No "I" in Church

There is no “I” in “Church”

I love video games. When N64 just came out (you probably don’t remember this) one of the hottest games was Goldeneye. My friends and I would play it for hours... it was the most fun when you were maxed out with 4 people playing at the same time, but it wasn’t always easy to find 3 other people who knew how to play, so we’d recruit new people who weren’t any good. “Noobs” if you will.

One of our friends, Brad, was an uber-noob. He was bad. He really sucked. He got so frustrated because when we’d play, he’d be in last place every time. Poor Brad. And if that wasn’t enough, we’d tease him about how bad he was, and intentionally try to make him do terrible. Poor, poor Brad. Brad got sick of this abuse and quit playing with us.

Ever feel like you’re not needed? Like if you disappeared, nothing would change? Part of life is figuring out who you are and where you fit in, what your purpose in life is. The Bible talks about how all kinds of different people are needed in the church:

1Cor. 12:12-22

The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. Suppose a foot says, "I'm not a hand, and so I'm not part of the body." Wouldn't the foot still belong to the body? Or suppose an ear says, "I'm not an eye, and so I'm not part of the body." Wouldn't the ear still belong to the body? If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn't hear a thing. And if they were only an ear, we couldn't smell a thing. But God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best.

A body isn't really a body, unless there is more than one part. It takes many parts to make a single body. That's why the eyes cannot say they don't need the hands. That's also why the head cannot say it doesn't need the feet. In fact, we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest.

I’ve often wished that I was more talented. How many times did I want to be the funniest guy in class or the best looking guy in school? Even though we can change our behaviour, we can’t change who we are. God gives us gifts that we need to use to honor him. If we don’t use these gifts, we feel useless. Part of belonging is being useful, and each of us can be useful if we follow God’s way, not our own.

Be useful. Get involved! The things you’re good at? They’re not just for you to solely enjoy or hide away because you’re embarrassed, unsure, selfish, etc. God gave them to you so you can give them back to Him. Find out what your spiritual gifts are and use them to glorify God and help others.

Pregnant Wife Quote of the Week

Jessica: "Greg, pass me that box of chocolate bars."

Where Do I Belong?

Have you ever been somewhere and not known anybody? My wife asked me to tag along to one of her work friends’ weddings. I didn’t know a soul, and she just bought a new camera and was taking oodles of pictures of the happy couple, while I just sat at my table alone. I tried striking up conversation with people around the table, but they were more interested in talking with each other than getting to know “Jessica’s husband.” There are a few things that can suck the life out of you, and feeling like you don’t fit in is definitely one of them.

Gen 2:18a The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”

Now this isn’t just in the Bible, it’s a very important “first”. This is the first thing that God says is wrong with His creation. It’s not good for the man to be alone. Adam was created first, and he was by himself, and it wasn’t good, so God gave him someone to spend his life with. God said “It is not good for the man to be alone” way back then, and things haven’t changed. It still is not good for us to be alone.

Loneliness has different faces: You can be in a group full of people you don’t know, or at home by yourself, you can be alone because no one knows how tough your life is, or you can be alone because no one can relate to your good looks. No matter what it is, it isn’t good. So what do we do if we are lonely? Maybe a better question is “how do we help people who feel alone?”

First off, I don’t think there is any “quick cure” to this problem, and I don’t want to sound like I can make everything and solve this problem right now, but I do want to offer you my advice:

Jesus didn’t avoid these lonely people, the outcasts, the misfits, and we shouldn’t avoid these people either! Being a Christian means being part of the answer to the question, “Where do I belong?” I know not all Christians have it down, but we aim to be people who accept people for who they are and love them just like Jesus loved them. The Church is God’s answer for the loneliness problem, and that is why we are all here. The Church promises a place for everyone to belong, no matter who we are or what we’ve done. In the same way, camp is a place to belong, a place to figure things out and a place to serve. We’re here because we’ve found some good news and want to share it! This is our camp, our place to belong and anyone is welcome. Through this, we bring glory to God and honor Him.

Welcome Back!

So, I totally forgot to say that I was on vacation for the last week and a bit. Let me tell you, Mexico is awesome, and if you ever get the chance to go... do it.

Anyhow, I'll post some ridiculously deep thoughts tomorrow... I gotta get ready for our annual meeting tonight!

Video of the Week

Here's the "Best Of" Stymie video that we played at the Fall Banquet. Enjoy!

link disclaimer: RLBC is not associated/affiliated with any content on YouTube other than its own.

New Director!

Wednesday is Paul's last day on staff at Ranger (*sob*), but his position is not remaining empty. At our Fall Banquet on Saturday we announced that Dave Thiessen accepted the Executive Director position and starts full time in January. You may know Dave as the guy who is always shooting guns, lighting fireworks, helping in the kitchen and kissing the head cook (don't worry, Jan's his wife)!

John, the Ranger board, and I are absolutely pumped to have the Thiessens officially joining our staff team and look forward to many amazing years to come!

Cravings Question Of The Day

What Halloween candy do you crave the most?

Soul Cravings

My wife Jessica is pregnant. Really pregnant. One thing that always amazes me is how her desire for food changes when she is pregnant. She can't snack enough, she can't eat B-B-Q sauce, our Halloween candy supply is almost gone before Oct. 31st (I'll take partial responsibility for that one) and chocolate milk reigns supreme. We used to only get a litre or two of the stuff every few months or so as a treat, but we've gone through 8 litres in the last month. Whenever she's enjoying a glass of chocolate milk, she usually tells me, "I can never get enough!"

Food is a very common craving, but there are also other, "deeper" things we crave:
-Intimacy -- belonging to a group, having close friends, getting married, and having someone that you can trust with your secrets.
-Meaning -- knowing that you matter and that you are making a difference in the world
-Destiny -- wondering what will come of your life and where you are headed

It's normal to crave these things because God built them into our very being. We crave these things because we are incomplete. We need answers.

God's the One with the answers. He's the only One that can satisfy these cravings. He is the One that completes us. It's only when we learn to live life for God and as He intended it to be lived that we can discover true fulfillment.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will blog about these "Soul Cravings", based on the book of the same name by Erwin McManus.

The Silence Ends!

Alright, I realize that I was less than diligent in keeping this blog up to date, so today, the madness ends! (or begins, depending on your angle.) Let's start this one off with a poll:

Paintball & Riding Camp Video

This was our first year running this camp, and it was a smashing success. After long, long last, I've finally finished this video. Sorry for the wait!

link disclaimer: RLBC is not associated/affiliated with any content on YouTube other than its own.