To Deny Yourself.

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus in a secular world, in both the broad sense and to you specifically? 

To be a follower of Jesus in a secular world is to literally follow his ways. Not in a nonchalant way, but with a sincere and genuine heart of why we follow him.  To make decisions that are Christlike. 

Living in this secular world, God calls us to be be different; to live outside of the norm. In order to follow Christ we need to step out of our comfort zone and do as he does. This doesn't mean to act as a crazy person, but that we might be viewed as different or crazy because the things that Christ does is unusual in this secular world. To be willing to sacrifice.

I believe that being a follower of Jesus in a secular world means to " deny themselves."
"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:34-35) 

A Follower of Jesus in the Secular World

Being a follower of Jesus is to be a Christian (by definition since Christian= follower of Christ) and to act the way and have the heart of Jesus. More specifically, like the game follow the leader. Jesus would be the very first leader and the leader of the whole world and universe, and all of us would be his followers, soon becoming leaders wherever and acting the same and going to where he would go. By leaders, I mean encouraging others to join the line of leaders and leading them closer to Christ. Acting the same, as in having the heart that Jesus has by genuinely loving others through him. And by go, I mean new experiences and places where you could reach out to people, not like literally going where he went. And of course doing all that Jesus did is nearly impossible, but I feel that all we could start off by being deeply rooted in God's love. If our hearts are deeply rooted in God's love, like Jesus', our actions will reflect what's in our hearts.  

       

My march with the cross

   The meaning of walking with God through this world is a painful one. You have to be ready to be criticized about what you believe in. Non-Christians will persecute but we must forgive. What this means to me personally is that I have to keep my heart close and my arm stuck out to filter the gunk in this world. Listen but take everything with a grain of salt or even the whole salt shaker.

Life with Jesus

To be a follower of Jesus in a broad sense is to follow in His footsteps. Live a life crucified with Christ, a life Jesus lived. It is easy to be a follower of Jesus at church or at a retreat or any place that feels spiritual or holy. But in a everyday environment, it is much harder. It is very hard to be the same person I am at church to my behaviors at school. So in a broad sense, live a life with Jesus. Personally for me, Jesus said in the Bible love others as yourself. So I follow Jesus by loving others. I try to love those who don't receive love from others, even though it is hard sometimes. Jesus loved on the people that people rejected, and I think God gave me a heart like that. I don't seem to be too interested in people who everyone already admires. But I tend have an interest in the people that are alone or are ridiculed. So loving people God wants to show love to is what I believe is my way of following Jesus.

Going the Extra Mile

In many ways during the internship, I learned that being Christian is hard, especially in the secular world that we live in. We can't just go about preaching the Word and spreading the Gospel out in the streets. Rather, we need to be living examples of Jesus wherever we go, however subtle it may be. Because Jesus has done so much for us, we can't help but to take on a little burden and work harder than other people when encountering the world. Our motivations and ultimate goal are different than those who don't follow Jesus and even our purpose in life is not the same. Following Jesus in this secular world means that in every situation possible, we can emulate Jesus in some sort of way. It means that wherever you are and whatever you do, you always have a constant reminder in your heart of why you do what you do, which is to serve the Lord and glorify His name.

Teamwork Works

Teamwork has proved to be very crucial in the act of being a missionary in the marketplace. What teammates do is motivate each other to get them to their full potential. It also serves as a partner to keep them accountable in the secular world that they live in. The projects this past week have proved a lot to us and shown us a lot of things about ourselves. With these, teamwork has proven to be a big part especially because most of us live in different places. Leadership has also been very important because certain people have needed to step up to really get the job done. Now, faith has also been important in that we had to trust God that everything was going to work out. 

Holding On

  You obviously can't live this world alone; you need companions to accompany you along the rough paths of life. Especially when trying to be missionaries in the marketplace, having people who are on the same page as you work with you and encourage you on can be a big boost to your confidence. If you are able to work cooperatively with people, then a synergistic effect can be produced and more can be achieved than if you were trying to go about alone in your works.
   This week's project taught me that everyone on a team, no matter if they have different positions and qualities, needs to be on the same page when regarding responsibilities and willingness. Everyone needs to lead themselves to really question what the purpose and goals of their missions are and fulfill their expected responsibilities in a team. Working in a team setting never ceases to challenge my faith and patience.

To Casper

How does your relationship with God shape your identity and passion?

For you, Joseph

How does trusting in God have to do with your identity and passion?

FT Interns only: Love Does (stuff)

Hopefully you have been keeping up with your Love Does reading every day of 10 pages (honor system) and have been enjoying the stories from Bob's life about the love of God that meets us and calls us to do stuff. The reason why we wanted you three to read Love Does was because I thought that it perfectly captured the simplicity of what we are trying to communicate as an organization. That us doing "stuff" shouldn't be limited to only when you leave the country for a formal mission trip,but that our Creator calls us to do love everyday in the same manner that we would if we were in Africa or India, and that this mindset should be carried on to the marketplace. So with that, continue reading, applying, processing the stories that you read about and how it connects to faith because we hope that you can use the stories for the Choong Hyun project, or during debrief.

Now enough yabblin, here's  the question that I promised, due Tuesday noon 12pm: (comment below)

What is it about Bob's stories that give us a clearer understanding of missions in the marketplace? (Or do they?)

Wanted: Children of God

A calling is something that you're "called" to do. Literally, God chooses things/passions for us to pursue. God said we were created in His image and thats why our identity and passions are that particular way. For example, he gives people the passion of basketball and that can be used as a medium to spread the love of God. I think my calling in a secular world is to be the light and simply said, it's shown through my actions.

1 Missed Call from God

    To me, a calling is pretty straight-forward; it literally means what it says. If you receive a phone call from someone, you're getting a "calling" from the caller since he/she wants you for some occasion. Likewise, God has a calling for each of us to come forth and serve His works in this world. It's as if Jesus is calling you on your phone and you have the choices of either to pick up the call or ignore it. A calling is a privilege; it's a way to figure out and make sense of how you are going to serve the Lord. Your calling in a way brings together your identity and passion in the sense that whatever you are called to do, it will define what your worth is and what you are ambitious about. Who you are and what you love to do encompass the meaning and purpose of a calling.
   To be honest, I am still on the journey of finding out what my true calling is. Through valuable experiences that I have had and will have, I'm hoping that God will instill in me the ability of discernment for my calling. Although I don't exactly know what my calling is yet, I'm trying to stay true to my words and be a person who is helpful and kind in the secular world. I believe that if I become an exemplary person, then my peers will acknowledge my faith more than if I were to be a hostile person. I try to display my faith through my actions.

Called to be children of Christ

The way I see calling is as simple as this: a pull/need towards a specific way of life. On Monday P. Paul and Ingrid discussed how we are called to walk as disciples and to make them, our identity is where we find worth and value, and our passion is what we are willing to suffer for and what we have suffered for. I am called to be a daughter of Christ, therefore my identity is known through this calling and my passion is discovered by my identity. 

My calling as a Christian in a secular world is to walk as a disciple and make them. In this secular world many are offended by Christians and their urge to convert others. I like to live out my calling by doing acts that are Christlike. 

Calling, Identity and Passion

A calling is our purpose in life, or our duty that is supposed to be fulfilled in our lives. A calling is used with our passions and out identities, we use our passions and identities to do what we are called to do. As Christians our calling is to make disciples wherever we go and to love God and others. Our identity as Christians and sons and daughters of Christ, helps us know our calling (as we read in the word of God for it). Our passions give us an opportunity to do so. There will be people in this world with the same passions (unless it's really weird and bizarre). You can meet new people from your passions and make disciples there.

As mentioned earlier our calling as Christians in the secular world is to make disciples wherever you go and to love God and others. I am living this out by trying to be loving and kind to everyone around me and to be positive in the most terrible circumstances, but hoping that someone sees that, not for attention or anything, like ooooohhh look at me , but that someone may see God's love through what i'm doing and become disciples by that.

The Calling in Identity and Passion

Calling is something like a job, or the purpose for what God gave an individual. Somewhere in Isaiah, God said that He gave Isaiah his calling before he was even born. This means that everyone has already has their calling given by God before s/he was born. With God, everything has a meaning, a purpose. Then the calling would be well- connecting with their identity and passion. God knows all, the identity and passion. So God would give their calling according to that. Personally for me, I think my calling is to egt personal with a friend and help them out. I made friends with a couple of kids a little younger than me, and they have a lot of brokenness in them. But God used me as a vessel to show His love. It was hard for me to relate with them, but God gave me a heart to reach out to them and guided me to say things that would comfort them in any way.

Your calling is what you are called to do by God. It is your workplace and your ministry. Our Identity gives us characteristics that help us be better at our calling than another job. Passion is related because you have to be willing to do your job and if you like doing your calling then it makes your calling easy to do. I feel like my calling is to go become an engineer. I want to show Christ to engineers or scientists who are usually atheists. In order to get there I have started to study the bible more and more ever since last year. Therefore by the time I am an engineer, I would be grounded into the rock of God so I can spread the word of God.

How to tell the difference between passion and identity

     Identity is one's appearance to themselves and others. Passion is what you love doing. These two ideas get very confused because identity does have an effect on what you love to do. However, passion is one's motivation to suffer for that thing. You can be emo but still have a passion for cats. You can be have a heart of a soldier and still love playing with legos. Though passions do change, are identity doesn't. Our Identity is something that should be held tight to only what God thinks of us and not the world.

Sorry for this being late. I was pretty busy yesterday.

Passion and Identity

To me, I sort of see passion and identity connecting to one another, but they are so different. They are both factors that make up up who we are. But I feel as if our identity is given to us from the beginning and that our passions are developed as we grow up. Like Pastor Paul said, as Christians we are sons and daughters of God and our passions are what we have suffered from and what we are willing to suffer for. Our identity (as sons and daughters of God)  seems like a permanent thing while our passions can change along the road.

Passion and Identity's Difference

Identity is what makes a person who they are. It is their individuality. It consists of their experience, their pain, their joy, their knowledge, and their passion. Passion is a part of one's identity. God gave each individual, each identity their own passion. Also from the orientation, Mark 1:11 was mentioned on how God called Jesus beloved and was pleased with him, before he even started the journey of showing God's glory. What God said to Jesus also applies to us. He is already well pleased with who we are. We are all born with worth, with value. This is our identity. We, as Christians, children of God, should have understood this truth. The passion that people have is for the people who don't understand this yet. The passion is a tool to help people understand their identity and God's love. God placed a passion in everyone, and some people share a common passion. God placed a certain passion so that the group of people with the same passion can socialize and relate. Then it would lead to getting close in relationship and sharing their beliefs and personal information about each other. Then it would be easier to share their story about Jesus. I think that God gave people passion so they can socialize with whoever needs Jesus with intensity because of that passion. The identity is the experience and knowledge a person has, and since everyone is different, their testimony would affect people differently. I kind of started to realize this by thinking of why people help out the homeless kids. Is it for charity, for the goodness of their heart? It is, but some people have a stronger desire, a passion for it , and therefore live for it.  So this is what I think of the difference between passion and identity. I hope this makes sense

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Why is it important to know who you are (identity) to discover your passion? 

Knowing who you are is a big factor on influencing your passion. When Elaine talked about her passion she mentioned how she got there. She knew that her heart was set on serving children and therefore that became her passion. If Elaine did not know who she was, I believe that she would not have found her passion. A persons identity becomes what they live for. If a persons identity is unknown, then they do not know what they are living for. However someones passion can also identify their identity. When someone does not know who they are they should look at what they value and find worth in. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Passion-Identity-Passion

To me, I think it is important to know your identity before your passion because you know the purpose that you're doing it for. When your identity is grounded and has no chance of wavering, it makes a person that much more confident and determined. That then translates into passion because no matter what your passion is, you're doing it diligently and happily. If your identity  is centered around God, then you use your passion for the sole purpose of God. This idea of passion also stems from what your identity is founded in. For example, if your identity is in being an athlete, I'm sure your passion is going to deal with some types of sports/exercise. All in all, identity deals with things that you find worth and value in and your passions will simply reflect that.

Discovery 101: Passion

As Pastor Paul said, identity is our worth and values. A passion is something that people deem worthwhile and valuable, which directly connects to the definition of passion. In order to discover what excites us and makes us passionate, we have to know and identify ourselves. Also, our identities can help to direct us what our passions and callings may be. For example, going back to Pastor Paul's sermon again, if we know in our hearts that our identities are to be sons/daughters of God, then we should strive towards achieving that. Because that's what we truly desire, we'll want to become passionate for that cause. True passions clearly bring out and emphasize stengths, which make up one's identity. If you know someone's passions, then you may as well be learning more about who he/she truly is.

Identity Bound by Actions

        Identity can be defined as who someone is. I believe that an individuals identity is found through their actions. Most of the time when someone lies they become a liar, difficult for others to trust, or when someone comforts they become the comforter that people goes to. In order to find my identity I can based it off of what I do and how I do it. Because I believe that acting upon God's commands is missions, these actions also reflect a person's identity. Without finding my identity in Christ it would have been impossible for me to do his mission. If my actions are not a part of his missions, then my identity is not found in him. 
        In the Great Commission it is mentioned that some worshiped while still yet others doubted. When I doubt I tend to lose hope and give up. God knows that and I believe that is why he said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” I have learned that trusting him in using me to carry out His mission has become a large and important factor of finding my identity. Because if I do not trust him how can I act for him?

Forming Identities

Identity is extremely important when dealing with missions and the Great Commission. Our identity must be found in Christ when we are doing missions because then there is nothing that  is actually being done. Like I said before, I've realized that when our center isn't Christ and our identity is found in these material things like grades, friends, etc. we essentially waste our lives. We are running a race that really never ends, but with God in our heart, we run a race where the finish line suddenly becomes clear.
The Great Commission is going out and sharing the Gospel. If Christ isn't our identity, what are we really sharing? If anything, we're sharing how great of a person we are and how much other people need to listen to us. That isn't the commission that Jesus called us to do. So we need to strive to keep Jesus as our center because in Him all perfect things are found.

Identifying Identity

   If you don't know yourself or you don't love yourself, serving others is impossible. The first step in pouring love on others is to acknowledge your self-worth and to respect yourself. Likewise, when spreading the Gospel in missions, if you do not know your identity, the purpose of missions is defeated. You have to know the fact that you are a firm believer who is out in this hectic world to spread the deeds of our Savior. You can't go about carrying out missions when you are lost in an identity crisis yourself. When serving, a clear, intentional mindset is essential and identity is an important factor of that mindset.
   The Great Commission tells us to spread the words of God and make disciples of all nations. To God, our identity doesn't matter because his love is unconditional; however, when we go forth to spread the Word, we need to constantly remind ourselves of who we are in the name of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, God's love reaches out to anyone and everyone regardless of identity, but once we are saved and acknowledge the Holy Spirit within us, we need to be aware of our identity as followers of Christ.

Mission: In Progress

Missions to me is anything where you are challenged regarding the gospel. It can be to the extent of going to a whole different country or even going to a whole different country or even going to school. You don't need to necessarily pay lots of money and help out African-American kids, but you need to try and spread the gospel. In reality, the most broken and hardened hearts are the ones here in the United States. Living in the States, they grow up with all these blessings like shelter, food, and water where it seems not necessary for God. Therefore, I think it is something that has a certain purpose. In this case, it would be spreading more of the gospel and developing our relationship with God more.
This idea of missions is extremely crucial because it is our duty to go and spread the Gospel. If we aren't willing to go and do this mission, who else will? As followers of Jesus, we should want and also see it as an act of obedience because there is nothing greater than doing what God tells us to do. Instead of saying that we need to take a plan and fly somewhere else so that it can be a legitimate mission trip, we should do with what we have. Our campuses, churches, and homes have many people filled with things like cynicism or depression. We must continue to love on people here or someone across the globe and make sure to share the Gospel with them because that is the true commission.

The Great Commission

Mathew 28:16-20 
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

What is missions to you?
Missions is to act upon what God has commanded. Obviously there is a lot that God has commanded us to do, but it all sums up to sharing the gospel and who Christ is with others. I chose to share the passage of the Great Commission because it clearly states what our "mission" is; to "go and make disciples of all nations." I believe that there is no better way to "make disciples" then to act out Christ. Whether I have coffee with a friend or serve my community, everyday is an opportunity to go out on a mission. 

Why is this idea of missions important to you as a follower of Jesus?
 I want Christ to be a big part of me and I believe that my actions reflect a big part of who I am, therefore, I need to act like him and obey him. When someone loves another they want to show it by doing things for them. Although I cannot directly do something for God ( such as bake a cake for him or by him a gift), I can show my love and respect through obeying him. However, God also calls me to love others as I love myself. Not only do I find the idea of missions important in showing my love for God, but also for others. To share with them something more precious than gold. 

Mission Possible

     When we encounter a great experience, we tend to want to share what we've gone through so that our audiences can get a piece of what we felt in hopes of them having the chance to do the same. To me, this vicarious experience is what missions is all about. By spreading the words of God to different sorts of people in different sorts of ways, meaningful messages of the Gospel can be shared. Whether the listener/recipient successfully takes on the Christian faith or not, the fact that good deeds were done in the name of Jesus Christ remains at the core of missions. Missions provide previously nonexistent opportunities and serve as the helping hand to people who are unconscious of the revelation that they need salvation.
      As a follower of Jesus, I believe that it is my duty to be a messenger of God through whom people can be saved. It's essential to be selfless and not hoard all of God's love to myself. Because the idea of missions is to share and spread, I must be mindful at all times that through acts like missions, I need to put my necessities below those of others and serve with a grateful heart. For if we believers who already have faith in the Lord don't act upon our callings, then who will?

About Trellis

trellis (n): A framework of light wooden or metal bars, chiefly used as a support for fruit trees or climbing plants.

Trellis Youth (n): a youth development ministry that uses the city and the wilderness as a classroom to provide a framework for training and releasing junior and senior high school students into Christ-centered, missional living.

What is Christian leadership for the next generation? How will the next generation of missionaries be influencing and shaping our world?

We believe that the next generation of Christian missionaries will be those who lead and excel in the marketplace. We exist to equip and inspire this emerging group of leaders.

Trellis is a youth leadership development ministry that uses the city and the wilderness as a classroom to train and release junior and senior high school students into Christ-centered missional living. We believe that the next generation of Christian missionaries will be those who lead and excel in the marketplace. We exist to equip and inspire this emerging group of leaders.

Trellis is calling the church to make the Gospel relevant, but not accommodating, to the challenges of the new generation. 75% of church-going high school students do not continue practicing their faith in college. The next group of church leaders, missionaries, and Kingdom servants is being lost. We feel that leadership development is a crucial part of discipleship as it was commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ, and that the health of the church and its continued growth depend on our ability to disciple young people effectively.

As we continue to look ahead to the needs of this generation, we are currently asking the Lord how we can effectively train and release the leaders of tomorrow today. We hope you can join us in our adventure!

For more information please visit: www.trellisyouth.org

Mission Statement: Equipping and releasing tomorrow’s leaders today

Our Vision: Seeing a new wave of young people inspired to change the world through the power of the Gospel