Luke Parrott

A Culture of Transparency

That's what this generation desires.  They long for transparency.  They long for vulnerability to be acceptable.  They want to be connected.  They want to be known.  They want to be real.  They can sniff out a facade pretty quickly. 

We live in a culture that continually moves towards openness.  Honesty is okay.  It's hard to hide your secrets.  As a new friend said yesterday, "They want to live within the question."  They are okay with paradoxes.  They don't need a pat answer to their problems.  They just want someone to listen.  To give an ear to their heartbeat.

They are tired of the manipulative messages in the media.  They are tired of scandals that happen behind close doors.  They are pursuing a culture of transparency.

And that's the kind of community we encourage here at Camp KIVU.  A place where kids can ask questions, wrestle with their faith, and ultimately discover truth. 

I wonder, are you creating a community around you that offers this freedom?  The freedom to search and ask scary questions.  The freedom to show your true self.  To let others see your ugliness.  To show that you really DON'T have it all together.  Because that's what this culture is ready to hear.

One Republic just released a new song titled, "Secrets", that echoes the voice of our culture today.  Check it out.

Getting Into Each Other's Skin

"Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy."  Matthew 5

Mercy is seeing the needs of those around us and actively getting involved.  It is more than just compassion or sympathy.  It is empathy met with action.  I heard it in a sermon referred to as 'getting into someone's skin'.  Seeing things from their vantage point.  Thinking like them.  Feeling like them.  Therein lies true mercy.

No one embodies mercy greater than what God did for us.  He got in our skin.  He walked as a human just like us.  He was 'tempted in every way' that we have faced. 

Jesus embodied mercy.

"...who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."  Philippians 2

"...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5

Have you ever thought about the wonder of these 2 simple passages?  When Jesus calls his followers to love as he did, to have mercy as he did, he meant it in just as extreme a manner.  That we would humble ourselves and not consider our positions as something to hold on to.  But to lower ourselves to the level of the one who needs mercy around us. 

To love them even when they are sinners.  To go to great lengths for them even BEFORE they have come to a place of desiring to repent and change their ways. 

Jesus was God in human skin.  He saw everything from our vantage point.  He saw our needs, had compassion, and actively helped...even to the point of death.

I wonder if we are willing to model this radical mercy today?  Or would we rather withhold mercy until those who have hurt us decide to come clean and change their ways. 

Had Jesus treated us this way, we would all still be in sin.

Exciting Week in Denver

We are here in Denver for a week of KIVU Previews, meetings, and visits with great friends.  I'm excited for a great week coming up. 

Here's a look at where you can find us if you're in Denver.

Monday Night---Andy, Tamara, and I will be at the Mueller's home for a Preview evening in Cherry Hills Village.  I will also be heading over to K-Life that night to speak to the high school group.  Can't wait to see them all!

Tuesday Night---Back at the K-Life House for Middle School.

Wednesday Night---We will be down in Highlands Ranch for another Preview evening hosted by the Crawford's.

Thursday Morning---Andy will be speaking at Valor High School.  The rest of the day we will be up in Boulder.

Thursday Evening---We will be in Boulder with the Dufficy family hosting a Preview Night.

Friday Morning---We will be joining a group that meets at Valor in the morning.

Then we will be on our way back to Durango!  We hope to catch you sometime if you are in the Denver area.  For those elsewhere, stay tuned as we are working on some traveling plans to Oklahoma in a few weeks.

Here's a Way to Live Out Isaiah 58:10

Isaiah 58:10 says, "spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed."

Andy Braner has posted all the details on his blog for our mission trip this March to the Philippines.

Click Here to Read More

Check out this great opportunity for you to serve the poor, see the world, and lock arms with a great ministry in southeast Asia that is bringing hope to a slum community.

Obsessed with Jesus, Chapter 8 "Crazy Love"

Francis Chan paints a pretty cold picture of the lukewarm follower in chapter 4.  Then he comes back in chapter 6 with the "obsessed" follower. 

Here's how he describes that person:

Obsessed people...

"love those who hate them and who can never love them back."

"care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress."

"live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another."

"will do things that don't always make sense in terms of success or wealth on this earth."

"know the sin of pride is always a battle."

"take joy in loving God by loving his people."

"are known as givers, not takers."

"orient their lives around eternity."

"are raw with God.  They don't attempt to mask the ugliness of their sins or failures."

"know that forty minutes on Sunday is not enough to sustain them for a whole week."

"is more concerned with character than comfort."

"revels in his role as child and friend of God."

All these points are pulled from examples in scripture and follow the life Jesus models to us all.  It may be overwhelming to read such a list and feel so small compared to what is laid out here.  But these are not so much standards as they are a portrait of the road traveled by those who follow Jesus.  These are many of the areas God is transforming inside of us to move us to live, move, walk, talk and act like we were created to be.   

This is what the narrow path looks like.  This is what the Jesus follower is after.  This is what he is caught up in.  This is the kingdom lifestyle he has called us to. 

It's a crazy love for Him.  And a crazy love for others. 

Now that can lead you to do some crazy, unconventional things!  Crazy is not common.  And his Kingdom is not of this world. 

So do something crazy today as you declare his Kingdom to a world that needs to hear of His crazy love.

KIVU Travels to Orlando, Denver

We're kicking off 2 weeks of KIVU travels.  Today we arrive in Orlando and visit a youth group on Sunday night.  We are also being hosted by Orlando K-Life on Tuesday evening.  After that, it's off to Denver for a Reunion Weekend with the KIVU staff and a packed week of Preview Nights and tons of meetings with great friends (October 19-23).  If you are in the area, give us a call and come hang out.

All Denver campers/friends, we will be at Wild Blue Coffee on Friday October 16th from 7-9pm.  Come connect with the KIVU family.  (Andy and Jamie Jo will be up with all the kids!)  There will also be live music from our local favorite, The Summer Coming, aka Scott Miller.  We can't wait to grab a cup of coffee and catch up with you!  All are welcome.

Who is the Gospel for?

The Gospel.  The Good News.

Is it for the downtrodden?  Is it for the broken hearted?  Is it for the overlooked?  Is it for the marginalized?

Is it for the failure?  Is it for the weak?  Is it for the powerless?  Is it for the oppressed?

The Gospel.  The Good News.

Can it come to the criminal?  Can it come to the murderer?  Can it come to the stealer?  Can it come to the liar?  Can it come to the cheater?  Is it for the immigrant?  Is it for the illegal alien?

Is it for the sex offender?  Is it for the homosexual?  Is it for the enemy?  Is it available to the one who broke your heart?  Is it available to the one who hates you? 

Who is the Gospel for?

Most of us would answer that question initially with a resounding, "YES!  It's for everyone!"  But often times these words don't match up with the disposition of our own heart.  The truth is that we have some one in our minds that we think should be rightfully positioned OUTSIDE the arms of the Gospel.

Perhaps a better question to ask is "Who is the Gospel NOT available to?"

It's a great question for us to address before we begin our day.  We can then move out from our homes and bring the Good News to the very one we desire to neglect.  

That is when the Gospel truly becomes Gospel.  Good News arrives when we thought everything was moving in the opposite direction.

The Sermon on the Mount is a Must Read

The message of the Sermon on the Mount never ceases to capture my imagination in amazing ways.  Two years ago we took the entire year to teach through the 3 chapters in Matthew to our Denver K-Life students.  Every time I revisit this section of scripture, I capture something fresh and new.  

"Blessed are" those you never would have thought to be blessed.  Jesus flips everything on its head.  He paints a picture of a broken world that needs fixing.  He addresses some of the greatest human pains and shows how to address that brokenness.  He announces a world where things return to the way they were created to be all along.  He takes down pride, power, and wealth.  He removes hate, lust, and injustice.  And he teaches humankind how to address this tension.

I am currently doing some devotional writings focused on the Gospels and the Sermon on the Mount.  My hope is to bring a small, simple resource to students that allows them to navigate their way through the life and message of Jesus.  Too often I hear students jump excitedly into studying or reading Revelation or one of Paul's letters to the very neglect of the Gospels.  When I ask them if they've spent time learning about the stories of Jesus and who it is they follow, I don't get much of a response.

So my hope is to foster encouragement towards this end.  That we might more regularly acquaint ourselves with the one whom we follow.  To spend time in the stories of Jesus found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  To discover the beauty of Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount.

If you haven't ventured down this path, I encourage you to pick up Matthew 5 and begin reading.  If you truly pause and reflect on Jesus' message, it could take you a week or two just to make it through the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12).  Each one is so rich with meaning if you allow yourself to be invited into the depth of each statement.

Can Loneliness Be a Good Thing?

Luke 5:16

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." 

That is what I was after today as I wandered up the road to Vallecito Creek and hiked 1 1/2 hours into the wilderness just to think, pray, and be.  The past 5 years of my life have been pretty hectic and for the first time in awhile I am in a season of rest.  It's been hard to stand the silence, I'll be honest.  But God has been teaching me this past month to turn moments of loneliness into solitude.  To allow him to enter these quieter days.  I never thought loneliness was a desirable state of being.  But it can be when we ask him not to remove those times, but to enter into them.  Then loneliness can offer intimacy.

I'm about to hit the road for some much anticipated KIVU traveling, but it has been a blessing to have time to withdrawal to lonely places and pray.  The wilderness helped Jesus do it. It has helped me as well.

Enjoy the pictures from my little Sunday escape.

 

  

  

Video Release Week: Agua de Lago and Swedish Zeppelin Airlines