What does art do to you?

She's staring at you, isn't she? She does that to me all the time. Go ahead. Order a drink. She can mix you a great Shirley Temple. Don't take an orange, though. They are for display only.

What you are looking at is my favorite painting. If you were to add up the amount of time I have spent sitting, studying this painting, it might equal about two whole days of my life --just staring. I have written papers about this painting. It's a good painting. It's called "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère" and was painted in 1881-1882 by Edouard Manet. If you were to ask me what I love so much about this painting, I would have a lot to say. I'd probably pause for a second, stare at it, and then go off on how much apathy I see in her beautiful face, but yet there is so much desperation, angst, and brokenness behind that apathy. It's like she's stuck behind that bar for the rest of her life pretending to enjoy mixing drinks and pouring champagne for rich Frenchmen for the rest of eternity. To me she seems like the symbol of all the pleasure-seeking world. I'm sure she was excited to work there at first. She probably loved how glamorous it all was. She probably loved how much men would flirt with her and tell her how beautiful she was. She probably loved getting all dressed up, setting up the bar just right, putting out fresh fruit and flowers, just waiting for all the classy French couples to come in to the glamorous Folies-Bergère to dance and drink their troubles away. But just as everything on this Earth will do one day, it all began to lose its luster. And while that bar may have once felt like a gateway to a world of pleasure and constant excitement, it soon began to feel like a prison. And while all the people once seemed so glamorous, the flirtatious compliments so exciting, the music so beautiful, the sights and smells so intriguing, new, and wonderfully sublime it all became empty, blank, even depressing. This is the face of a woman who is truly trapped in a life she thought would free her. She is all of us who thought that what the world has to offer would satisfy us, but all it does is disappoint. All the time.
Don't be afraid to be moved by art. That's what it's for.

Aliens!!!I

I decided to video blog this time. Enjoy.

What Do You Do on the Toilet?

     I just got back from the bathroom. Take a moment to get past the image and let's move on.

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Almost ready?

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Okay. Welcome back.
I can't sit on the toilet for more than three seconds without feeling bored. I always bring my phone or a book I'm reading. If I forget either of those two things, I'll find myself dabbling into things I would never do otherwise. I'll maybe pick up a People magazine and see what the Kardashians are up to. Or I'll clean out my wallet. I've even found myself brushing my teeth on the toilet just to save time. I just can't seem to sit there doing nothing ... well not nothing, but you know.
The point I'm making is that I think I've become addicted to entertainment. If I can't even handle sitting on the toilet for two minutes without being entertained, I think that is a sign of a problem. How did this happen, I've asked myself. I used to be able to sit places without having things to do. And what about the rest of us? What did people do on the toilet before games on our phones, books, magazines, wallets to clean out, etc? Did they just sit there? I wish I could do that. I want to be able to do that. I hate being addicted to anything. From now on, I will begin the process of breaking this addiction. And I'm going to start on the toilet. I will no longer feed my addiction by keeping myself entertained while I am doing my business. Maybe one day I won't need to use stumbleupon on my phone while I watch TV. Then maybe I won't need to watch 30 Rock episodes on my computer while I eat my lunch at my desk. Maybe I'll just enjoy those things without having to over-entertain myself.
I challenge you all to do the same. Let's break the addiction!!

The Bible!

     I have two things I'd like to share with you today. First, I think you should all know that my favorite aquatic buddy, Sushi, has decided to leave the comfort of his home with me and seek a better life for himself. If anyone sees him out there, let him know I miss him and he's welcome back anytime.

     Now to the main point. This last week while I was preparing my message on John the Baptist, I couldn't escape this idea that occasionally the Bible reads a bit like a Musical. I sort of used this idea in this weekend's message, The Musical (click to listen if you missed it), but I think this idea has a lot more potential. My sister is really into musicals and I've talked to her about writing a musical together on the life of Mary mother of Jesus. I think there is a lot of potential to a half fictional/half Biblical story about one of the most interesting women in the world. What was it like trying to raise God Himself as a child? What did the neighbors think? How did this affect her relationship with Joseph? What did her parents think? Anyways, you just wait. One day this story will be told and I hate to say it, but I think it'll make a great musical.

Holy Spirit? Who dat?

      If you've ever read the book of Acts, been to church a few times, known a preacher or strong man or woman of God, or if you've caught a preacher on TV once or twice for kicks (very common among the kids these days...), then you've probably heard about the Holy Spirit. You may have heard it called Holy Ghost or just The Spirit, but no matter what you call it, I assume that most people don't really understand this third piece of the Trinity. I'm not going to attempt to use the next few lines to define the Holy Spirit because that may take more words than you're wiling to read. What I want to say to you today is that if you're among that large group of people who call themselves believers or Christians and you don't know much about the Holy Spirit, then you're missing out on 1/3 of who God really is. I'm not specifically talking about speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy, or other gifts given by the Holy Spirit. I'm talking about getting to know a very important part of who God really is. Here are a few simple tips to help:

1. When you pray, don't be afraid to speak directly to the Holy Spirit. Call upon it for help, power, strength, discipline, love for the unlovable, words when you have none, knowledge you've not gained, etc.
2. Seek the scriptures. Don't just look in the New Testament either. Go to Biblegateway.com and type in Holy Spirit as a search. Or just try spirit and see what you get, then read around those verses.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal itself to you. Never underestimate the power of simple requests to God. "Help me." "I'm tired. Give me strength." "Reveal the meaning of this scripture to me."

When Christ left this world, He left the Holy Spirit here on Earth. There is power in this gift that if you aren't tapped into, you're missing out. Don't miss out. Seek it out.

Two Kinds of People

There are two kinds of people on this Earth: beach people and mountain people. If you had to pick between one of those two places to spend the rest of your life, where would it be? For me, I'm a beach person. I love mountains. I've stood in the middle of the Alps and stared in awe at the amazing peaks and snow-covered beauty provided by God's awesome creation, but put me on a beach and I'm home. No matter what season it is, I could sit on a beach and just watch the ocean breathe in and out all day. Because I'm a Christian, I get an added bonus. As I gawk at this awesome beauty, I feel closer to my creator. It's like if you brought a friend to an art exhibit where your work was being shown, and that friend just loved your work and wanted to sit and gaze at your work for hours on end. Wouldn't you feel much closer to that friend? That's how I think God reacts when we are taken aback by His beautiful creation. But if that same friend fell in love with your work, but gave you no credit or didn't acknowledge that it was even you who made it, then we have a problem. When you see something beautiful in God's creation, let Him know. Tell Him how beautiful it is. Thank Him. Praise Him for it. Don't praise creation; praise the creator. He'll appreciate it.

Thursday Freestyle

Wednesday Freestyle

Tuesday Freestyle

Monday Freestlye

A Challenge

I've been reading a lot lately. For one of my classes I'm taking, I have to read a bunch of books on leadership and apply the knowledge to church leadership and growth. Boring! Right? Maybe to some, but I am getting really excited about this stuff. The stories of great companies like Walgreens and Gilette accompanied by the stories of great leaders like Billy Graham and Teddy Roosevelt have enormous potential for modern-church application. Words like humility, sacrifice, uncompromising excellence, and passion jump out of the pages and smack me in the face. God's mark is on all truly great things. Where there is truth, you have found God also.  I see the love and work of Christ in the story of the billionaire CEO and Co-Founder of Hewlett-Packard. Though the astounding success of his business afforded him great wealth and opportunity, he never moved out of the house he and his wife built together in 1957. Upon meeting this man, you would have no idea of the billions of dollars that were at his disposal. And after his death, he gave it all away to a charitable foundation. He did not allow his money or success to define him. How many of us follow that model? How many of us let our passion, our sacrifice, our uncompromising excellence, or, above all, our humility define us? My guess would be very few. My message for you today is to, with the help of the Holy Spirit in your life, seek after these qualities. Seek after them as if this is your last chance to leave a positive mark on this Earth. PASSION. SACRIFICE. UNCOMPROMISING EXCELLENCE. HUMILITY.

SIFAT Video and Last Week's Lesson

The Call of Abram II from Nick Robinson on Vimeo.

Video Blog 5-24

Video Blog 5-19

Video Blog 5-10

Video Blog 5-3

What is Religion in three parts

Video Blog

Full Circle

My life seems to be filled with "full circle" moments. Here is an example. When I was a sophomore in high school, I was sitting in my English class taking an essay test. I looked up at the teacher who was sitting with sort of an evil smirk on his face as he watched all his students pour over his well-crafted test. I said to myself, "I hope I get to be an English teacher just so I can have that moment." Six years later, after I graduated college with a degree in English, I sat in my big teacher's desk and smirked as my students poured over a well-crafted essay test and thought to myself, "I really don't want to grade all these." That was a great full circle moment for me. I had another one of those this weekend. We took about 16 junior high kids to Breakthru this weekend and it was amazing. It was super fun and I think most of the kids had a great time. My full circle moment came when I was standing in the back of the Tabernacle watching 450 junior high kids worshipping and I remembered when I was on my own junior high trip 14 years ago. 14 YEARS AGO!! I remember even then I had the desire to do what my youth minister was doing, and in that moment this weekend I think I finally realized that God had placed that desire in my heart all those years ago. I love where I am. I love what God has me doing. I love all these kids. And I love that God has such great plans for all of us. I can't wait for more full circle moments.

The Videos

If you haven't been at Source 15, you may not know about the video series we are doing right now. Myself and a number of students went out to Deerbrook and asked random people a bunch of theological questions. We asked those questions that Mark and I think every Christian should have a good understanding of... What is sin? What is forgiveness/repentance? What is Christianity? Who is Jesus? etc.  So far we have shown two of these videos. Check 'em out.

UMARMY

So I am writing this blog from the sound booth @The Loft while the first round of UMARMY registration goes on around me. I've never been to a UMARMY camp, but I'm very excited to attend my first one this summer in July. I know that God's work will be done through these camps, and I hope that those of us who participate will do so with the right heart. It is not with a begrudging heart or a heart of obligation that we do the work and mission of Jesus Christ, but rather with a heart of servanthood and joy that we labor for Christ. I can't wait to see so many people working together to fulfill the mission of Christ that he left for us. I urge you to already be in prayer for those of you who will be participating as well as for those souls we will be encountering as we exit our Christian bubble and brave the wilds of the world. I love you guys and I hope you will keep me in prayer as you daily spend time with God as part of a whole-hearted pursuit after Jesus Christ.

What is Christianity?

Over the next 8 weeks, Mark and I, will be taking the KUMC youth through a series called What is Christianity? We will be starting each session with a video that will show us what the world thinks about Christianity and what we believe. Each week we will answer a different question having to do with Christianity.

3-21: What is Christianity?
3-28: What is sin?
4-4: Easter
4-11: What is forgiveness and repentance?
4-18: What is Holiness?
4-25: Who is Jesus?
5-2: What is religion?
5-9: What is Heaven?

Each week we will watch the video with real people answering these questions and then we will split into JH and SH in different rooms in order to make the teaching time more discussion based where people can feel free to ask questions and interact with the teaching rather than be taught to.
Mark and I spent a long time discussing this idea and we decided that it was very important for us to teach and reteach the basics of faith in Christ so that our young people are given all the tools they need to live our their faith.
Something else we will be reminding our young people of is the Youth Mission and how it applies to them. By the end of this series, we hope that every KUMC youth will be able to live out the Youth Mission in their daily lives.

Come On Over

Okay folks. We've got some good stuff happening down here at ye olde KUMC!

The big Game Day is coming up and you don't want to miss that.
Source 15 has been rocking and rolling for a while now and some really good stuff is coming from there. If you missed out, or want to know what your kids are doing and hearing there, please check out the videos below. You'll find all the worship songs and Mark's sermon.

So tell your friends and tell your friends to tell their friends that they need to come down to Source 15 on Sunday and get their life changed. We are desperate to spread the word of Christ to all those who would hear it. So bring them on!

Saving One
Because of Your Love
Mystery
My Glorious
Knowing Anyone Part 1
Knowing Anyone Part 2
Knowing Anyone Part 3

Worship God...or else!!

This weekend I had the pleasure of speaking at Source 15! It was a wonderful first teaching experience here, and I look forward to many, many more. If you weren't at Source 15, I encourage you to download the Source 15 iTunes podcast and check out the many messages by Mark Walz, Matt Stone, myself and some others.
Personally, I love listening to sermon podcasts. I got into it about five years ago when I heard Matt Chandler of The Village speak at a conference, and then I heard he had a podcast. I have listened to probably about 90% of his sermons at The Village over the last five years, and they have been life changing. It's been a great way to begin my alone times with God or just on a 45 minute car ride.






We have some sweet stuff coming up in the near future for the youth.

On March 13th we are doing Game Day!
This will be a co-ed football game for both Junior High and Senior High. Bring your game faces, game-shoes, and any other game related materials you might need.

And of course we have our annual JT Barger Dessert Auction and Golf Tourney coming up on March 26th and 27th. Get a dessert prepared and be ready to watch it go for a very high price. Then, to work off all that pie and pudding, we'll be hitting the links the next day. Bring a team of the best golfers you can find and get ready for some heavy competition. It'll be a great day!

Skizzy Skizzy Skate Night

So, 70's Skate Night was flipping awesome! We showed up at the Humble Family Skate Center, threw on our skates and everything went so fast that I'm having trouble remembering everything. Good thing my lovely wife, Rachel, was there to take some awesome pictures. Check 'em out!

URGENCY

I am very excited about the new Bible Studies we are doing up here at KUMC starting tonight.
Mark will be covering "How the Bible Was Put Together."
I will be covering "How the World Will End."
Mark's study is for the senior high and mine is for junior high. Mark is in the Loft and I am in the confirmation room.
There are few things I love more than teaching God's word. I am especially excited to teach about the end times. I've always wanted to do an in depth study of this and now I finally get my chance.

I was discussing the value of studying the end times with a youth minister at a different church, and he believes that we shouldn't spend too much time studying the end times. He told me that his students often ask him to do one, but he refuses to do so. Without going too much in depth as to why he has made this decision, I will say that I completely understand his argument and reasoning behind why he believes this.
I, however, feel that a well-led study of the end times can and should lead to a renewed sense of urgency in the hearts of students. When we get a good grip on how the world will end, God's promises become more real and our actions should become more intentional, purpose-driven, and authentic. Our worship becomes richer when we know we are worshiping a God with a great plan. Urgency is the key to a strong, meaningful relationship with our Father.
Be urgent in seeking after our God.

Good Friends

I cannot stress to you how important it is to surround yourself with a core group of friends.

Here is a quick look into Nick as a middle school kid.

In the mid 90's I lived in Aviano, Italy. I went to school on the military base where my dad worked. Every military base I lived in had a different overriding culture. Some of them had more kids whose parents were higher ranking officers and so the culture was more preppy and upper class. Some of the bases had more enlisted, lower ranking soldiers and so the culture would be a bit more rough. Aviano, at this time, was a pretty rough culture. There were a lot of punk kids, druggies, and gangsters than there had been in other places I had lived.

When I was young, and even a little today, I was a cultural chameleon. In order to hide myself from others, I would change myself to whatever my surroundings were. I had to be cool. I had to be accepted. I had to be what others were. Ironically, it was directly because of this attitude and behavior that I was generally uncool, rejected by many, and a complete dork.

I remember a couple great examples of this:

1. Sagging was cool, but my parents wouldn't buy me pants that were big enough to sag. So I would wear big shirts and unbutton my pants so I could hang them down real low. Someone caught me once and told my entire speech class. Couldn't have been more embarassed then if my pants had just plain fallen off.

2. Rap music was what everyone who was anyone listened to, and if you listened to rap, you listened to Bone Thugs N Harmony. Of course, I wasn't allowed to buy those cd's and this was just about the time that Parental Advisory stickers started showing up on music so I couldn't just buy it without them knowing. So I only knew what I heard others sing. We didn't have MTV in Italy, and there was only one American radio station and it didn't play good stuff like that. There was a song called "Tha First of Da Month" and the chorus basically just repeated the title over and over again. I had heard this part before so I would typically walk around the halls repeating the chorus so that people would think I knew the song and was therefore, COOL. It might have worked had one, Marquis Something-or-other, not decided to call me out in front of the cool kids and ask me what the rest of the words were. I stuttered out something and then ran out the hallway door. I hated that Marquis kid.

3. Okay one more. The cool kids wore hair picks in their hair at this time. I thought they looked so awesome. I had pretty thick curly hair at the time, so I thought I could pull it off. The only problem was we didn't have a pick style comb at the house. I felt embarassed to ask my parents to buy one for fear that they would want to know why, so instead I just took a regular comb and stuck it in my hair and hopped on the bus. Needless to say that by the time I had made it to my first class that day, the comb had found its way to the trash can. So stupid.

I could go on and on and on about all of the ridiculous junk that I did to myself, but the reason why I have so many of these stories is because I had no friends to tell me that I was an idiot. My parents did their share, but I don't imagine many 7th grade boys listen to their parents when it comes to whether or not they should leave a comb in their hair.

God has called us to live in a community. Jesus regularly sought refuge from the masses in the company of his friends, his apostles. Follow his example and learn to trust those around you and to seek out quality people to live life with.

Further Musings on Isaiah

As a young man marries a maiden,

so will your sons marry you;

as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,

so will your God rejoice over you.

Isaiah 62:5

 

Derek Webb, the guy in the picture above, is one of my favorite musicians. The man writes such pointed, intentional lyrics that don't shy away from true doctrine and accountability. One of my recent favorites is a song called "A New Law" from Mockingbird. Check it out. One of my oldest favorites from Derek Webb, a song that I actually saw him perform live a long time ago when he used to come lead worship for Sky Ranch during the summers, is "Wedding Dress." In this song he confesses his own shortcomings and hypocrisy. It's an amazing song, and an amazing reminder of how God sees His people. As you can see in this verse in Isaiah and so many others, God longs for us to see Him as our husband and for us to love Him as His bride. I urge you to look into this concept. Seek out the scriptures and you will see the amazing similarities between the relationship of a husband and wife and that which God desires to have with us.

Jesus Jeeps

Yesterday a guy named Matt Monk came into the office to talk to Mark. After he left, Mark told me a hilarious story about how Matt had once shared a dream he had where he was in the middle of a Holy battle. Apparently Matt had been enlisted in the army of God battling against Satan's forces, possibly from Revelation 9. During this battle an angel pulled up in a Jeep bearing the mark JJ. In the dream, Matt asked the angel next to him what the standard meant. The angel simply replied, "Jesus Jeeps."

That was good enough for me. I now know that whenever I see Matt Monk again, all I will think about is Gabriel and Michael cruisin down the golden streets in their Jesus Jeeps.

This Weekend

Here's the breakdown:

Friday night: had dinner with great friends!

Saturday: spent great quality time with my wife and daughter!

Saturday night: attended the Youth Leadership dinner at KUMC! We could have used some more people there, but God sent those He needed. He tends to do that. Oh, and my plate fell apart as I was loading an entire chicken onto it. Should they have sliced the chicken a bit thinner? Maybe. Should I attempt to eat an entire chicken? Maybe not.

Sunday morning: watched Matt Tuley do an awesome job leading confirmation worship. He may have locked in a solid gig for himself. Then the Source 15 Worship Band, better band name pending, came through like a camel through the eye of a needle. I continue to be impressed and overjoyed by the quality of musicians present on that stage Sunday mornings. It is a blessing to me to be surrounded by such talent.

Sunday night: sat in with the Junior High boys small group and wrecked some JH boys in football.

Reminders:

Feb. 10 marks the beginning of the new Bible Study series' by Mark and I. Mark will be leading the Sr. High students through a series on how the Bible was put together, and I will be leading the Jr. High students through a series on the end times, or "How the World Will End."

Late Night Skate Night is on the 13th. Meet at KUMC at 10pm. Junior High only.

The J.T. Barger Memorial Dessert Auction and Golf Tournament is coming up on March 26th an 27th.

Final Thoughts:

I am about to finish reading Isaiah in my time with God, and I am loving how much God cares for us and loves us that he would both punish us for our evil doings and redeem us to a better life afterwards. God doesn't take us backwards. He wants us to move forward. He loves us enough to allow us to experience the earthly consequences of our actions, but it is through those consequences that He brings us to a better, stronger, more God-centered version of ourselves. So if it seems like God has abandoned you to your fate, remember that God is one that will never completely leave you. Seek after Him like a thirsty man seeks water, and you will never fail to find Him.

70s Skate Night

KUMC Junior High! Listen up. I'm writing to remind you about our 70s Skate Night we are having on Feb. 13 from 10pm-Midnight. It's gonna be at Humble Skating Rink and it's gonna be flippin sweet. Show up in whatever you think someone from the 70s would show up in. I've provided some pictures to give you some options and ideas. Enjoy.

KUMC Youth! Assemble!!!

Hello and welcome. If you are reading this, you are obviously pretty awesome because you either go to KUMC, know someone who goes to KUMC, or you are stalking one of those two people. Either way, welcome and please check with us often to see what is going on around the KUMC youth offices. The person writing this extremely well phrased blog is Nick, your friendly Associate Youth Pastor at KUMC. Mark Walz, who is sitting ten feet away from me, is entirely too busy and important to be troubled by writing on this blog, although if you become a faithful reader, you may see pearls of his wisdom on here from time to time. In the meantime, you are stuck with me. I plan to share some of the interesting things that happen around the KUMC offices, promote our youth events, and share what God is teaching me in my daily walk with Him. Please feel free to comment to let us know you stopped by. We love you and are praying for you.
"And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul." Deuteronomy 10:12.