Not My Own

Life is full of frustrations, agony, and pain Life is confusing, distaining, full of failure with nothing to gain I strive, I yearn I fall, I learn So far from perfect, so far from pure On my own I search for some kind of cure The bitter agony of life churns inside Fear drives me to run, guilt causes me to hide Sick and screwed up indeed So deep in failure, I can’t fulfill my empty need What about the good things have I forgotten? Am I so distraught and rotten? What about all my accomplishments, joy, and love? What about these good things I have to be thankful of? I give to the needy! I try to help the poor! To feel better about who I am sometimes I give more These things make me feel good, I pat myself on the back But such things don’t sustain for long There is something  deeper I lack Helping to feed the hungry was a good start But I seemed to have forgotten about their empty heart I am so tainted, and so unclean None of these good things will ever be seen S

I walked around downtown San Diego not sure what to do. Andrew was at his neuro science conference and I decided to explore the city. I realized not much was open at 8am except maybe a coffee shop. After only finding an overly crowded Starbucks I changed my mind. What else should I do? I remembered it was Sunday! On vacation I tend to lose track of the day. Maybe I could go to church. However, I hadn't seen any church since I have been in the city. It's not like Nashville where there is a church on every corner. So I prayed, "God if you want me to go to church help me find one." I started walking again with no clue where I was going. I kept hearing in my head, "Go to the mall." I didn't want to go to the mall and HELLO... it was 8am on a Sunday surely it's not even open. I knew there was an outdoor mall downtown but wasn't sure where it was. Thinking I was crazy, I decided to find a local coffee shop and sit down to have my own church because God

"I finally get it Sam!" I heard a student say. "Get what?" I asked. "I finally get what it means to be a Christian because I heard it in a way that related to skateboarding." As a youth minister I have the blessed opportunity to work with a variety of students. Some are athletes, artists, dancers, singers, thespians, horseback riders, writers, readers, and some participate in band. The majority of these kids fit into church pretty well and are respected for using their gifts to help serve the church. But what about the skaters? How are they treated by the church? I think for the most part skaters are looked down upon. They are stereotyped as rebellious druggies who listen to evil music. Many people feel skaters turn to skating because they don't feel like they fit in anywhere else. But what would it look like if the church embraced skaters, admired their passion, and respected their talents? What would it look like if people stopped stereotyping