classes and all the seminars. What hurts Satan is when you go and hear and then you do!
Jesus called us to his kingdom; the kingdom of imitation. What does it mean to imitate Christ? Does it mean that we are called to be carpenters, or to be agrarian peasants, or to eat only a kosher diet? Of course not, the point of imitation of Christ is to imitate the cross (Phil 2).
It is in the cross that we are called to imitate, joyfully accepting suffering, bearing injustices and oppression, because we are living, as a community, according to the present and coming kingdom.
If you read the gospels and the letters of Paul you can not conclude that the call of disciple is to separate our world into compartments of secular and sacred. There has never existed a time for job and family and then a time for 2 hours of “church”. In Christ, there is only Jesus living in and through a crucified Christian.
The call to be missional is the call to pick up the cross. To take our marginal lives and shape them with a radical discipleship that dies to self and lives in imitation of Jesus.

2006-01-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

There is little in life as humbling as people who are willing to serve and give so much. This past weekend we tore down and rebuilt the fence surrounding my house. I know nothing about handyman work or do-it yourself jobs. In fact, I am like a monkey trying to write a doctoral dissertation...No wait I am worse than that. I am like the OSU cowboys trying to win a national championship in football. When I take a hammer in hand nothing good is going to happen. People only leave disappointed.

That is why I am so grateful and overwhelmingly full of joy for men like Mark C., Dan S., Caleb D., Mo R., Kris and Zach. These guys spent almost two full days with me building a fence that I knew nothing about. Thank you guys.

I now understand more about family and community. Let us seek more of that and may God mold me into the servant these men are!

2006-01-10T06:35:00.000-08:00

This morning I awoke to a beautiful snowfall outside. It is the first sign of precipitation that the OKC area has had in over 117 days! I know it is not much, but it is some kind of water to help out all of those fire fighters.
The greatest thing was this morning on one of the local news stations. The weatherman said something about this snow not even being on the forecast. His fellow anchorman chimed in and said, "That's because prayer is always better than a forecast, brother."
Amen to that.

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My heart goes out to Lindsey (girl in our youth ministry). She lost her father this week. Please say a prayer for God's peace to be on her. This will be tough.

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2005-12-31T11:30:00.000-08:00

I remember telling my lovely wife, Allison, back in July, "Hey won't we be freaking out about the baby just after Christmas!". Well, here we are.

Only 30 days or so until the little Perkins arrives on the seen. Can't say I'm all prepared, can't say I am freaking out either. It is all in God's hands!

The countdown is on!

2005-12-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas...

There has been a lot of hubbub, ranting and raving and very few intelligent words said this Christmas season about the ability or right one has to say "Merry Christmas". Much of the arguing has come from evangelicals. Well... Here is one question to end all questions about the rights of saying "Christmas"

you ready?

Which one is better?

10,000 Christians that decide to ban Wal-Mart, Target and any other store that only says holidays?

Or...

10,000 Christians that go out to their friends, families and neighbors and share the story of Christ.

Since when is it corporate America's job to share the message of Jesus?

2005-12-19T08:48:00.000-08:00

Several months ago I watched the "Hotel Rwanda" with my wife and my summer interns. Good movie, but not the kind of good movie that makes you stand up and shout for joy at the end (think Karate Kid). Hotel Rwanda is the story of the civil war/genocide that took place in 1994 between the Hutus and Tutsis tribes. During this 100 day period as many as 800,000 men, women and children were killed.

As shocking as the statistics are, there is another shocking fact about the country of Rwanda. In 1994, over 90% of the population in Rwanda claimed Christianity as their religion. So what would cause such violent bloodshed? Was it the U.N. and there inability to keep peace? Was it the president of Rwanda and his death? Or was it the inability of the people to really follow the life of Jesus?

Is it possible for a group of people to become Christian and still remain more loyal to their tribe of Hutu or Tutsi? And is it possible that we fall victim to the same sort of weakened discipleship?

Dr. Lee Camp of Lipscomb asks, "Could it be that 'Jesus is Lord' has become one of the most widespread Christian lies? Have Christians claimed the lordship of Jesus, but systematically set aside the call of obedience to this Lord?"

More to come on this...

2005-11-29T07:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. I have been so fat from Thanksgiving that I am behind. Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving and was able to spend some time really thinking about how blessed we are because of God!
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I am currently reading "For all God's Worth" by N.T. Wright. Here is quote in which he takes the love passage of 1 Corinthians and inserts the word worship.

Worship is humble and glad; worship forgets itself in rememembering God; worship celebrates the truth as God's truth; not its own. True worship doesn't put on a show or make a fuss; true worship isn't forced, isn't half-hearted, doesn't keep looking at its watch, doesn't worry what the person in the next pew may be doing. True worship is open to God, adoring God, waiting for God, trusting God even in the dark.
Worship will never end; whether there be buildings, they will crumble; whether there be committees, they will fall asleep; whether there be budgets, they will add up to nothing...
...worship is nothing more nor less than love on its knees before the beloved; just as mission is love on its feet to serve the beloved - and just as the Eucharist, as the climax of worhsip, is love embracing the beloved and so being strengthened for service.

Worship today!

2005-11-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

Do you ever pray the “blanket” prayer? The blanket prayer defined is the prayer of, “God you know all these things so I will not waste your time and mine repeating them all”. We do the blanket prayer about sick people, about evangelism (Lord bring the city of Edmond to know you…), and most of all we do it about sin.
How many times have we prayed, “Father, forgive us of all our sins”? I know that I can not count how many times I have prayed that prayer not really worrying about my sin as much as I am worrying about just saying it so God’s grace will go ahead and blanket me. That prayer has become a Christian cliché. It is the epitome of our quick and instant society. We don’t want to talk about our sin or deal with it, so we just blanket it quickly and get it out of the way.
Our teen class is studying Leviticus and the question of Leviticus is, “How can a Holy God, live with an unholy people?” Time after time God will say to his people bring sacrifice, bring this and bring that. The point of it all is so that they will know his deep desire to dwell among his people. When they sinned they didn’t blanket their sin, instead they were told to repent and feel some guilt (heart response) and to move towards giving. This giving when then offer restitution to God and he would see their heart change and he would provide atonement.
Summed up, repentance of sin is not repentance without change of mind and heart. Our blanket prayers are good maybe in some public settings, but at home in the quiet and stillness with God it just doesn’t cut it. God wants to dwell with us. We have got to approach Him with the correct heart!

2005-11-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Men's Retreat Friday! Bob Chisholm gave a great series of lessons and posed some great questions for our men to think about. I really felt blessed to be there and I pray that God will guide all of our men towards better Vision for their life.

Here is a question of the three things we talked about: Reacing UP (God), Reaching In (church) and Reaching Out (unchurched), what does your congregation struggle with the most? Where do they need to improve?

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Looking forward to Saturday and our Big Fall Service Day!

2005-11-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

Hey I got this off of Benny Nowell's blog about his experience at Dry Bones. Continue to pray for this ministry that works with homeless teens.

From Matt Wallace:
"Hello Officer Johnson, this is Captain Black. . . . Yeah, we've got a D.O.A. here by the river . . . . Yep, I'm sure he's dead. . . . some kid . . . . these ministers came and told me that there was a dead guy in the park. . . . . they led me down there, we searched through the bushes, and we found him."Tonight was one of the toughest nights on the streets yet for me. Every Thursday night, for the past four years, we've rented out a pool hall. We invite all of our friends, the street kids, to come inside for free pool and an opportunity to feel normal. Nothing about tonight felt normal for me. It was one of those "first-ever-experiences" that I would just rather not ever have had.Three street kids, good friends of ours', came running up to Robbie and me at the pool hall."We were just down by the Platte River walking on our way over here and we found a dead guy." These kids were scared out of their minds. Scared because they didn't know what to do. Scared because they were afraid that they were somehow going to get in trouble. And scared mostly because, well, it could have been them. "I think he must have overdosed or something. . . . . we touched him and he was . . . cold," said one of the kids.
Robbie and I offered to go and handle the situation. We knew that there was an off-duty police officer working security at some apartments nearby. We told the kids that we would go talk to him. From here, the night seemed to get darker. The three kids took us to a lookout and pointed in the general direction of the body. Robbie and I then went by ourselves and found the off-duty policeman. Captain Black drove us through the park down to the river. We got out and began walking towards the water through the tall dead grass and overgrown bushes. With a lump in my throat, butterflies in my stomach, and adrenaline flowing through my body, I said, "Don't think that he will be here on the trail. I think he's probably up in the bushes. The kids said that he was in his squat."After a few minutes of searching, the beam of light from the officer's MagLight lit a small pile of clothing. When we rounded the big bush and looked down, there he was. He was no old "homebum" like I thought he would be. He was a young kid. He was a street kid. I knew his face. I'd seen him walking down the street within the past month at least twice; though I never even knew his name. His face now white, his lips purple, his body curled up into a tiny ball. So THIS is where life ends? Beside a nasty dirty river? In a squat uninhabitable for human life? Overdosed on heroine? Dark? Alone? We made our way back up to Captain Black's car. We called on-duty police officers. The fire department, ambulance, and homicide showed up. The atmosphere soon lit up like an episode of C.S.I. . . . only real. We filed our reports and left the scene. I'm sure there will be no murder convicted. It's hard, in a court of law, to convict absentee and abusive parents, drug lords, heroine itself, and even the Prince of Darkness.We met back up with our 80 plus street kids, now at our weekly meal in that very same park; the flashing police lights just in the distance. The mood was somber. The kids asked quiet questions. One of the kids who had found the body pulled me aside. I asked him if he was ok. Staring at the ground, he said, "Yeah." He was not telling the truth. I asked him what he was thinking. He said, "I'm tired of my friends dying." I asked, "Did you know that kid?" He said that he didn't, but could have so easily. He knew that that kid hadn't been in town long enough for him to know him. He began listing the names of his friends that he knew were "next". I asked him if that could have been him. . . He looked up at me and said nothing. This time, his eyes spoke the truth. He walked away.My teammates surrounded me. I cried. I too am tired of my friends dying. It's a part of the business I'm in. In four years, I know of at least 10 of my street friends that have died. I've been a part of one of their funerals. But I've never even seen a single body. Tonight. Tonight this was too real. The image of his face will be with me forever. Back at the pool hall, Nikki was having a conversation with a young girl. She was crying. It had been another bad day. She says to Nikki, "I'm tired of people being ______. . . I guess it doesn't really get better for people like me."I so desperately want these kids to know:
There is a LIFE where your friends aren't killing themselves slowly and taking you with them. There is a LIFE where love is real and is not dependent on sex or filled with abuse.
There is a LIFE where everyone around you isn't held captive by drugs.
There is a LIFE where you don't have to sleep beside a river or underneath a bridge or in a stormdrain.
There is a LIFE where you really can trust people.
A LIFE where people don't stab you in the back day after day.
There is a LIFE that begins NOW and goes on forever.
There is a LIFE that is filled with a supernatural LOVE.
There is a LIFE that doesn't end in the cold, dark, bushes beside the Platte River.
There is more than this so-called living.
There is LIFE.
Tonight I feel the gravity of living in desperate times.LIFE must be lived.And we have got to show the way to LIFE.

2005-11-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

Halloween parties this weekend were hilarious. Some of our teens can come up with some of the greatest costumes. So here is my list of Halloween awards.

Least likely to have spent 5 seconds thinking on Costume award - Caleb Cain
Best impersonation of another youth group member - Nick Miller
Scariest costume award - Caleb King
Funniest costume award - Davis Keck
Most Original - Shane Magness
Best rocker - Jared Lauderdale
Looked most like their character- Traci King

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One command of Jesus that I continue to work on over and over is the command to “make disciples”. Consequently, I seem to fail at this command most. I have heard and I feel that the youth ministry obeys the command to “Go” but we fail when it comes to making disciples. Why is it that we can convert someone’s thoughts and bring them to Jesus, but we fail to really disciple them into becoming deeply devoted followers of Jesus?
I believe the issue of discipleship goes back to our intent. What is our intent when we convert somebody? Do we do it just to boost our numbers? Do we do it to get more money for the budget? What is our intent and what is our reason for going and making disciples in this world?
Ultimately, our intent should directly parallel or even match the purpose of Christianity. We should make disciples because Jesus made disciples of us. I am beginning to understand that the life of Jesus is the best possible life I can lead and that makes me want to (have intent to) make more disciples. We go and we convert because somebody came to us and converted us.

2005-10-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

Recently I have begun to pray this prayer, “God, put me in an uncomfortable or even dangerous situation”. As I pray that, I honestly struggle to get the words out, but there is a reason to pray this. This prayer helps keep me from conforming to boring Christianity. It helps remind me that God wants something more.
For two thousand years the church has been about conforming. Some would say we have conformed to the world around us and others might say that we have conformed to Christ. I would agree to an extent with both of those statements, except that I believe we have really conformed into the image of each other.
Have you ever noticed how so many of us look like each other on Sundays? Have you noticed what we do with converts? So many times we fail in conforming to Christ because we immediately try to make everyone the same. That is not the call of Jesus.
Jesus began his ministry with a simple invitation: “Come, follow me.” He closed his ministry with a simple command, “Go”. It seems to me that we have heard that totally different. Look around and seems the church has heard, “Come and hear” and “No”.
As followers of Jesus, we should follow. We shouldn’t conform into each other but we should be shaped into the image of Jesus. Christianity has never been about coming together and looking just like everyone else. It is about changing the world around us and carrying the banner of Christ into those scary places of the world and of your heart.

2005-10-10T07:18:00.000-07:00

I won't be blogging much this week. We are preparing for our youth ministry Fall Retreat. So please pray for us. We have many guests and many teens going that can make great decisions for God! Thank you for those thoughts and prayers.

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In other news, I want to say congratulations to my Dad, Jack Perkins, on his recent business adventure. Tri-County Electric is now in process of doubling their size. It is great to see someone realize a dream and my dad has been planning and thinking about this for a full 2 to 3 years! Wow! Congratulations dad, now take a vacation!

2005-10-04T06:38:00.000-07:00

List of current frustrations:

Well...

You know what that list could go a little to long. I love ministry but it also frustrates me to no end. I like change but never seem to see it. I like life change in teens, but rarely get to experience it. I love parents who actively seek out God in their relationship with their kids, but I rarely hear stories of such victories.

I guess what I am saying is this. Life is full of frustrations, but what am I doing about it. Do I sit and gripe (yes)? Or do I get out and help others change? That is really the question. Life is journey not a destination. Christianity is a journey not a free ride to heaven. So as life gets you down remember it is all just part of the wonderful gift of life. There is nothing better than what God has called us to!

2005-09-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

Now when I think about it - it seems to be one of the most awkward places to make a journey with God. As a youth minister I might not ever send one of my kid's there, but God is bigger than me. I think I was 19 and working at Black Mesa Bible Camp (BMBC) for a week as a counselor. I had originally signed up because I had nothing better to do and needed a week to fill some summer time away from Oklahoma State.

Well, this camp isn't very conducive to comforts and I always equated that with not being very comfortable to God either. I mean the place is in the middle of nowhere, OK and it is at least 103 every day. The cabins have no AC and the camp is kinda old school. It is the original and maybe the only living Bible camp by the c of C.

Anyway, God spoke to me at this camp. It was dusk on Thursday night at (only two days to go) and this young girl made the decision to be baptized. So everyone gathers around this hole in the ground and we start to sing and the girl comes out and confesses Christ. Then God begins to speak as well. About a mile away (and you could see for what looked like hundreds of miles) there was a storm rolling in. Lightening was striking all around and it was beginning to sprinkle and the thunder was loud. We were singing as loud as we could, praising God for the moment and the decision of this young girl. But in all that it was quiet.

God was speaking right there to all of us. He was saying, I am Bigger. Bigger than the temperature or no shorts rule or the doctrine of some of the teachers. God is Bigger.

It was as if a light switch went on in my head! I needed this. I needed to pursue this God. I needed to change my life and move towards something Bigger.

What is a light switch time with God that you have had?

2005-09-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a great paragraph from Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy

"The story is told of a man who lsot his composure and cursed in the presence of his pastor. After an embarrassed silence, he looked sheepishly at the pastor and said, "Oh, it's all right, pastor. I cuss and little and you pray a little, but neither one of us means anything by it."

We sure talk alot about Christianity. We praise God on Sundays, we get together from time to time, but what is it all for. If we don't live it out today, tomorrow and the rest of our lives aren't we just wasting our time. Talk is cheap. Action's save people.

2005-09-19T06:11:00.000-07:00

It was a great privelage to be a part of Prentice Meador's "Weekend of Champions" Friday and Saturday. Many of his comments struck to the depth of my character and heart. His information and passion were amazing, but what stuck out to me was his depth of love for his family. In other words, he lived what he was selling. It was a great honor to take part. I pray that I can become the youth minister, leader, father and friend God has created each of us to be.

At the seminar we talked about the different struggles of pornography, character, integrity and others. I was wondering... What do you think is the number one struggle Christian men face today?

2005-09-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

Well,

Here is the first picture of our son. Many of you have been asking for his name, but we are not going to tell. He looks pretty sweet and by sweet I mean totally awesome!

2005-09-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

As a boy, I wanted to win a golden ticket. One of my favorite movies was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I was somewhat enamored with the whole chocolate waterfall and the edible garden and the everlasting gobstopper. It would have been so cool to go to a place where all my sugar dreams would be fulfilled and I could eat to my hearts desire. Plus, you never saw a brussle sprout in the place!
Today, not much has changed. I typically desire a golden ticket salvation from God. I want Him to give me all that Jesus has offered. I want to rejoice in the grace. Sing about the forgiveness. Love the freedom and smile when life is good. But this style of theology is only half the story.
When I live this way I suffer from “Grass is always Greener on the Other Side” Syndrome. I am always looking ahead. I am always making deals with God. I am always missing the point about what salvation truly is.
God’s desire is to restore us all. He did that through Jesus. But this does not give us a ticket to live in the future or to live in a constant legal battle with God over what we can and can’t do. No, salvation is holistic. It is every part of my life being joined with Jesus’. Salvation is more than a day when you are baptized it is a life that leads closer and closer to union with Jesus.
Jesus taught that salvation is now. I need God now. I need spiritual healing now. I need help now. Yes there are things to look forward to in life. But God is the God of the present. Live the life of Jesus now! Start to believe 1 John 2:15-17, …the world and it’s desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”

2005-09-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

Irony: (and I mean nothing by this) - Isn't it funny that within the church of Christ we people believe it wrong to have instrumental music in worship but then claim it to be SOUND DOCTRINE. Get it sound! Hahahahahaha

Below is an exerpt from Travis Stanley's blog on today's theology. Check this out:
When many Christians hear the word “theology”, they conjure up images of stuffy sermons, boring books, and lifeless Christianity. Theology, for many, equals jargon and meaningless talk. Theology is to be avoided at all costs. Let’s keep sermons simple, down-to-earth; or, as Bro. Osteen says, let’s preach about “everyday life.” We don’t want to be “deep and theological.”
Newsflash for Bro. Osteen: You preach theology every Sunday, and most of it is bad theology.
Who said that theology had nothing to do with everyday life? Am I an idiot to assume that our view of God actually impacts the way we view the world? How can I know how to act as a Christian if I have not theologically reflected on what being Christian means? We talk of Jesus every Sunday, yet we never reflect on Christology. We belong to a church, yet we never explore our Church’s ecclesiology. We, as humans, interact with human beings everyday, yet we never ponder our anthropology. We all want to be saved, but we’ve never cared too much for soteriology. In fact, we don’t even know what all those words I just mentioned mean.
We are theological, whether we know it or not. Bro. Osteen’s books are filled with theological claims, as are the sermons of every preacher who desires to just preach about everyday life. To say that God desires you to have your “best life now” is a theological statement. The trouble creeps in, though, when we refuse to reflect over the theology we all have. Such an existence without refelction doesn’t free us from theology, it simply causes bad theology (or, as it is often called, heresy). We may refuse to look in a mirror because we don’t like our reflection, but such a refusal will only make us look worse.
When we don’t reflect on our theology, we end up creating a God just like us: a God who is white, American, conservative, liberal, rich, always happy, always angry. We end up creating God in our image, instead of allowing ourselves to be transformed into his image. Theology fuels our Christianity. It gives us reasons to do what we do; foundations for our actions; meaning behind our rituals. We do not help the poor simply because it is a good thing to do, or because God commanded it; we help the poor because we serve Jesus “who was rich, yet became poor, so that we might become rich.” We do not love our neighbor as ourselves only because Jesus said it is the second greatest commandment; we love our neighbor as ourselves because God is not a selfish God. We go to church, not because we can’t go to heaven without the Church; we go to church because God, as Trinity, exists eternally in community, and if we are to be in his image, we too must be in community.
Theology is essential. Theology is necessary. The Church is not to be the shallow haven of the thoughtless, where everyone’s needs are met and all go home happy. The Church is to be a community that imitates Christ, who is the icon of God. The Church is to be a place where humanity can encounter God, in all his depth and mystery, and be changed into his image. To keep Christianity shallow and uncomplicated is to give the world Christ without a cross, without an incarnation, without discipleship, and without thought. Such a version of Christianity may make you feel better when you leave the pew, but it can never give you the impetus to be transformed into God’s idea of your best life now.