Love with roots that go deep...

"In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)

So the following blog was actually the notes that I used for one of my chapel sermonets. It was was a great opportunity to speak openly kids about the realities that daunt us with our Christian walk. While I talked about the love that God calls us to have, I also talked about what being a Christian is often viewed as, while looking in the scriptures with what God intended our lives to look like. The following are a few of the responses I got when I asked the question,

"When I talk about Christians what is your initial preception/ response?"
(please take these as they are, they are the thoughts of some of my students and I believe as Christians we need hear others for who they are and what they think-even if we disagree)

-Accept the Unaccepted
-Christianity brings people together through God’s power
-Christianity is initially good
-There is a promise for life after death
-Christians try to fix others where it is not needed
-Intimidating
-Christianity has been misused
-Christians persecute others with good intentions
-It is a closed Religion
-Religion is hypocritical


We as Christians, have become identified as conservative, entrenched in our own thinking, antigay, anti-choice, angry, violent, illogical people who want to convert everyone, and generally cannot live peacefully with anyone who does not believe what they believe. Christians have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for.

So I have a question for us then… ‘Do those people, who are not Christian, feel un-liked because of what they do, how they look, or what they believe? --do they feel minimalized-- or worse yet demonized by those who love Jesus?

Let’s not candy coat Jesus--- Some Christians respond to outsiders by promoting a less offensive faith. With this often the unpopular parts of the Christian teachings are omitted or de-emphasized. We candy coat Jesus by portraying Him as an open-minded, big hearted, and “never offending anyone” moral teacher. The Truth is that this is a totally wrong picture of Jesus, while He acted in love and compassion He also taught many remarkably tough truthes about human beings and about sin. Revelation 19 talks about Jesus’s second coming as being glorious and dangerous; or when He is on earth when He opposed religious leaders and spoke bluntly about peoples spiritual practises--- through events like these we see the strong and righteous side of Jesus. Candy coating or reshaping the gospel is the wrong response to the objections people raise.

“For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

What God intended Christianity to look like

“Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul and with all of your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it; “Love your neighbour as yourself. All of the Law and Prophets hang on these commandments.” (Matthew 22:37 ff)

Men of the Law tried to trick Jesus (make Him slip up), But Jesus changes the rules of the Law, to the rules of love. The men knowledgeable in the law asked for the greatest commandment… but Jesus gave them both the first and second greatest commandment. Because He does this, it is important to view both of these commandments and take them to heart.

It is so important to be a faith servant to God, in prayer, fellowship, reading of the Bible, and serving others. If we sincerely love God with all our hearts, our outward actions will portray the love we have for Him.

The second greatest commandment is, love thy neighbour as yourself.
We need to the love the way Jesus loved

The Bible says, “there is no greater love than this, to lay down your life for your friend.” (Does this mean death, or giving ourselves in service to others)What does this look like---we need to fight for the weak---to defend them-- let’s not highlight the bad but look for good-- lets go out of our way to love those who are unlovable.

-It is not something we should do, it is something we need to do. I guarantee you that there are people in our community, even in our closest circles who are hurting.

-It is easy to love people from far away.

-We need to become people who serve one another. Jesus said if you want to become the greatest, than become the servant of all.

-We all need to love more-- because the fact is we don’t love like Jesus. Jesus cares about our relationship with Him, but He also cares about those who don’t know Him. Our greatest strength to showing others Christ, is our love.

-If the world saw Christians how we are suppose to be (love God and love others) How different would our world be?

I pray that you would take these words, be challenged and do not become hard-hearted. Lets come together as the body that Christ intended us to be. Lets turn our eyes upon God, give up our wants and our needs, and learn to glorify Him through the love that He calls us to bare.

With a heart for Gods Kingdom to come
Ben

Baby Don't Hurt me....

What is Love--- Baby don’t hurt me

Luke 10:26-28.....26 what is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" 27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[a]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b]" 28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

In the summer of 2007, I had just bought a 2003, burgundy, fully loaded Alero. This car was beautiful, sporty and cheap on gas. On summers day after work I went to Canadian Tire to fill up with gas. While I was at the pump this bruised and battered aboriginal man came up to me and asked for a ride. Looking at his appearance I turned him down and said that I wouldn’t be able to give him a ride. As I went into the gas bar to pay for my gas and get a refreshing drink, I had this overwhelming urge to go back to the man and tell him that I would drive him where he needed to go. I had this peaceful sense that nothing would go wrong and I knew that God was with me right then and there. I asked the man where he needed me to drive him; it just happened that he was headed in the opposite direction than I was presently going. With out saying a word I got in the car and started to drive. I asked him time and time again, where do you want me to drop you off, and continuously he told me “where ever”. I thought this to be strange but continued driving. Conversation soon began and as we talked the topic of what I did sprang up. I explained that I was College Student pursing a degree in youth ministry. That’s when God took over. He had question about question that challenged me and forced me to speak honestly and truthfully about my faith in Christ. I explained how I believed God did not segregate colors of skin, but we in our sinful nature as humans have placed each other in classifications of social standards; further explaining how God see’s each person native, white, black or Latino with the same love and desperation. This mans total body posture changed from the beginning to the end of the conversation. He seemed receptive. When I dropped him off I gave him five dollars and wished him luck. As a tear trickled down his cheek he closed the car door and gently placed his hand on my window. It felt like a cheesy commercial, but I placed my hand on the glass and watched him walk away. As I drove away I got three blocks, and was stopped at a red light pondering what had just happened. Before I knew it I was in a four car pile up. The end car failed to stop ramming into a van throwing it into me, and I was pushed into another vehicle. Sadly three of the four cars were totaled off (including mine). But I was able to go about speaking to those involved with a sense of compassion and love and instant forgiveness. Little did I know, that not only was the conversation a blessing to me, but also the accident. God blessed me with more money from my accident than what I had put into buying my car. I then had enough money to go school in the fall with little to no debt at all. God is good and is In control.

Why we hesitate to love others
1. We are busy
2. We are afraid
3. We are indifferent (its not my problem)
4. Who is my neighbor (try to justify it)

Love is an action
It is a gift
It requires us to give all not just a little bit.
God GAVE His only son… which is the ultimate act of love! (John 3:16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.)

1John 3:16-18

“This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and see’s his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in Him. Dear, children let us not love with words or in tongues but with actions and truth.”

B-

Recognising our Worth In Christ

My Dearest Friends Family and Anyone else stalking this blog site: I stumbled upon a devotional today, (My Birthday) and it has spoken alot to where I find myself during this internship. I don't know why or how I obtained this mispreception of myself but I feel this pressure to be someone else, to strive for more and more and yet I still feel worthless, and question, 'Why in the world would the God of all creation want to use me to do anything good for His name, and is that even possible?' Now please as I write all of this down, I do not want people feeling "sorry for me" or even commenting on how I may be good person; thats not what Im looking for.... these are jsut my thoughts and feelings down on paper, so those closest to me may be able to see where and what I am rejoicing with as well as struggling with. My heart is to see us all overcome our own "demons" if you will; to fight in an upright manner for those things that hold a grasp on ourlives.

So like previously stated, I was thinking, 'Jesus why me? What do I have to offer?' And you know in many ways I answered my own question. I have nothing to offer, and never will except for what God has given me. In and through Him I will serve and He will be glorified.Now this is hard for me to understand fully but I am beginning to understand more and more. For example.... If I am so concerned with what God's call is for me in my life, I may be distracted in trying to figure these things out and totally 'forget' about God. While this may seem drastic and over the top.... "How can you forget about God?" Let me tell you, all to often I .... maybe not forget, but bypass God and dont recognise what He is calling me to in the HERE AND NOW. So as I said at the very beginning of this blog, I found a devotion that I think is amazingly pertinent to my life and others, so being the good friend that I am I decided to attach it.

May you all know that I love you, and thinking about many of you. Please dont feel a need to be a stranger! My heart is yearning for many of you, adn I am excited to see what God has instore for you and us as a unified church.

"Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.’ And they left their nets at once and followed him.”—Matthew 4:19-20

If you were a race car driver, you would choose the fastest car. If you were a chef, you would choose the finest ingredients. If you were a jockey, you would want the strongest horse. If you were an athlete, you would want the best equipment. If you were a CEO, you would want the most qualified staff. If you were Jesus, you would want the weak and dependent?

What if I was to tell you that the Lord starts with the “B Team”? In fact, when Jesus picked his team (known as the 12 disciples), he actually picked those who had been glossed over by other rabbis and been left as fishermen. There was nothing special about the men. They were everyday, ordinary people. Jesus could have gone to the temples and chosen those who had memorized the Torah. He could have recruited men of influence and good standing. He could have chosen those who were popular or wealthy. Instead, he took the least of these. He looked past the most obvious apprentices, approached some fishermen and simply said, “Follow me.” They did.

The appendix in my Bible lists some of the characteristics of the first disciples. Perhaps you can relate to a few of them: treacherous, greedy, doubtful, despised, judgmental, short-tempered, impulsive. These were people who struggled with imperfections. One reason they all stood out was that they were willing to leave everything to follow Jesus. They were willing to leave everything behind to follow the Way, the Truth and the Life.

What about you? Are you still waiting to make yourself perfect before you try to really follow Jesus? Or, are you ready to see that God has picked you for His team? As much as you may have feared that you might be picked last, He picked you first. Why? He believes in you. He knows what you can do through Him and for Him. It is when you are willing to sit humbly at His feet and acknowledge your need for Him that God will show you great strength found in Him. He will make you fishers of men.

Knee Deep in Prayer

Hello to the world of internet users!

I hope and pray that all is going well for you wherever you may be; and I hope that you are coming to know, understand and experience the surpassing love our Father has for each of us. He will never leave us, nor forsake us. God is good Amen?

Well let me spill a little about what is going on in my life. As I said last time I am heading up the Luther Peer Support program and Christian club while at the same time I have had the opportunity to speak in the chapel services at the school. This past time I spoke about the love the Lord intended us to have and how we have distorted that perfect image. I talked about how love doesn't give just a little but rather it gives everything. My hope for Luther is that we as body of students, young adults as well older maturer adults may be able to join together in an uproar of transformation from contentment to extraordinary.

As I am typing these words its difficult to describe the rush of emotions; both excitement and heartache that I am experiencing with this school, particularly today. It was unlike any other day; I got to the high school around 8:30 am and proceeded in my morning bible study. I did some photo copying and thought nothing of what was to come next. I met a young grade 11 student in the morning who I was accompanying for music during chapel; after singing through the chosen song a few times we began to make our way down to the chapel. As students filed in and me and this student said a prayer to calm our nerves the unthinkable happened. Out of the blew a former student, who had been expelled the year prior, came rushing into the gymnasium waving a gun around and threatening all those who came near. He was very aggressive in his speech and only fool couldn't tell that this kid is and was hurting. After demanding one of the teachers to read a letter aloud, the school began to realize what was actually happening; we had become hostages within our own walls. It is without doubt that God had his hand in this place, my prayers are that the students will not come to blame God but will rather give Him the praise He deserves for protecting everyone. Needless to say the gunman was "captured" and every student and teacher made it out of the building safely, with nothing but the shakes and some traumatizing memories.

So please, I beg you, everyone reading this take a few minutes to pray specifically for the following:
1. That God would take this uneventful situation and use it to glorify Him, and to bring students to their knees in a humble dependence on God. Recognizing that we are unable to provide for ourselves.
2. That God would will it in the hearts of these students to forgive the young man who decided to put the well-being of others on the line.
3.That this young man would come to know the love of God, and find peace in Him and Him alone. May he burn his bridges and start a new. Would God show His grace and Mercy to this young man and would he be captivated by our loving Father.

As my computer dies, let me remind you with these thoughts. God loves us so desperately, there is nothing more that He wants then for us to humbling come before His throne in boldness and humble dependence. God is good, not just sometimes but ALL the time. Please continue to pray for me, for strength and wisdom, humility and joy in this journey I seem to be walking. I Him I will find my strength.

With much love and a anticipated heart,
Rockin the West Coast
Ben Raine

Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Getting Started

As many of you already know, or are about to find out, I Benjamin James Raine am not attending Briercrest College and Seminary for the Fall semester of 2008. Shocking!!! I Know! Actually I am currently working on my internship at Luther College High School in Regina Saskatchewan, as a eclectic mixture or peer support coordinator, christian club leader as well as intern chaplain. The school is a private Christian school which is host to a number of international students who come from 18 different countries around the world. While this internship gets my heart racing and I feel like God has led me into the position I am currently in, it does not pass by without challenges and hardships. I know already, in my two short weeks of being at the school that God has big plans for many of the kids passing by through the halls. But I question and wonder... why me God? I'm incapable of doing anything good, I am sinful and am breaking constantly. But I have discovered that is the beauty with God. When we are broken, weak, and feeling like we can't go on any further thats when we finally release the binds on our own lives and allow God to do the work that He has planned. Its hard to wrap our minds around God and His plans, but ultimately when I am weak, He is strong. And my own independence on myself (my abilities) and in the things of the world is my own demise. When I let go and allow God, life glorious and I wonder.... Why do I continue to strive to think that I am capable of providing for myself things which are long lasting?

Anyways, all this is besides the point (sometimes I just get rambling...sorry!) As for the school if you all who are reading could be praying for God's glory to be revealed, and for young men and women to rise up in their faith and be spiritual leaders who want to strive to live a transparent Christian life. Pray that God would continually place the words on my lips that both the teachers, students and myself need to hear; that I would be equipped to live a life glorifying to God through the strength, passion and ability to serve the needy, lost and lonely He has placed in my life. And please pray that my human pride would not interfere the work that God has in the lives of His children. I thank-you all from the deepest pit of my heart-- all you are in my prayers

From the Baren land of Southern Saskatchewan
Ben