In my area, within about ten miles of each other, there are two car dealerships that handle the same brand. In 2003, my wife and I purchased our first new vehicle from one of them. It was a stretch for us, but it was nice to have a more reliable vehicle with lower milage than we had been getting in the past. It was a good vehicle and we really liked it, but every time I took it in for service, something the dealer convinced us we needed to do to avoid voiding our warranty, they figured out a way to make it cost a minimum of $300, which was about what our monthly payment was at the time. We stopped taking the car to the dealership for service, and never bought a car from them again, and when that dealerships name comes up in conversation from people who are considering buying a car from them, I admit, I share that story. 

A few years later the vehicle I was driving stopped meeting my needs. I had started in my traveling ministry and I needed a bigger vehicle, a mini van, to handle my travel equipment. I went to the other dealership and purchased my van. Every other oil change was free and the one that wasn’t was substantially less than $300. Then one day as I was driving down the highway, the transmission of my van “blew up” with about 70,000 miles on it. That really could have soured me on the brand, but something amazing happened. I had the vehicle towed to the dealership, and they began to work on it. I had speaking engagements booked and so when they offered me a “loaner” vehicle, I asked if there was any way I could have a van, and they obliged. The repair took months, because the dealer was working on my behalf. The brand wanted to replace my transmission with a used transmission and the dealership wanted to give me a new one. I felt bad about the amount of miles I was putting on this van. I knew the agreement was that the vehicle not be taken out of state, but every time I asked if I could take it on another road trip they said the same thing. “Use it as if it were yours.” I had that loaner vehicle so long I had the oil changed (at their expense) twice. At the end of the situation, I didn’t have to cancel any engagements and I had a van with a new transmission that I drove another 100,000+ miles. Needless to say, when it came time for my next vehicle, I purchased from that same dealership, and I tell everyone about the amazing service I got from my dealership. As a matter of fact I am doing it now… well, sort of.

Why do I share this story? Two reasons: first because as I was reading The Daily Bread today, they had a similar story, and I became convicted of something. Have I shared the Gospel as often as I have shared about the great service I got from my local dealership? While I do try to share the Gospel, I am convicted that I don’t do it as often as I should. My dealership deserves praise for the way they serve their customers, but my Lord deserves infinitely more praise for all the amazing things He has done, but there was another thought, to be considered. 

Think about my experience with the first dealership. First I wonder if my struggles with them indicate unforgiveness. I tend to be very forgiving of people, but businesses are harder for me. I felt like I was being ripped off, and wanted to spare others that same fate. On the other side, 20 years have passed, and I have not been back to see if anything has changed, so perhaps I am being unfair. 

The other reason I am sharing it is this. 2 Corinthians 5 reminds us we are “brand ambassadors” for our Lord and people have long memories. How we treat them matters and what we do in His name matters. When we claim the name of Christ, we are His representatives and we need to represent Him well. We don’t have to be perfect, but think about my transmission incident. When something went wrong, it could have soured me on that brand for life. Instead I saw people who went out of their way to make things right and that made all the difference. Our God is perfect, but our lives are not. When people see the struggles in their own lives. It is easy for them to blame God. In those moments, it’s up to us, His representatives to represent Him will, by loving and caring and going the extra mile. So that when people see out good deed they will praise our Father in Heaven. (Matthew 5) What we do matters. 

If you’re new to my posts, you may have missed me talking about Haven Camp, if you’ve been around a while you may have grown tired of me talking about Haven Camp, you might be growing tired of hearing about it. I hope not, but please indulge me for a moment. Haven Camp is a camp for adults with developmental difficulties (I just call them my friends) run by Delta Lake Bible Conference in Rome, NY. To put it succinctly I love Haven Camp, but I thought I’d tell you why by describing a typical day for me. 

I wake up in a nice little comfortable cottage about six a.m.

On a sunny day I’ll take a few laps prayer walk around Simpson Circle, before going into our meeting room, Delta A, to finish any last minute set up for the morning session.

It’s usually about then that I realize the most important thing I have to do that day is share the Gospel with some people Jesus really loves, and I’m struck by the idea that that is really the most important thing any of us has to do every day.

Then it’s back to the cottage to shower and review my notes before jetting off to breakfast.

A few minutes after I have been in the dining hall, nicknamed the Stack after one of the coolest people I have ever met, my friends the campers come in.

I finish my meal so I can go and greet the campers, and chat for a while.

When breakfast is over, it’s time for the morning service. 

The services are always fun, the campers’ unpredictable questions keep me on my toes, 

I sometimes wonder if I let them go to long, but then I think about it. These campers deserve to be heard too, and they often end up taking us in good but unexpected directions.

When the service ends the activities begin. Sometimes I get to join them on a boat ride around the lake, other times I will sit and play games with campers, draw pictures for them, color with them, and have the best conversations with the campers and the counselors.

After the activities, we go to lunch, more eating (really good food by the way. Thanks kitchen staff), after which I hang with the campers at their tables until lodge time. This is where the campers go back to their rooms for a little time of rest. I go back to my cottage too, usually to go over the notes for the afternoon session, but sometimes a nap ensues for me as well, (only after I’ve  studied.)

Then I return for one of my favorite times.

They’re called rotations. The group is split into smaller groups and goes between three activities, snack and souvenir shop, some sort of gym activities or a hay ride, and a craft. 

I love having a snack with the campers or chatting on the hayride, or encouraging the campers at their craft. 

After the rotations are over, we have the afternoon service. Which again is a high point for me. 

After service one of the campers prays for dinner and we eat, with more hanging out with the campers before the evening activities. Talent show, banquet, dance party (yes, even I have been known to go out for the dance party.

After that, it’s bed time for the campers and after they get to bed, there’s a little staff meeting where we learn what was happening behind the scenes, are made aware of anything we have to know for the good of the campers. Then we pray and dismiss. This is another of my favorite times, because it is the time when I get to hang out with and hopefully encourage the staff. These are some of the most impressive young people I have ever met. Truly, if you are the parent of one of these counselors, well done! They have a level of kindness, faith and maturity that will restore your faith in humanity. As that winds down, it’s near 11:00 and it’s time to stroll back the cottage, to get some sleep before starting it all over again the next day.

If it sounds tiring, that’s because it is, but it is also amazingly inspiring and fulfilling. These weeks are some of the fastest weeks of my year, and I love it. Sometimes as I am leading a session or watching the campers as they come together and love on each other, I think about my life up to this point, and I praise God for bringing me this far. I love Haven Camp. 

I have the privilege from time to time of receiving review copies of books for my blog from Hachette books and I just received a pretty great one called Gutsy by Natalie Franke. I think Ms. Franke’s target market is probably women based on some of the information held within, but there is a lot of gold in here for anyone who has a somewhat entrepreneurial spirit, and as such it really hit me. One particular quote reached right off the page and grabbed me. It said, 

“Every day, we are one raised hand away from an entirely different life.”

This statement is a great truth. Opportunities are out there for everyone, even you, to live an extraordinary, remarkable life. I believe they are available to you and me, and it is as if someone is standing there saying who will take advantage of this opportunity? When that happens, sometimes we need only to raise our hand. What about you? Is your hand up?

See too often we limit ourselves. We look at our qualifications rather than asking the questions, can I do that and do I want to? Of course the bigger question is, is God leading/calling me to this? I think sometimes we need a fundamental shift in our thinking from “Why would someone choose me?” To “Why not me?” 

I’ve lived in both worlds. For the longest time, I questioned my value and my worth. Some of that came from the opinions of others. A few rejections started to feel like everyone would reject me. And then there were the other times. When I was in youth ministry, I started using a teaching resource that I loved. I began to desire lessons on other topics than the ones that I was seeing, so I looked at their formatting and wrote my own lessons on the topics I needed to teach. I should probably mention that I was a volunteer leader in a small church in the middle of a corn field with ten to fifteen kids. Still something in me, made me think why not me? So I submitted my lessons and ended up on a group of writers that included published authors and even the youth pastor of one of the largest, most famous churches in the country. If I had started to look at the qualifications of my peers, I would have thought I didn’t belong in that group. Instead I realized teaching students is teaching students. I decided to share what I was coming up with and I ended up with an amazing opportunity.

After submitting art to the publishers of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics, and getting several rejections, I ended up contacting a licensee of the Turtles, about a very part time job, that was not art related. I didn’t even know that they worked with the Turtles, but in our discussion, I mentioned that I enjoyed drawing and that I had been submitting designs to the Turtles publisher. The licensee gave me a shot and I ended up working on several projects for them. If I had let the rejections stop me, I would never have tried. 

My creative arts ministry started at a time where very few people even knew what arts ministry was. I started using art as a teaching tool, about the same time I was learning to build websites for my day job. I started sharing my ideas online and before long some folks started asking me to come and speak. This gave me the courage to approach other churches about possibly coming in to speak. In the beginning a lot of people didn’t know what to do with me, and I get the idea they thought it was a weird idea, but a few gave me a shot, and I tried to make the most of it. To say God has blessed this ministry would be something of an understatement.  My ministry to people with special needs started when I was speaking to the director of a camp about their ministry and saying, “I’m no sure I could do that but I would love to try.”

Each of these experiences, in one way or another built my confidence, and changed my life and do you know what they all have in common? I could have talked myself out of trying all of them by questioning my own qualifications, but instead, I raised my hand and said “I’ll try it.” None of it happened because I am really extraordinary. Mostly it was me seeing what I perceived as God opening a door, and deciding to walk through it. Do you want to change your life, ask God for open doors and raise your hand. 

I’ve spent a lot of time this year on a single verse. Isaiah 40:31 “but they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings like eagles. They shall run and not be a weary. They shall walk and not faint.” It was the theme verse for a camp I did this year, and in order to make eight sessions that worked from this verse, I had to look at it upside down, backwards and sideways, and in all of that study, I feel like I grew in my understanding and appreciation of all that this verse means. It is truly a great word of comfort and encouragement from our Lord. 

That being said, it makes me nervous when I apply it to creative people, because I wonder if we will get that waiting part wrong. What do I mean? How many times have you as a creative said you were waiting for something? I want to do that project but I’m waiting until I’m better. I feel like God has called me to do this, but I am waiting until I have what it takes. I’m ready to do this project but I’m waiting until condition “X” is perfect, etc. etc. etc. How many artists are waiting tables, waiting for their big break? I don’t think that is the kind of waiting the Lord is talking about here. Oh there is nothing wrong with getting a job, to cover the bills while you are doing the work God has called you to do. Jobs are sometimes the way God provides for us while we wait for things to fall into place, but as the old saying goes, it’s easier to steer a moving car. While we are waiting on the Lord to bring the call to fruition, there are usually still things to be done. 

When God calls us to something, there is only one proper response, and that is obedience. When He calls us, the waiting is over, and the time to move is now. 

You don’t have everything you need yet? 

What do you have? Start with that and trust God to provide for you as you do the work. 

I’m waiting until I get better?

You know how you usually get better? By doing the work.

I’m not good enough?

The God who called you, knows your ability, or lack thereof, to do what He wants you to do. He is not surprised by your inability, and where your ability ends is where His grace begins. 

I’m waiting for my big break.

So is everyone else. Make your own breaks. Put yourself out there and do the work. Build your skills and hunt down opportunities. In the mean time, do the work.

I love the principle of waiting on the Lord. I know in the time of waiting, God is at work, making us able, strengthening us and renewing our strength. Making us better, and wiser and sometimes quite frankly just teaching us to depend on Him instead of idolizing our own strength. What I don’t love, and I have been guilty of this more times than I care to count, is when people who are clearly called by God say they are waiting on the Lord, and I just want to say to them, “Are you sure it isn’t the other way around? Are you sure God isn’t waiting on you? 

Is there time to wait on the Lord? Of course there is, but most of the time it’s not an inactive wait. Most of the time it’s about stepping out in faithfulness and depending on God, waiting for Him to come through. To close I would remind you of Philippians 1:6: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Who began it? God! Who will complete it? God! Who did He begin it in? You! The outcome is not up to us. It might be finished in our lifetime, or it might not be completed until the day of Christ Jesus. What is up to us is to be obedient to the call and do the work in faithfulness. Don’t worry there will be plenty of time to wait on the Lord while the thing is in process. There will be times where the only way it moves forward is if He moves. That’s how we learn to depend on Him. Wait on Him in the process, but be faithful in your obedience to Him.  

Today I was on YouTube, checking on one of my side projects. I have a channel on there that deals with my hobby of plastic model building. It’s a just for fun project, but I have to monitor it from time to time, because occasionally spammers try to hit it with inappropriate comments for inappropriate content. Before I even got into my channel though, something caught my eye. It was a music video for a band with a name that suggested it might be interesting to me and my fellow creatives and so I decided to check it out. 

The song started off well. The band has that hard rock/metal sound that, at almost 60 years old, I still have not managed to outgrow. The musicianship was really pretty good and the band was tight. Then the singer started. She was also really talented and clearly a good performer, but there was a problem. She started lifting her finger. I’ll let you imagine which one, and she began to cuss at me with words that would only maybe be appropriate if I had shot her puppy and I’m not even sure they would be appropriate even then. This band started off as one I could have been a fan of and recommended to others, but that quickly devolved between the language, the gestures and a completely unnecessary wardrobe choice. Pity. This is a band with an excessive amount of talent, I just couldn’t get into the message they were trying to convey. Don’t get me wrong, none of this will hurt the band, neither I nor many of my readers would likely be in their target demographic, nor would I want to hurt them, but it did get me thinking, when have I created with my finger in the air?

Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t done that literally, but there have been times when I have gotten out the poison pen and created things that have been more about proving a point or putting someone in their place, than they were about shining a light. How about you? There have been times where someone or something has angered me and I decided to respond using my gift, but lately I have come away wondering is that the best use for a gift that I acknowledge comes from God. It’s a dicey proposition. Is there a time to make a statement? Sometimes, yes. Is there a time to share an uncomfortable truth? Absolutely. As a Christian, does my work always have to make people feel good about themselves and their choices? Absolutely not, but what is the attitude I am bringing to the table? Am I trying to lead people into truth, or am I creatively slapping them back for some perceived slight? And if I do that, how much different am I than the singer with her fingers in the air?

What should we be trying to make our work say and what should we be saying with our work? When we create a piece of work, what should be our guide? God, His Word and His Holy Spirit is the short answer. Beyond that, I think Philippians 4:15 gives us a good guideline. “Rather, speaking the truth in love…” When I look at my work, before I release it to the world, this would be a great place to start. “Does it speak the truth?” If it checks that box, we need to follow up with the question, “Does it speak the truth in love?” Is the motivation of my heart positive change, being helpful, etc.? If not and I want to reflect Christ, it’s not done, nor is it ready for release. Our work at it’s best should be dedicated to bringing about positive change, so maybe we should also consider the rest of the verse. After all why are we speaking the truth in love? The rest of the verse says, “we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,” The goal is to help people to come to know, love, follow and become like Christ. That is what our work should say. 

In my last post, (You can see all these posts at http://amokarts.com) I shared a post that was based on a line from the Rend Collective Song, Hallelujah Anyway that says.

I’d rather light a match than curse the dark.

And I thought I would revisit that a little bit today. I spoke to how easy it is to curse the dark, but I questioned if cursing the dark is counterproductive. As I was mowing my lawn yesterday, I was dwelling on this, and a few more thoughts came to mind. I want to be the person to “light a match” instead of cursing the dark, but how does one do that? How do you know which match to light? As I continued to do laps around the yard, a few thoughts came to mind.

The first one should be obvious, seek the Lord. If He guides us into all truth, and I believe He will, then He should guide us into the places where we need to be light. Of course there are some general areas. If someone needs help, seeing that can be an engraved invitation to strike a match. So can loving your neighbor, meeting a need, being a peacemaker, and anyone of a number of the things the Lord calls us to in His Word. To put it simply, we should bring light to all the places God where calls us to in His Word, as we see situations arise in our world. The old adage comes to mind. When you see something and think, “Someone should do something about that,” we need to at least consider that “someone” might be you! Be that someone and light a match and this sort of leans into the broader topic of life mission. 

For starters, a life’s mission can be as simple as looking for opportunities to serve and being a servant. That would be an admirable way to be a light, to light a match if you will, but let’s go a little deeper. What does it take to light a literal match? It takes friction. Where do you sense friction in the world? What cause lights you up? What burdens your heart? What makes you lose sleep? Who needs love and mercy? Who needs help that you can help? What tugs at your heart? What gives you a holy dissatisfaction (emphasis on the word “holy”)? A word of caution here—make sure this feeling of mission lines up with the word of God, otherwise your match might end up igniting a destructive fire of sin that ends up running counter to the will of God. Otherwise these feelings of friction are likely a holy nudge to do some good in our world. Basically when we see darkness encroaching on the things that burden our hearts, we can either curse the dark or we can light a match and be a part of the solution. 

Sometimes the key to all of this is “Do you nave a match?” Is there a gift, talent, skill set or experience that draws you to this cause? I find that our calling is usually found at the place where our gifts, experiences and opportunities meet. As any example, I have found my abilities in the arts to be a very useful tool in my mission. In a sense that might be my “match.” My passion is to see as many people as possible to come to know Jesus and to help people find and use their God given gifts to serve the Lord. God has especially given me a heart for people with “special needs.” The abilities He has given me help me to communicate the Gospel and “draw people into the story.” That’s mine. What’s yours? 

One last thing. I love that Rend Collective used the term “light a match.” A match is not a huge light, it’s small, and I think that’s important. A lot of people get discouraged because they look at the size of their cause, feel too small to do anything “significant” and decide they don’t have what it takes. That’s not the right way to look at this. In a totally dark room a small flame becomes the focus. It’s the only thing that can be seen. The idea is not necessarily to start a big blaze. The idea is to make a dent in the darkness and inspire others to do the same. Some will get to do bigger things, sometimes the things we do will spread, but that’s not up to us. Our job is to light the match. Be a match lighter.