Fundamental Life Question

Have you ever read a book about how to be a better leader(manager, supervisor, boss, pastor, etc.)?

Where would you place yourself right now on a leadership scale? 1-10

1 = A total and complete failure when it comes to leadership.

10 = A refined, tried and true leader who knows how to get things done. 

How many of you have ever read a book on following? Or how to be a better team player?

Where would you rate yourself on the followershipness(???) scale? 1-10

1 = I have to be in control and can't stand it when others are and they are doing a terrible job!

10 = I let go of control and do my best to follow the instructions given to me. 

Jesus said at the beginning of his ministry on earth, "Come, follow me..." - Mark 1:17 

Then again at the end,  "As for you, follow me." - John 21:22b

Who are we following?

Follower = a devotee of a particular person, cause, or activity.

 Who is our money devoted to?

Ourselves? Family? The poor? Our neighbors?

Who is our time devoted to?

Ourselves? Family? The poor? Our neighbors?

Who are we really following?

Could it be no one?

The Graduation Song

It's graduation season and in honor of all the graduates I decided to write a song. It's a song of passion and conviction and very much stolen from Adam Sandler's Hanukkah Song. 

So here's to you graduates!

Graduation Song from Peter Jenkins on Vimeo.

Quit Whining! (Ways to Hand Over Control) - Lessons from Edgar pt. 2

Recap

In part one of this series, which you can read here, I talked about the need to hand over control to a God who sees the bigger picture. 

New Question

The question then becomes, "How do I do that?" If you're like me, you're saying, "Give me something practical to work on!" Well, here it is (along with another picture of Edgar...apparently I am that dog parent). 

The first two nights we had Edgar were awful. We slept less than three hours both nights. (All of you parents right now are probably grinning and thinking about the future blog posts where I tell you about how I am getting no sleep with our child!)

Edgar would just sit in his crate and whine! High pitched. Constant. Echoing throughout the house! Our neighbors even told us that they could hear him from their living room. Annoying! 

Thoughts

I realized in the days after that I whine to God...a lot. Most of the time it's indirectly. I don't even take the time to whine to His face, I whine to those around me about the frustration and anger in my life. Thankfully, God is so loving and patient that He doesn't respond to my whining by grabbing the back of my neck and saying, "No! Bad Human!" 

God asks this of us:

Truth

"So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." - Romans 12:1-2 The Message

Edgar has learned that his crate is a safe and peaceful place. He is even rewarded when he heads in there without having to be picked up.

Living in God's will is safe and peaceful. Not safe in a physical, mental, or economical way, but safe in the only way that really matters long-term, spiritually. Peaceful because when you're living for God, you know you're living for God. His Word gives us that confidence. It grants us the permission and presents us with the challenge to be who God made us to be. Which is ultimately what is best for us. 

So, (name goes here), quit your whining...and give to God. 

Choking Freedom! - Life Lessons with Edgar pt. 1

Two weeks ago, Beth and I brought home the newest member of the Jenkins family. 

Meet Edgar.

Edgar is a Double-Doodle (Labradoodle and Goldendoodle mix). After my nephew Mark, Edgar is the cutest new part of life...I mean look at that face.

Alright, enough of the love-fest. I'm already learning about life from Edgar and his actions have caused me to ask a few questions. The first question Edgar has caused me to ask is, do I really want freedom? 

Beth and I bought 50ft of rope for Edgar to be able to run around in our backyard. We tied it to a tree in the middle of the yard and Edgar can pretty much go wherever he wants in our backyard. Unfortunately Edgar can be an idiot. He will wrap himself around bushes, trees, outdoor furniture, charcoal grills, your legs and then bolt in the other direction causes your heart to freak out and your instincts force you to jump really fast! 

Edgar has all this freedom and yet he gets tangled up and caught up in obstacles so often that it's easier to keep him on a short leash. 

I'm not talking about the freedom to own a gun or have an abortion, I'm talking about the freedom to choose. The freedom to do what we want, when we want it, by whatever means necessary. 

There are days where I make so many bad decisions that I look back on them and go, 'what the heck is going on?' 'who am I right now?' 'how can one person screw life up this bad?' 

It can feel like I'm tied up and struggling to break free. 

Maybe a better way to phrase that question is this...do I really want control?

I can say with certainty that I WANT God to make my decisions for me. I WANT Him to lead me. I WANT Him to have all control. He sees the big picture and knows how to unwind the tangles of life. 

“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. - Jesus (Matthew 16:24)

Next Post: Quit Whining (Ways to Hand Over Control).

Photos courtesy of Jonathan Rykse. Thanks, Jonathan!

Be Bold. (1-1-6)

Yesterday I went with five high school freshman to see Christian Rap artist Lacrae at Kentwood Community Church near Grand Rapids, MI. I am currently 25 years old and have not regularly listened to Christian Rap since I was 16 (any shout outs for T-Bone???). 

The reason I was asked to go to the concert with these guys...they needed a driver. :) I was happy to help them out!

I honestly didn't know what to expect. All I knew is that it was going to be very different from the David Crowder (bluegrass) concert Beth and I were at the night before. I was dead on with this assessment, but not how I expected.

You see David Crowder did a great job of letting his lyrics and beautiful melodies communicate the truth, glory, and splendor of God. All seven of the artist that performed at the Lacrae concert also spoke bold truth in their music, but what challenged me was the way they talked about God in between songs. 

Phrases like, "Make some noise for the King!" "Jesus is the greatest!" Chants of, "Jesus! Jesus!" Were commonplace. Calling out premarital sex, calling out drugs and violence, calling out the fact that life can be over any second, calling out lazy living. 

Every artist told a part of their story and gave God so much glory the entire time. It wasn't subtly slipped in. It wasn't masked in political correctness. It wasn't baked in dynamic illustrations. It was real. It was life. It was truth. It was joy. It was hope. It was their life. It was their life. It was their life. 

When you talked about your life what comes out of your mouth?

Be Bold. 

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 

- Apostle Paul (Romans 1:16)

Stop.

On Average it Takes:


4 seconds to scan my blog posts and choose whether or not to read it.

3 minutes 36 seconds to read a whole post.

2 hours, 12 minutes, and 45 seconds to read every post I've written.

It's taken you 15 seconds to get this far, so why not spend the next 3 minutes 21 seconds in prayer.

It doesn't matter about what.

Just pray.

Talk.

Listen.

Celebrate!

One year ago Beth and I had a conversation with two people(who became friends) about leading a group at gracespring (our church) that would be targeted towards reaching college ageish people. 

That stage of life is a crucial part of our journey spiritually and we wanted to provide a safe and welcoming environment for those struggling and thriving through this part of their journey. Those two people shared our excitement and brought onboard their amazing community group. Six months, lots of conversations, and almost as many meetings later God blessed us with, Awaken. 

Tonight Beth and I celebrated at Bennigan's with those same two people, that same amazing community group, and a young woman named Elizabeth. Elizabeth came to Awaken nine months ago as a shy college age girl who didn't know Jesus. Tonight we celebrated because she is now a member of the family of God! This past Sunday she dedicated her life to Christ and she is planning on being baptized in the next few weeks. 

The best part about Awaken is that we have let God lead from the beginning. We don't have it all figured out; He does. We are blessed to be a part of something God is doing! 

Welcome to the family, Elizabeth!

See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us 

His children, and that is what we are! 

1 John 3:1