Kicking My Butt

I recently started reading a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan.



I know what you are thinking. "JJ this book came out like 2 years ago, why are you just now reading it?" Well, I'm sorry I have had other books to read and other things going on in my life! ha ha, but serious, started reading this book and I am maybe a 1/4 of the way through and already it is "kicking my butt" as this post is apply named.

Francis starts the book by just going through some simple reminders of who God is in this universe. Just simple (when I say simple here I mean common knowledge, learned this in VBS as a kid, not that God is simple and easily understood) but huge things that are so great about God and remind me of what I should be doing and that is worshiping an almighty God and glorifying him with every breath.

We question God so much when that is not our place. If we really believe that God is All Powerful, All Knowing, in all things, and of all things, why do we question Him on everything? If He is all of those things and you truly believe that then why when something like what happened in Japan happens to we immediately start questioning Him about it instead of praising Him? That sounds morbid doesn't it? but stick with me here. If God is all knowing, complete love, and complete justice, then do we not think He has a plan or purpose for that event or those people? The truth here is this, God is not a reactionary God. He has a plan and purpose. We continue to try to understand him by our view of justice and love when He is so far above us it is silly. So, in all things, praise Him. In life, death, tragedy, blessing, wealth, PRAISE HIM.

until next time,

JJ

I'm Back

So...

After a long "sabbatical" I am back and ready to blog again. :)

Things that have changed since the last post? WOW, where to start? nope, to much. why don't I just make this post a short and sweet one for now and just let you know what I have been up too lately. I have been learning how to be a good husband, a lot harder than you think. I love my wife and, God helper, she loves me too despite my absolute ridiculousness. The Lord is so good and faithful. He has been guiding us and opening up so many doors for us lately. I will clue you into all of that as we go. Other things, I have been gaming, playing disc golf with the Joe, playing bocce ball with the Joe, trying to spend time with the Cirlot, work 60ish hours a week, etc. Busy but unto the Lord so all is well. Let me leave you with this...

"I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." Galations 4:1-7 (ESV)

May we live our lives as heirs through God as we are called too!

until next time,

JJ

Childrens Stories?

Noah and at least 2 of every animal floated around on water for 40 days when the world was flooded...

Moses parted the Red Sea and then Israel walked across to the other side...

David threw a little rock at a big man and he fell down...

Jesus was born in a manger and was given gifts by three wise men and there were little sheep and cows around (we should do a yearly skit about that)...

It upsets me when I see what we have done to huge moments in history and more specifically what we have done to the mighty works of God.

Noah didnt just float around for 40 days. God poured out His wrath and killed EVERYONE and EVERYTHING except who and what was on the ark. That is NOT a cute little kids story and shouldnt be painted on nursery walls!

Moses didnt just part the red sea, for one God did and secondly God set them free from slavery. Trust me in that they didnt just walk to the other side. They were running from Pharaoh and his army, they were running for their LIVES.

David did sling a rock at a big man, and then cut off the mans head. how often do we tell that part of the story to the kids? God allowed David to stand up for an entire nation!!

Dont even really get me started on this one. Jesus was born in a manger but it was nothing like our stupid Christmas pageants!

Im sorry but why do we tell these stories the way we do? mainly tradition at this point i suppose, but i mean who first thought it was a good idea to put the worlds destruction (flood) on a nursery wall and to make it a cute kids story? dont get me wrong, i dont think we should scare children with bible stories but lets not make them something they are not, that is all im saying.

Instead of a Show BY: Jon Foreman

I hate all your show and pretense
The hypocrisy of your praise
The hypocrisy of your festivals
I hate all your show
Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stomp on my ears when you're singing 'em
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show

Your eyes are closed when you're praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
There's blood on your hands
You turned your back on the homeless
And the ones that don't fit in your plan
Quit playing religion games
There's blood on your hands

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

Let's argue this out
If your sins are blood red
Let's argue this out
You'll be one of the clouds
Let's argue this out
Quit fooling around
Give love to the ones who can't love at all
Give hope to the ones who got no hope at all
Stand up for the ones who can't stand at all, all
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

Hated Words

Ok, sorry it has been forever since I have written anything. my life has been crazy busy lately running between two jobs and moving into a house. so, I ask your forgiveness!

Alright, as many of you know I am a part time Youth Pastor now. It has already had its ups and downs, moments of frustration and excitement. Well, this week we are at Mission Fuge in Mobile, AL and the worship has been absolutely GREAT for me! something I have needed for a while.

The down side is this, I have discovered words that set me off faster than anything. Words that make me more angry than a lot of things. Twice this week we have been in Church group time and I'll be trying to get them quiet to listen to something I have to say and one of my kids will say, "hey guys quiet down and listen so we can get this over with!" I respond in a way I probably shouldnt, with sarcasm/anger, my response has been "YEAH guys, shut up and listen so we can get out of here because you are just going to forget what I have to say anyways because you dont want to be here!"

I am trying and trying my hardest to get these guys to understand what it is all about and it comes up void everytime it seems like. I understand that I havent been here long and I understand that they are young but something just feels wrong here. Most of them just openly sin like it doesnt mean anything at all and I just dont understand that. I brought them here to camp hoping that something might sink in and they just sit in worship and bible study staring at a wall barely listening.

Ok, God is good!! to you guys this will seem weird but the last paragraph was going to be the last one. I stepped away because a couple of my kids wanted to talk, they are thinking and praying seriously about going to Canada for the entire summer next year to do mission work. maybe the Lord is doing something here. I just needed to vent. sorry this blog is so random, haha. The Lord is Good! Psalm 67, Let ALL the peoples Praise HIM!!

My Ridiculous Family

ok, so i decided to share a family story with you guys. last year i was visiting my great aunt in Georgia. she is my mother's father's sister, so she is from my mother's ancestry. we were sitting around talking about random thing and my great aunt was telling us random stories and this one came along.

she told us all that back in the day my family owned Stone Mountain.


when my great aunt said those words we all thought she was crazy. but then the story was confirmed by other elders of my family. my mothers ancestors use to own Stone Mountain. we all asked the same question you are now asking, what happened? she responded, "they sold it to another family for a donkey, a donkey cart, and a bottle of whiskey." WHAT?!!

yes, yes that is a true story. my family was ridiculous enough to sell what would be a future national treasure for a donkey, a donkey cart, and a bottle of whiskey. ugh!!

Surely We Can Change

By: David Crowder

And the problem is this
We were bought with a kiss
But the cheek still turned
Even when it wasn’t hit

And I don’t know
What to do with a love like that
And I don’t know
How to be a love like that

When all the love in the world
Is right here among us
And hatred too
And so we must choose
What our hands will do

Where there is pain
Let there be grace
Where there is suffering
Bring serenity
For those afraid
Help them be brave
Where there is misery
Bring expectancy
And surely we can change
Surely we can change
Something

And the problem it seems
Is with you and me
Not the Love who came
To repair everything

And I don’t know
What to do with a love like that
And I don’t know
How to be a love like that

When all the love in the world
Is right here among us
And hatred too
And so we must choose
What our hands will do

Oh, the world’s about to change
The whole world’s about to change

The ridiculousness of life

hahaha.... ok, so... saturday night i am headed home late after hanging out with Joe K for awhile. it was wet and cold outside, it even snowed. well, i took a turn and apparently i took it to fast and i almost ended up in it nose first. thanks to my expert driving skills, i kept it from crashing but i did blow out my front driver's side tire and bend the rim, not fun. So, i am not able to make it to church sunday morning for my first official day as Youth Pastor. the church was very understanding and loving, so that was great.

the real adventure started today when i tried to find a new rim and tire. the first trick was trying to find a ride to go pick all this stuff up. it took me until 3:30 to be able to get on the road going to get stuff. the first place i went was to get the rim, it was called Mississippi Truck Dismantling. it was out in the woods and very very very redneck, i didnt know what to think. there were wrecked vehicles everywhere and parts everywhere. everything went well and i got the rim for a good price, so that was nice.

i went to the other side of the town to get a tire put on it. i was in the straight up ghetto, looking over my shoulder and all that kind of stuff. i went and told the guy what i had and what i need and he asked how i bent my rim. i started to tell him but he automatically assumed i was drunk driving. i told him otherwise but no matter what i had to say, in his mind i had to have been drunk driving. he finally got my stuff straightened out and i was on my way and got my truck rolling again.

it was a pretty adventurous day that i thought i would share with you guys, hehe

God is crazy good

ok, so God is crazy good. I have possibly the three coolest and nerdiest part time jobs someone like me could have. I am a part time manager at a Gamestop, i am a part time musician (i get to travel with an awesome band from time to time), and i just this past sunday got hired on as a part time youth pastor of a church here right out side of Clinton, MS.

I am super excited about this new position as Youth Pastor. i have been praying and praying that God would put in ministry some where. i have been looking since august last year and have been disappointed time and time again until finally God put me exactly where i need to be right when i need to be there. He is good even when im an idiot, haha.

If you would like to be praying for me in anyway, i am trying to get things rolling really quickly with this church. so, you could pray for wisdom and direction as i begin teaching these youth and working in this new church

An Update

ok, im sorry i have been a slacker (as John Michael so put it). my life as been so crazy busy recently but i will start making more time for blogging again because apparently some people actually read it, haha.

anyways, update on my life. Yesterday was my birthday and my friends are awesome! they threw me a little birthday surprise party at the amazing Waffle House, indeed a great idea. i will start traveling more with the band Burkhalter coming next month, i will blog about those gigs as they come. this Sunday a church about 15 minutes from Clinton will be voting on me as there Youth Pastor, so if you guys wanted to be praying for me in some way you could pray that the Lord's will be done in that. i am so ready to be in ministry and the kids at this church are awesome. i have been hanging out with them for a couple of weeks now and have already grown to love them and want to influence their lives. that's about it for right now but there will be more to come now that i have decided to stop being a blog slacker, haha

You ever have people come into your life and change everything? I feel like a lot of people have done that for me the past couple of years and it sometimes is frustrating and others incredible. I have had people come through and change my way of looking at things, my way of thinking on certain subjects, my way of pursuing, and so much more.

You are probably thinking, "JJ, you must be weak minded and/or easy swayed by those around you". Here is the "Beautiful Problem" (as i am calling it for this blog), i am normally one to be skeptical and test what everyone says. I am not one to just go with something because everyone is doing, and i am not one who believes something just because a person i look up to believes it.

Ok, now you think i am just rambling but here is my thoughts on all of that. When you are living in true God center community with someone where you are actually living life together, sharing ideas and such, is that not when you affect each others lives and those around you? Is that not what God is calling each and every one of us to? Life in community, God centered life changing community!! The past couple of years have been the most ridiculous and hard years of my life but i wouldnt do anything over (here comes the cheesy phrase) because God has used that to make me who i am currently.

We are not perfect creatures, not even close and that is why i challenge you to see how you are affecting those around you and most importantly how those around you are affecting you, because that is true biblical "church" and that is a true biblical lifestyle. If you are not being affected in some way then, are you truly living in God centered community?

The True Problem

Yesterday i had the privilege of playing music all day for the Mississippi Baptist Evangelism Conference. There were some really good guys who spoke and they did not hold back. One guy specifically made comment to something that i have often though about and it was good to know that some else thinks it as well, the comment was this (my version of it anyways);

We think the problem is that the world acts like the world when the true problem is that the Church is not acting like the Church. We say that America would be better if they put prayer back in schools. That is not the problem either because it is the home were prayer needs to be reinstated. Why would you expect a stranger who may or may not be a Christian to pray with your kids when you wont even do it yourself.

When families start acting like families who are in Love with a living God and the Church starts acting like the Bride of Christ and we start living lives worthy of the calling we have received. How amazing would the change in this world be, how far the Kingdom would be advanced, how much Love this world would see. But until that happens, America will continue to live in stagnate religion and will continue to hate the Church more and more. Why would you go live in community (biblical church) with people who do not Love, who are not different than this hurting world, who do not live out the message they sometimes claim?

Back Sliding? Losing Salvation? Never Had it?

There is some debate or "discussion" that surrounds Hebrews 6:4-8. So, I thought I would open it up for my second attempt at discussion on my blog here. Those of you who see this on Facebook and want to add to the discussion, jump over to my blog and join in, jjyount.blogspot.com.

This specific passage is sometimes used as a passage to support the theological thought that one can lose his/her Salvation. It has also been used to support the thought that one can "backslide", what ever that actually means. I will reserve my thoughts for the discuss so as to not lean it in any particular direction, just yet.

Here is the passage;

"For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned."

Hebrews 6:4-8

alright, What do you guys think? Back Sliding? Lose of Salvation? or Neither? what is the writer trying to say and what does he mean?

Save Me From Myself

Save Me From Myself
Jon Foreman

My mind is dull and shattered
From these years of buy and sell
My mind has seen the glory
Of this hollow, modern shell
Sex is a grand production
But I'm bored with that as well

Lord save me from myself

The electric sun keeps shining
Wrapping daughters in the chrome
This world is where I breathe
Let it never be called home
Well the vultures make the money
It's where my body fell

Lord save me from myself

The vultures make the money
But I'm bored with that as well

Christmas! YAY!!!

So, I have had this on going battle within myself over the past few years of my life around Christmas time. Some years I love lights and reindeer and others I hate the commercialization that has happened to the birth of Christ.

I do believe we have taken the whole Santa Claus thing WAY to far and have made Christmas out to be something that it is not, but at the same time, it is good to be joyful and merry and give gifts to others. something we should do more than just in December.

So what do I do here, I dont want to be an extremist because in most cause extremities are bad. I dont think it is a sin to have a Christmas tree and all that jazz but do we truly celebrate the birth of Christ our savior? Is your "holiday" joy really the joy of the Lord? or just joy because of the pretty lights and the giving and receiving of gifts? Are we truly thankful that the Lord of Lord's became human so that He could die and, most importantly, defeat death?!

To answer those questions honestly, well, let's just say that all to often I am not proud of what my honest answer would be. I get caught up in the consumerism and commercialism that America brings to my door step and very often have to be humbled by God.

All I am saying is, check your heart and see if your "holiday" joy is truly of the Lord or if it is a joy from worldly things.

The Gospel Pattern

“Think it out! The only way for Jesus to get us out of our spiritual poverty and into spiritual riches was to get out of his spiritual riches into spiritual poverty. This should now be the pattern of your life. Give your resources away and enter into need so that those in need will be resourced.”

- Timothy Keller, The Gospel and the Poor

We Went, We Saw, We Rocked!!

Burkhalter's "mini tour" went off without a hitch. We went to Cali and rocked out with some old and new friends. We traveled from Sacramento to Fresno playing 3 shows, all with in two days, not getting much sleep along the way but enjoying every minute of it. We met some interesting people along the way and caught up with some great friends. We were even fed Elk and it was AWESOME!!




Here to the right you see Burkhalter with the Mintons, Rebeca, and little Ms. Sabrina. It was great times that will not soon be forgotten. Darin Wong is one to be thanked greatly for his time, money, and strength that he gave to help us as we traveled from place to place.

Headed Out West

Well, i am currently in Sacramento, CA but i will be heading to Fresno later today, i just had to tell of my adventure last night getting here.

Ok, it started when I got my ticket and the person who had gotten my ticket put it under the name JJ Yount, I dont know if you know this or not, but they airport folks dont enjoy names on tickets and names on ID's not matching. So, the lady security gives me a hard time but lets me through but one of my traveling companions, Rusty, was not as lucky as I. They patted him down, checked his bags, and swabbed his shows and such, checking for any "explosive" chemicals and such. We eventually got to our gate, just as they were boarding, at which point my other traveling companion, John, decides he wants to go get some food before getting on the plan. Against much discouragement he went and got food, so i waiting on him. He got back just before they were closing the door to the plane so we just made it.

The flight it self was to Las Vegas and it was a fairly uneventful flight except one thing. The crew was very entertaining and i am probably going to be way out of line with this one. They were all male and completely feminine and absolutely absurd but made for some good stories. the funniest thing was when we landed we hear over the intercom, "aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, we've made it!", he goes through the usual landing info and then says, "be careful as you open your overhead bin because lets face it folks, shift happens!" say that out loud and imagine what is sounds like. that is only the tip of the iceberg of that crew, lol

We got to Vegas and got off the plane to be told that our next flight was delayed by and hour or two. after a long time in the airport, next to the slot machines, not joking, we boarded and headed to Sacramento. As we get in the air, for those of you who frequent planes you know the potential bumpiness of flight, well apparently the lady across the aile from us did not. every single time there was a "bump" or "shift" of the plane i heard, "OH S&*T!" The pilot told us as we flew that we were in for some bumps and turbulence. As we were landing it as a pretty bumpy decent and I hear, "Can he not just fly above or below this?!" as if the pilot can see the wind. There was several more four letter words said aloud and such but as we hit the run way this lady is braced, arms fully extended and clasping the seat in front of her and left leg up against the seat as well, say, "oh god! oh god! oh god!" the entire time. I am probably a jerk but by friends and i could not help but laugh the whole time, not aloud mind you just to each other, haha.

anyways, i just thought i would share some of the wonderful traveling events, haha

My heart shall rejoice in Your Salvation

Psalm 13

How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
And my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Discussion #1

Bryan Cirlot requested that we attempt a comment thread discussion so we will try to do this every once in awhile on here and on his blog. I'll let you guys know when we are talking on his blog. You guys are all free to join in and add your opinions, your thoughts, and applicable scripture. I will have a starting point and we can go from there as the conversation leads us.

Discussion attempt #1 - Devotion to Christ

Starting Point - Luke 14:26-27

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

Christ calls us to hate our family and our own lives and if we do not we cannot be His disciple; seems to be pretty clear here. but what about other times in the gospels when He calls us to Love our neighbors?

So, we are to hate our family but love our neighbors?