Jason Vana: Becoming a Better Man

Greater Than You Know →

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<p><a href=”http://www.igniteyourcampus.com/greater-than-you-know”><img alt=”Photo Credit: Flickr User kelsey_lovefusionphoto (Creative Commons)” class=”size-full wp-image-4605” height=”335” src=”http://www.jasonvana.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/impact_blog.jpg” width=”580” /></a><br />Photo Credit: Flickr User <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/supersonicphotos/4154108514/” target=”_blank”>kelsey_lovefusionphoto</a>(Creative Commons)</p>

<p>It’s difficult for us to see the impact we have on people’s lives.</p>

<p>Sure, there are those we can easily point to and see the impact we’ve made.</p>

<p>The friend who came to Christ after your conversation.<br />The coworker who is now going to church because you invited him.<br />The young person who is beginning to like how God created them because of your mentoring.</p>

<p>Those are easy to see. We can point to the fruit in their lives and know the difference we’ve made.</p>

<p>But what about the people we pour into once or twice and don’t see again?<br />What about the friends who don’t change right away?</p>

<p>That impact is much more difficult to see.<br />But it doesn’t mean an impact wasn’t made.</p>

<p><a href=”http://www.igniteyourcampus.com/greater-than-you-know” target=”_blank”>Continue Reading…</a></p>

Greater Than You Know →

Photo Credit: Flickr User kelsey_lovefusionphoto(Creative Commons)

It’s difficult for us to see the impact we have on people’s lives.

Sure, there are those we can easily point to and see the impact we’ve made.

The friend who came to Christ after your conversation.
The coworker who is now going to church because you invited him.
The young person who is beginning to like how God created them because of your mentoring.

Those are easy to see. We can point to the fruit in their lives and know the difference we’ve made.

But what about the people we pour into once or twice and don’t see again?
What about the friends who don’t change right away?

That impact is much more difficult to see.
But it doesn’t mean an impact wasn’t made.

Continue Reading…

Brokenness Redeemed →

Photo Credit: iStockPhoto.com

We’re all broken. We all have flaws. We all know those places in our lives we’d rather forget.

The recurring sin we can’t seem to break.
The heartbreak we endured at the hand of a friend.
The nagging insecurity, fear, or doubt.
The deep, dark secret we’re convinced no one could handle knowing about.
The broken relationship, broken dream, broken hope.

We’re all flawed, broken, and riddled with scars.
It’s part of the human experience.

It can be easy to look at our brokenness and feel disqualified to do, well, anything. We think if people know how we were broken, if they knew our flaws, if they knew the areas we continue to stumble in, they wouldn’t trust us. Or like us. Or allow us to speak into their lives.

So we hide our faults.
Bury our shame.
And convince ourselves we’ve messed up too much to be of any value to the kingdom of God.

Read more and join the conversation!

New Creations →

Photo Credit: David Goehring (Creative Commons)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
2 Corinthians 5:17

Each new year brings with it the idea of a new start.

It’s why we make resolutions, look forward to the new year, and celebrate its arrival.

The new year brings hope.
Renewal of dreams.
The promise that things can be different. Better.

It doesn’t matter what happened the year before, the mistakes we made, the relationships we gave up on, the sins we committed.

The new year is a clean slate.
A do-over.

The same is true when we come to Christ.

Read more and join the conversation!

Advent Deeper: Picked Out →

“When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.” Luke 1:57-58

Joy. It’s found throughout the Christmas story.

Angels proclaimed good news of great joy.
Mary experienced joy at the pronouncement of her conception.
Anna and Simeon encountered joy as they held the long-awaited Messiah.
Shepherds and Magi and the faithful few of Israel received joy upon knowing their Savior was born.

But none was as powerful as the joy experienced by Zechariah and Elizabeth.

Scripture tells us Zechariah and Elizabeth were upright in the eyes of the Lord, obeyed every commandment, every regulation blamelessly. They were descendants of Aaron, meaning Zechariah was a priest and Elizabeth in the bloodline of the priesthood. They were holy, set apart to do the work of the Lord.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were as faithful as they come. They did everything God asked, sought His face regularly, and pointed others to the truth of the God of Israel. But there was one problem:

They were barren.
And well along in years.

Zechariah and Elizabeth would have watched as those less faithful, those less obedient, those who gave no mind to the things of God received what they wanted: a child.

They would have fasted.
Prayed.
Cried out.
Sought counsel.
And wondered why what came easy for others, wouldn’t even happen for them through prayer, tears, and obedience.

It would have been easy for them to feel picked-on by God.

They did everything right. Made the appropriate sacrifices. Gave the correct tithe. Put Him as top priority in their lives.

And yet, nothing.
For decades.

God was distant, ignoring their prayers, and picking on them. 

Read more and join the conversation!

Be the Change →

Photo Credit: Matthew Fern (Creative Commons)

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
1 Corinthians 12:27

It can be easy at times to point out the flaws in our church or ministry group.
It’s not too difficult to realize something is broken.

Attend a single church for long enough, be a part of a small group or college ministry, and you’re bound to find areas that need improvement.

Worship isn’t as passionate as it could be.
The discussions aren’t as lively.
The preaching isn’t as powerful.
The community isn’t as welcoming.
Offering could be done differently.
Followup with new believers could be better.
Inviting others to come could be built up more.
Prayer isn’t as powerful, outreach not working, and the giving - the giving is never where it could be.

All of us could easily point out something we’d like to see changed.
But most of us don’t want to do anything about it.

Read more and join the conversation!

Be the Change →

Photo Credit: Matthew Fern (Creative Commons)

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
1 Corinthians 12:27

It can be easy at times to point out the flaws in our church or ministry group.
It’s not too difficult to realize something is broken.

Attend a single church for long enough, be a part of a small group or college ministry, and you’re bound to find areas that need improvement.

Worship isn’t as passionate as it could be.
The discussions aren’t as lively.
The preaching isn’t as powerful.
The community isn’t as welcoming.
Offering could be done differently.
Followup with new believers could be better.
Inviting others to come could be built up more.
Prayer isn’t as powerful, outreach not working, and the giving - the giving is never where it could be.

All of us could easily point out something we’d like to see changed.
But most of us don’t want to do anything about it.

Read more and join the conversation!

Delighting in the Word →

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1-2

Reading the bible can sometimes seem like a chore.

We have to carve out time from our busy schedules to read a book that isn’t always easy to understand (Read Leviticus sometime), can be pretty dull (hello the list of begats in Chronicles), and just utterly confusing (every read Revelation?).

It can be hard to get into.
Difficult to concentrate on.
Near impossible to stick with.
And sometimes it doesn’t even seem to help.

We’ve all felt that way.
We’ve all had difficulty staying in God’s word.
We’ve all been overwhelmed with where to start.

It’s not easy to read the word.
Let alone meditate on it.

Read more and join the conversation!

Delighting in the Word →

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1-2

Reading the bible can sometimes seem like a chore.

We have to carve out time from our busy schedules to read a book that isn’t always easy to understand (Read Leviticus sometime), can be pretty dull (hello the list of begats in Chronicles), and just utterly confusing (every read Revelation?).

It can be hard to get into.
Difficult to concentrate on.
Near impossible to stick with.
And sometimes it doesn’t even seem to help.

We’ve all felt that way.
We’ve all had difficulty staying in God’s word.
We’ve all been overwhelmed with where to start.

It’s not easy to read the word.
Let alone meditate on it.

Read more and join the conversation!

A Working Relationship →

Photo Credit: Michel Y. HERVE (Creative Commons)

A relationship with God takes work.

Coming to Him doesn’t.
Accepting Him into our lives is easy.
We just have to believe.
Make a decision.
He did all the hard work.

But getting to know God, following Him in our every day lives, becoming more and more like Him?
That is much more difficult.
That takes work.

And we don’t like work.

Read more and join the conversation!