Eggs and teh Gifts of God

“Eggs and the Gifts of God”
KJ Stephen

I found a dozen eggs expired in my refrigerator. I decided to do some social experimentation. The instructions were as follows: They are your eggs; you can do whatever you want with them.

Subjects 1 and 2 - David Urrabazo and KJ Stephen
Discovered the eggs and I asked David would you like to throw these. David said 'yes' and so we did. David missed his target and I did hit my target.
Lesson - Those who discover the gifts are those who start a chain reaction. They are the first messengers. They could have easily kept them to themselves, but they chose to spread the joy. (Acts 1: 6-8)

Subjects 3 and 4 - Brian Rudolph and Andrew Nicholson
When asked to throw an egg they both responded. Brian took the egg with caution, examined it and decided not to do anything with it and gave it back. That egg then went to another person. Andrew took his egg and didn't throw immediately. After I left his room and was walking he threw the egg at his target.
Lesson - Some will take the gift of God and refuse to use and give it back, which the giver will then give to someone else who will use it, and take delight in it that the first person missed. Another will take his time, whether it be to develop the gift, or because they don't know what to do with it even though they were given clear instruction. (Matt. 25: 26-28, 21:43)

Subjects 5 and 6 - Brittany Miller and Rachel Snow
When asked to throw an egg both responded immediately. They asked where to throw and were answered with 'at anything you want, its your egg.' They then went into the yard and actually played with the eggs. They discussed together the different options and knew the instructions. Rachel decided, at the advice of Brittany to throw the egg up and to get out of the way. It was an aimless throw and cracked on the pavement. Brittany decided like most others to throw it at a tree and she got close to the tree, but did not take the time to aim and missed, her egg to crashed on the pavement. Afterward though they both laughed tremendously and had much joy.
Lesson - When gifts are discussed by a team in regards of how to use them it really brings joy. Yes, Brittany missed her target, but she still tried and still had a blast. Yes, Rachel's egg was a flop, but it was only one egg, one moment.

Subject 7 - Claire Bakker
I asked her in the middle of a phone conversation and she stopped her conversation, took the egg and asked directions. She chose to throw at the tree. She hit the branches and it broke. She was the only to hit the tree.
Lesson - I think when we stop what we're doing and move in accordance with God and His will for the gift (in this case I'm God.... haha) it brings a certain quality to the gift you would have other wise overlooked. For example: There are thousands of musicians in the world. Most of them do not use there music for God and its like their gift is being wasted... it is still being used, but its end is really sad.

Subject 8 - Briana Rutzen
I asked her and she said no. When even encouraged and explained she still would not throw the egg.
Lesson - Some people just will not open their hearts to the extreme oddity of God. Whether it be the more subtle gifts such as a word of wisdom or teaching, or the more extreme such as tongues, prophesy, and healing. Sometimes people just didn't accept Jesus, no questions asked.

Subject 9 - Sarah Lockette
Immediate response to directions. However, decided to throw it away from her house so that if the egg turned to be bad, the area would not smell. She threw completely aimlessly.
Lesson - Sometimes we fear that the gifts we've been given will lead somewhere not good, that if we use it and fail it will smell and linger for a long time, like an open wound. We fear failure. Well, eggs don't smell bad if you throw them outside. Rachel's egg is still on the pavement and no smell has been detected, (it is three days later).
Also, these gifts can sometimes lead us to using them out of season. We know we want to use them, but we get in such a hurry, we sometimes completely miss what God had a will for to happen.

Subject 10 - Jonathon Worth
Responded and quickly rushed out to throw it. Chose a tree and got very close to it. However, he did not take the time to aim and missed.
Lesson - It reminds me of the sons of thunder. They were so eager to move in power for the kingdom's sake, but they were moving in a spirit of vengeance. When we lack the focus and self-control and even the heart of God what even the Lord has given can be used for bad. (Luke 9: 54-56)

Synopsis
Eggs are like the gifts of God, each given with purpose and clear direction. What we do with them is our choice, whether we develop them, use them, don't use them; whether we use them for good or bad, it is our responsibility to use them for good. I believe our purpose on earth is expand the Kingdom of God. Like the stewards who were given money from their master, we too are held responsible for multiplying His possessions. If we just hold on to what He has given and never use it, whether because we were afraid or we didn't care or if we just didn't know how, we are still expected to do something.
However, God gives grace to the humble and to those who truly want His kingdom. The gifts of God are irrevocable, they will always be ours, but the opportunities are once in a life time and we have to seize them the moment they come. Gather ye' rose buds while ye' may, seize the day.

Thirteen Jews Walk Into a Bar - The Relevancy of the Gospel

A year ago I came up with a corny joke. "Thirteen Jews walk into a bar. What happens?" "Everyone gets saved." Its funny in that weird, stupid way. Well, when I moved up here to Morning Star this joke kept coming back to me. And the Lord told it to me one day and I answered and He said, "Exactly. They went to where the people were, the related the Gospel to their own time, to their own culture, and to their own ways."

At every conference or religious event I always see non-Jewish people wearing Jewish stuff. I saw this tent at a conference recently that was selling shofars, Jewish music, prayer shawls, and really ridiculous stuff. Not to say that the Jewish culture is ridiculous, but if you are not Jewish, then you shouldn't be masquerading yourself.

Religion isn't bad. Without some sense of organization we would not get anything done. Religion to me is this; how you do something. I tell jokes. How do I do that? I say really weird and abrupt things. To me, the way I tell jokes is a religion.

The same applies to the Gospel. If you go to an indigenous tribe on the Amazon and tell them, "Your God's little sheep." They won't know what you talking about, because they don't know what sheep are. You cannot tell them Christ is the Lion of Judah. They haven't seen a lion and they don't know who Judah is.

So how do you preach the Gospel to those who don't anything about the Bible? You find how Christ relates to them. It says in Colossians 1:17 that all things are in Christ.

So the lesson is kids, be who you are to who they are, and say what you need to say so they can understand it. Preach the Gospel and if you have to, use words.

Stuck... or Refusing to Move Forward... or Maybe I Just Like It Here

So... sometimes our callings, our destinies, our fates, our hopes, dreams, longings, heart's desires, get a little improperly categorized on the list of importants. I tried to have an interview with a guy about how he got into management and to see how I could begin to pursue that for my own life. What happened, instead, was that he was busy and then I was busy and I never returned a phone call and so a month has gone by without me even thinking about my vision.

It came to mind while thinking about finding myself a hobby. You see, even in the midst of living around roughly forty to fifty people you will always be bored without there being some kind of stimulus. When you are bored the only thing to do is think and I thought about how I need to occupy my time or else I will again suffer the curse of public school.

I first thought, "I'm just stuck." Well, if your stuck you cannot move at all, and you never even chose to be stuck. If you are stuck you put there by some outside force which then makes you wonder about your own freewill. When asked how he felt about fate Neo (from "The Matrix") responded, "I don't like the idea that I'm no in control of my own life." If your stuck then you were not strong enough to take care of yourself and if you cannot take care of yourself then you have to be under somebody elses power and control. That sucks so rethink about your circumstances.

...Or maybe I just like it here. Why would you like not having anything happen with your life. If you do I think its fear. Fear is an immobilizer. If something or someone can get you to afraid to do something that needs to be done for something else to happen then again your being controlled and you cannot take care of yourself. Fear is what keeps you stuck... sometimes. Sometimes its circumstances, however, you can avoid those too.

I think I was refusing to move forward. Maybe our accidents are our choices and maybe our position in life was given to use by ourselves and maybe we are our own fears, because we really suck at living. But how do we do "good" at living? Well, Jesus was given the best seat in heaven and He showed us how to live like Him... so maybe that's a good clue.

Anyway, second chances are around every corner. Maybe your second chance is another path. If the one path led you off a cliff why try that one again. Try something different, something new, something inspiring and innovative and creative.

I'll meet you there,
KJ

Relevancy of Your Vision

I think relevance of your vision to current times is a key to having your vision be effective. You can have a common goal related to something in the past, but it will never be the same, done the same, or look the same, but if acted out right it could have an even bigger impact.

For example: I want to manage and network churches into one Church so that as a unified “person” we can change the world for the better.

Here's my thought. The church in the first century, and in medieval times (at least in theory), was one. They had a system, a government, an organized way of doing things. Their place in history was ran by kingdoms. They had kings and queens and armies. If they had related the gospel to “Star Trek”, or even “The Lion King”, no one would have any clue to what they were talking about. Jesus himself related His own message to fishing and farming.

So... I want to make my vision relevant to today's world. Here's how I see it. The early church related the Kingdom of God to people with a kingdom mentality. Now, as part of the 21st century, the world is ran by businesses. The government is a business. I see the church today being ran like a business. This can be good or bad. I grew up with the mentality that if the church is ran like a business then it would have no heart and therefore have no true impact. However, Jesus called His world a kingdom. Adam called His world a garden. We call our world a business opportunity. The Roman Church ran the church like a kingdom, however, they ran it as a kingdom of this world fighting against flesh instead of principalities, thus defying the whole purpose of God coming to save people. They went too far. We can go too far. My goal is to do it right. (More on this another time.)

Relevancy of the Gospel is important. You cannot change people's hearts if you cannot change their minds. You cannot change their minds if they don't know what your talking about.

Until another,
KJ

You Don't Even Know Who You Are...

I think that our problems with identity start with not even knowing what we're entitled to. Jesus promised us riches in heaven. You settle for far less if you decide that you will be poor. You are more than you have become. You are more than you have decided to be.

I watched "The Lion King" today and I got to the part where Simba's past comes back to him. He spent years running away from something he couldn't change, but that he could overcome. Rafiki comes to him and tells Simba who he really is, the son of the king. He tells Simba who he is, but he denies it. He then tells Rafiki that he is confused.

"I'm not the one who is confused. You don't even know who you are."

And if we would just understand that the past does not decide who we are then we would be able to do so much more. God decided long before you even knew yourself that you would be royalty. You have the authority to do whatever you want.

Look higher. Your vision is too small if you think you are small.

Look up and out, not in and down.

KJ

New Blog...

I thought I would start a new blog, something with purpose. It seems that life, now taking place is South Carolina, has changed my vision of my life. Before the summer I believed I was supposed to go to California and just wing life. But now I have vision, goals, a reason, a purpose. Without vision we will die. Without any plan we will fall. We must mobilize in order to move forward, in order to evolve.

Experience the (r)evolution.

Your truly,
KJ