Strange.

This is a term used to describe followers of Jesus in the 1st century. People thought Jesus followers were strange because they didn’t do the things everyone else did. They didn’t engage in the crazy lifestyle they once participate in. And as a result, they got ripped on for it [1 Peter 4:3-4].

Here’s the strange thing. This Sunday I’m going to give a message on 1 Peter, and as a follower of Jesus my life doesn’t feel too strange. In fact, when I look at my life it is pretty normal compared to the way the rest of the people live. I mean, look at my house. It’s a pretty nice pad. I have never suffered or had to go without anything in my life. My family has two iPads, three iPhones, two kindles, a wii, two cars in the garage, and there’s always food on the table. Oh, and one more thing… we have a dog. A pretty awesome dog too, who’s kinda a designer dog even though he’s blind. Needless to say, my life is not strange. It’s pretty normal.

So where do I go from here? How do I transition my normal life towards a life that is more strange? A life that doesn’t make sense to the world? A life lived in such a way that causes people to think about Jesus.

Right now I’m being pretty convicted, and I’m pretty sure I need to make a drastic life change. But before I do that I can honestly say that for the past twenty years I have tried. I have tried to follow Jesus. I have tried to live faithfully. I’ve tried to be a good husband, dad, and pastor. I’ve tried to tell people about Jesus. I’ve tired to be faithful to the Bible when I’ve had an opportunity to preach. I’ve tried really hard. But somehow I think I’ve missed the point because for so long the point has been me and my happiness.

So, now I stand at a crossroads. I’m going to stand up on Sunday and encourage people to live a strange life. And you know what? The person who needs to hear this message the most is ME. My life needs to become a lot more strange [I almost put a little bit there].

Jesus, give me a holy passion. Change my priorities. Change my desires. I want to be more kingdom minded. I want to see people transformed by you! Make my life strange!

Every fall for the past ten years I’ve taken teenagers to this little camp in Hillsdale, MI for a Vineyard retreat called “Cloud 9”. There’s really nothing special about the camp. In fact the camp itself is a little old, and the food is well, camp food. I was a little mad this year that there was no bacon for breakfast! How can you have camp without bacon? And the camp is even on bacon road!

Ten years… that’s a lot of kids, and lots of drama, and a few problems. But all of that pales in comparison to the numerous Jesus encounters these teenagers had at cloud 9. Every year I’m amazed at how Jesus meets with these kids in a real and tangible way. Sometimes it’s during the worship. Sometimes it’s something the speaker said. Sometimes it’s during prayer. But regardless, it happens. As I’ve talked with these teenagers years after cloud 9 I’m always amazed when they say cloud 9 was spiritual milestone in their life.

And this year it was no different. Friday night the band cranked it up, and another cloud 9 retreat was kicked off, and throughout the weekend teenagers encountered Jesus and was changed by the good news of the gospel.

So, what makes this little camp so special, and why does Jesus show up year after year? In all honesty, there really isn’t a secret formula. We don’t try really hard for him to show up. All we do is leave space for him to work. That’s it. We lead some songs, teach for a little bit, and then get out of the way, and every year we are amazed.

I don’t know what’s going to happen to cloud 9. This may very well be the last year. Sure another retreat might spring up in its place. But regardless, the lesson I’ve learned from cloud 9 is to get out of the way and allow the Holy Spirit to work in kid’s lives. And when that happens, they are changed forever.

Thanks for a great 10 years cloud 9!