KFGO Blog

In the midst of all the hustle and bustle that comes with our annual “Homeless & Hungry” event, one of my students really was feeling exhausted. She was losing passion – she was becoming frustrated and disinterested. So what did she do? She went to a local shelter and just played with some kids for a while. Business, committees, and meetings were forcing her to fall out of love with the thing that fueled her in the first place. So she got back to the basics and remembered why she loved what she was doing in the first place.

Working at a church has been the same story for me lately. Politics, meetings, agendas, committees, etc – have all been chipping away at my passion. It’s not what I thought I signed up for. I just wanted to do ministry. Maybe my naivety or ignorance has played into this…I just don’t know. I always used to think that the passion I have for ministry would continue to blaze like a raging fire. I guess I’m a little more grounded now…

I really have myself to blame for this. Maybe you’re the same way. There will always be things that get us down, occupy our time, and frustrate/disappoint us. It’s up to us if we let it affect our passion.

I need to get back to the basics of my faith. Perhaps you do as well. I need to get back to trying to live like Jesus. I need to get back to living authentically.

Care to join me?

Whether you join me on a pursuit of living more like Christ is up to you. It’s between you and the big guy. But if your faith is frustrated, if your passion is fleeting, if your love of the church is fading, or if you’re overwhelmed with tasks and not overjoyed with opportunities, then maybe it’s time for us to get back to the basics. Here is what I want to do:

~Today I am going to be a passionate lover of God and people.

~Today I am going to take the gospel way of life seriously.

~Today I am going to shout the gospel with my life.

~Today I am going to live simply…even though it will not be easy.

~Today I am going to slow down, look around, and thank God for all the blessings He has given me.

~Today I am going to give of my time, talent, and treasure – because I’m really blessed.

~Today I am going to live as though everyone is my family (Mark 3:31-35 says: Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”)

~Today I’m going to remember that Jesus loves me no matter how much I mess up.

~Today I am going to play more and work less…I’m going to laugh more…I’m going to embrace life like a child does. After all, Jesus tells us that “whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:4)

~Today I am not going to tiptoe through life.

My favorite author, Shane Claiborne, writes in his book “The Irresistible Revolution,” some great advice:

“All around you, people will be tiptoeing through life, just to arrive at death safely. But dear children, do not tiptoe. Run, hop, skip or dance, just don’t tiptoe.”

“I am convinced that if we lose kids to the culture of drugs and materialism, of violence and war, it’s because we don’t dare them, not because we don’t entertain them. It’s because we make the gospel too easy, not because we make it too difficult. Kids want to do something heroic with their lives, which is why they play video games and join the army. But what are they to do with a church that teaches them to tiptoe through life so they arrive safely at death?”

Today I am going to get back to the basics. Today I am going to live as Jesus lived (and there’s nothing easy about that…). Today I am going to run, hop, skip, and dance my way through life. Care to join me?

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Erik Hatch is a Youth Director at First Lutheran Church in Fargo, ND. Hatch is a graduate of North Dakota State University and sells real estate in his spare time for the Jim Lund Team, Keller Williams. Hatch also is founder and director of Homeless & Hungry. To contact Hatch, email him at ehatch@flcfargo.org.

For more information listen to KFGO 790AM or email studio@kfgo.com

I can barely move.

2 days ago I started a new workout program – and it is the most intense workout program I’ve ever done (and that’s coming from a guy who has run a marathon).  My muscles are so sore!  And did I mention that we work out at 5:30am?  The world should all be sleeping until at least 9am in my opinion.

Now to see maximum results from this program I have totally modified my diet as well.  No more fast food – no more delicious French onion dip – no more pizza (gasp!).  Instead, here’s what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast: scrambled egg whites, cottage cheese, strawberries
Snack: a protein shake and a protein bar
Lunch: A chef’s salad – no dressing/no cheese
Snack: turkey jerky and a few nuts
Dinner: baked salmon, asparagus, and wild rice

Now you can take a look at that and agree that it’s not bad food.  I am actually pretty impressed with the options I get.  But the bottom line is this: it’s different.  It takes a lot of prep-work.  It doesn’t taste ‘great.’ And my body is struggling without carbs, sugar, or onion rings.

So both the workout and the diet take big commitments – but if you want big results you have to make big sacrifices.  I am just so tired of feeling ‘blah’ with life – with the way I look and the way I feel.  I need change.

Is this you?  Is this the way you feel physically?

How about this – is this how you feel spiritually/mentally?  Have you gotten to a point where the healthy things in your life are so unfamiliar that it’s uncomfortable?

I always have these ‘plans’ to make changes.  I had always ‘planned’ on dieting and exercising more.  So I would change my habits…for like a couple of days…and then find myself making excuses and I end up right back where I started.

Are you making excuses in your relationship with Christ?  Are you ‘too busy?’  Do you have other things that are seemingly more important?  What’s your excuse?  If we’re honest, most of us struggle with this daily.

So here’s my decree (because I’ve always wanted to issue a decree): No more excuses.  No more easy outs.  No more brief passion followed by a stumble back to our routines.  Instead, let’s work on getting healthy.

If you are out of shape physically, then change it.  No more excuses.  Just put in the work.  Your body is a temple, after all.

If you are out of shape mentally/spiritually, then change it.  No more excuses.  Just put in the work. Get to church more often.  Get involved.  Read your bible.  Pray fervently.  Talk to others about Christ.  Make Christianity not just a thing you do on Sundays…but rather a lifestyle.

God has so much waiting for us – we just have to go and take it!  So let’s get to sweatin’!

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Erik Hatch is a Youth Director at First Lutheran Church in Fargo, ND.  Hatch is a graduate of North Dakota State University and sells real estate in his spare time for the Jim Lund Team, Keller Williams.  Hatch also is founder and director of Homeless & Hungry.  To contact Hatch,  email him at ehatch@flcfargo.org.

FARGO, ND – Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo, will lead a Eucharistic procession to the state of North Dakota’s only abortion facility on Sunday, Oct. 4. The procession coincides with Respect Life Sunday, which the Catholic Church celebrates each year on the first Sunday in October.

The annual procession, called the Walk with Christ for Life, begins with noon Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary, 604 Broadway, Fargo. After the Mass, at approximately 1 p.m., participants will process in prayer from the Cathedral to the Red River Women’s Clinic, 512 1st Ave. N., Fargo.

Bishop Aquila will lead the procession while carrying a monstrance holding a consecrated communion host, known by Catholics as Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament.

Following prayer outside the abortion facility, the group will return to the Cathedral for Benediction. Lunch will then be served by the Knights of Columbus at the Knights of Columbus Club, 505 3rd Ave. N., Fargo.

The Walk, in which several hundred people participate each year, is sponsored by the Diocese of Fargo Respect Life Office.

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