preppy kids. old war buddies. rich young ruler.

okay. long time, no blog. my bad. forgive? THANKS.

the last couple days have been so interesting. simply, it's just conversations i've had that i didn't plan on having. God moments for sure. like this morning, for instance. i walked into sugar brown's and there sat the man, the myth, the legend, the dusty thompson. if you don't know him, DT loves all things prep. like nice socks and sweaters matched with the perfect scarf. he was on the rowing team at princeton and daily plays chess on the south lawn while drinking tea. herbal tea. with a crumpet. buttered, but not over-buttered. okay, that last part may be a tad inaccurate. anywhose, somehow he was in-between meetings and we got to catch up on all things life. from the power of the Gospel and ways to preach it and live it better, to preppy kids from the south, to the beauty that is the rangers beating the yanks last night. he doesn't know it, but things that he said in that 15 minute, between meetings convo, was exactly what i needed. so encouraging. don't tell him but i'm writing stuff he said down so i don't forget. i realize now that God planned this morning out. i mean, i know He does that, but this morning made me keenly aware of the truth. He's sovereign like that. even in the small stuff. bb talks about that a lot. "see God in the small things, garrett" he'll say. well, he's right. FINALLY. 'BOUT TIME!

(insert smooth transition here)

well, this week, we're taking what Jesus says to the rich young ruler in mark 10. in reality, Jesus is by far the most beautiful One over all the earth. He is to be our most prized possession. prized over our earthly money. our earthly drive for popularity. our fame. our glory. He is to pursued over all of that junk.

Jesus wasn't being rude to the young rich guy. in fact, Scripture tells us He looked at him and LOVED him. He loved the rich guy enough to tell him the hard things. that's what people who love us do. they speak truth into us whether it feels good at first or not. "hey...umm...in order to follow me, you have to give up your wealth."

just like last week, it comes back to whether I love and yearn for things of this earth or things of Heaven.

i struggle. but, these tough sayings are re-shaping my heart. i think they're re-shaping our high schoolers, too.

in a biblical tragedy, the rich young man walks away from the Savior of the world. just walks away. sad. i've got to learn from this. i'm so scared of making the same mistake. i fear i make that same mistake, day in and day out. i'm sick of it. the heart focused on Jesus wants more...the heart focused on Jesus is completely unsatisfied by the things of the world. but, completely filled by Him.

will i risk everything for Him? give up all my stuff for him? is that was Jesus is asking? what does that mean for a high school kid? do they have to give up their stuff for Him? is what Jesus tells the rich young guy for everyone? anyone? you? me?

how do we know? well, God speaks to us. just like in Scripture.

you might remember my blog last week on old war buddies. if you don't, scroll down and then come back and read this. well, God apparently knew all about that talk, too. check. this. out. there's this older guy i met last week. my best guess is that he's really close to being 90. just a guess. he reminds me of my popie in nashville. that's where my guess comes from. we talked about fishing. DUH. after that, we wrapped up the quick chat (because we're guys and quick chats are what we do best) and i walked away. as i was walking away, i couldn't help thinking about how the older gent hurt his leg. i didn't want to ask him how he hurt it because i didn't want to be awkward. i heard he was in the first world war and i've also heard that many who've experienced this have a tough time talking about it.

i went back and asked.

he started sharing his story. he was in snowy, germany during the war. he was just a boy with a gun. he said it was a cold that i haven't known. he went on to say he was walking through a field and stepped on 3 mines. wow. then He said something that i am still wrapping my brain around. he talked about how he was alone. after the blast, nobody in his squad was near him. he was in a hole. the enemy all around. not a friend in sight. his leg was in bad, bad shape. true story. then he said, "God came to me." i was like, "what?" again, he said, "God came to me." he talked about how God just showed up in that hole. wasn't an audible voice, but in the way that only our God can, told him that he knew he felt alone out here in a foreign land with no friends around. God told him that He was with him and that He would give him strength to make it through. "after that, i wasn't scared at all," he said. so what did he do? he climbed out of the hole and drug himself half a mile through the german winter until he found his commander. "i knew He was with me...He told me in that hole that we was."

HE SPEAKS. thus, we can know and understand His will for our lives. the Spirit can help us understand the Scripture and how to apply it to our lives. and that includes what Jesus told the rich young ruler.

truly, God is someone worth risking everything for. when we get close enough, we learn he is so worthy of our trust. more than anyone else.

we're going through all these questions tonight at 6:20pm. see you kiddos and parents there.

g

ps. secret song for today is mat kearney's first cd. the best. nothing left to lose. if you don't have it...go get it.