I am a people watcher :) I love people and I love to watch them, whether I know them or not. Especially around holidays (any holiday) and MOST especially around Christmas. There is a crazed frenzy around Christmas, people are nuts...trying to get the best, the biggest, the greatest deal, the newest gadget...I love watching the moms with the tired kids crying behind her walking into "just one more store", or the boyfriend who waited until the last minute to get a gift for his girlfriend and he KNOWS he has to get it right or else. Or the last minute shoppers in the grocery stores and pharmacies because no other place is still open, trying to find something that can pass for a gift. I really like watching the little kids at the train and Santa places, their eyes all big and round, mesmerized by all the lights, glitter and choo-choos of the train. Santa seems so big to them, they are a little intimidated, but mom and dad want the picture with Santa, even if the kids are crying in it.....and the kids just want a present and a candy cane :). There is a breathless anticipation of this ginormous (threw that in there for all the ELF fans) holiday coming.
Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmastime, it is one of my two favorite holidays. But, this year, I wondered to myself as I was doing my people watching..."What are we so breathlessly awaiting?". Is it the presents we are going to receive? The ones we got others? Watching our children or grandchildren open their presents? Are we awaiting that amazing Christmas meal grandma always makes? What in the world are we rushing after? The excitement of one day of presents and food? Visiting family? What is it?
Simeon breathlessly awaited the coming of the Messiah, he held on to the promise that he would not die until he saw the Savior of the world. Should we not be anticipating the same thing? Should we not put the same zeal and frenzy into the coming of Christ? During Christmastime, we celebrate Advent, we celebrate the birth of Christ. We do devotions and light candles, we read the Christmas story to our children, we celebrate the baby Jesus. But He is coming back :) shouldn't we be in breathless anticipation of His return?
I love baby Jesus (yes, little 8 lb 6 oz baby Jesus :) I love the stories of the angels, shepherds and wise men. I like to wonder about Mary, and how she felt as she held Gods' son. Did she count all the fingers and toes as we mothers do? Did she feel awe at His every coo and gurgle? Was she overwhelmed at the responsibility of raising the Messiah? There is a warm familiarity in these stories and wonderings.
But He is coming back :) He did not come to this earth as just a baby, He came as the one and only that could free us from our sin. His story doesn't end with His birth or even His death. The story only began there, it is far from over. We hurriedly rush around at Christmas, trying to find the "perfect" gifts....what if we hurried into the arms of Christ? What if we not only accepted the true "perfect" gift, but were so consumed by it that we had no choice but to share it with others? What if our goal in this life were to breathlessly anticipate the return of our Lord? What an incredibly different life view we would have.
My life has been overwhelmed with the presence of Christ, I have been changed, renewed, transformed, forgiven and unconditionally loved. I am a new creation. And that's just now, with me here on this earth and my Christ up in Heaven. I breathlessly anticipate seeing Him face to face, standing in awe of my Lord, for I know that all the blessings of this world will seem small when faced with the presence of the One who died for me. Until my last breath I will wait on His return, ready to be taken home, ready to be forever in Christ. Until my last breath, I will share this hope and this love with all that I meet, in the hope that they will share in my anticipation and in His salvation.
If I am going to rush, it will be into His arms. If I am going to search, it will be for His face. If I am going to be mesmerized, it will be by His love. If I am going to find gifts, they will be in His grace and mercy. If I am going to live, truly live, it will be for Him.
I am breathlessly anticipating......
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Broken
We Christians are so eager to share our "mountain top" experiences...those moments when our prayers were answered the way we wanted them to be....or some retreat where we "saw Jesus"....when some loved one was healed, restored, saved or their prayer was answered the way they thought it should be. And I am not saying these things should not be shared...they should! Praise God for answered prayers, for lives saved and healed and restored.
But what about the prayers that are not answered the way we wanted them to be? Or haven't been answered at all yet? Or maybe, the answer was no? God answers all prayers, but we Christians rarely talk about those other answers....the no, the wait and the maybe. We tend not to talk about the dark moments in our spiritual lives, the times in the valley. We don't talk about devastation, hopelessness, fear, anger, pain, abandonment......why? Every Bible character we read about experienced and spoke about these things.....read the Psalms, King David did it A LOT.
Lately, life has been painful for me....physically, emotionally and spiritually. I cry quite a bit and pray even more. There are moments, especially at night when there is nothing else to distract me, that words escape me.....I can't pray, I can barely think. I become overwhelmed with emotion. In these times, it usually starts with anger (doesn't it always seem to start there when we don't understand what's going on?)....the words start rolling then! I rail against God, I yell at Him,"Why me? Why now? How could this happen to me? Where is my abundant life, huh? Where are all these promises and blessings I read about in your word? Do you hear me? Do you care?". Why do I yell at God? Because I can. Because He is big enough and strong enough to take anything I throw at Him and He loves me enough to let me. Because He knows my heart.
The anger usually fades fairly quickly...that is when the sadness begins, the fear, the pain...the heartache so intense that I can physically feel it. I can feel my heart breaking. My body becomes limp and the sobbing begins. Those gut wrenching sobs so deep, so painful that you're not really even breathing, you are gasping for air. The weight of my pain, my anguish presses on me so strongly that I regress to the fetal position in some sort of hope that this old childhood position will somehow bring me comfort. It doesn't. And that's when I feel Him, my Jesus, His presence. I can almost feel Him laying with me, an arm wrapped around me as though I was a child. I can almost feel Him brushing the hair from my face. He's not there to whisper meaningless platitudes in my ear, to quote scripture after scripture to me, telling me to suck it up, just hang in there or have a little faith. No, my Jesus is there to weep with me, my heartache is His as well, He feels my pain, anger, grief and confusion. And it's ok. He comforts me with His presence, words are not necessary. Does it make it all better, all go away? Nope, sure doesn't. But it makes it bearable...He makes all this heartache worth it, because my faith is not based in or on how I feel. I can have moments of feeling hopeless desperation. Because in the end, my God is a really big God and I will be ok. He is faithful and true. He is all that I need.
If Jesus based His faith and ministry on this earth on how He felt or how others treated Him, He probably would not have made it to the cross. We know from scripture that He felt emotion, our human emotion. We are told that He wept more than once, we are told of His anger and even of His fear. None of that stopped Him. Faith in God transcends feelings. I know and believe in Gods' promise to lead me, guide me, never forsake me and unconditionally love me. He has a plan for me, a plan even for this painful circumstance.
And I believe that God wants us to share these things with others. As I mentioned above, King David poured it all out to God and it is a part of the Bible. God wanted us to read it. Why? Because we can relate. King David was every bit the doofus that I am. And yet he was a man after Gods' own heart. Because from start to finish, David relied on faith, not feelings. Just as we can relate to David, so can others relate to our heartaches and fears, and once that bond is shared, then we get to introduce them to Jesus.....who came to set the captives free.
Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those that are crushed in spirit. Psalm 51:17, "My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise". Psalm 147:3, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds". See a pattern here? We don't have to pretend to be strong, He is waiting to be strong for us. When we are in pain, the Lord God Almighty, Creator of all things, is close to us. I want Him to be close to me. I want my broken heart healed and my wounds bound. I want to sacrifice my broken spirit and rest back upon the Lord. However, that can't happen if I don't admit my brokenness, if I don't bring it to Him, to the only One that can make ALL things good.
There is a song out called "Better than a Hallelujah". A part of the chorus says, "We pour out our misery and God just hears a melody. Beautiful the mess we are, the honest cries of breaking hearts....is better than a Hallelujah". God wants our messes, our misery, our broken hearts, our brokenness in general.....because He can do something with it.
I am broken and that's a good thing.
But what about the prayers that are not answered the way we wanted them to be? Or haven't been answered at all yet? Or maybe, the answer was no? God answers all prayers, but we Christians rarely talk about those other answers....the no, the wait and the maybe. We tend not to talk about the dark moments in our spiritual lives, the times in the valley. We don't talk about devastation, hopelessness, fear, anger, pain, abandonment......why? Every Bible character we read about experienced and spoke about these things.....read the Psalms, King David did it A LOT.
Lately, life has been painful for me....physically, emotionally and spiritually. I cry quite a bit and pray even more. There are moments, especially at night when there is nothing else to distract me, that words escape me.....I can't pray, I can barely think. I become overwhelmed with emotion. In these times, it usually starts with anger (doesn't it always seem to start there when we don't understand what's going on?)....the words start rolling then! I rail against God, I yell at Him,"Why me? Why now? How could this happen to me? Where is my abundant life, huh? Where are all these promises and blessings I read about in your word? Do you hear me? Do you care?". Why do I yell at God? Because I can. Because He is big enough and strong enough to take anything I throw at Him and He loves me enough to let me. Because He knows my heart.
The anger usually fades fairly quickly...that is when the sadness begins, the fear, the pain...the heartache so intense that I can physically feel it. I can feel my heart breaking. My body becomes limp and the sobbing begins. Those gut wrenching sobs so deep, so painful that you're not really even breathing, you are gasping for air. The weight of my pain, my anguish presses on me so strongly that I regress to the fetal position in some sort of hope that this old childhood position will somehow bring me comfort. It doesn't. And that's when I feel Him, my Jesus, His presence. I can almost feel Him laying with me, an arm wrapped around me as though I was a child. I can almost feel Him brushing the hair from my face. He's not there to whisper meaningless platitudes in my ear, to quote scripture after scripture to me, telling me to suck it up, just hang in there or have a little faith. No, my Jesus is there to weep with me, my heartache is His as well, He feels my pain, anger, grief and confusion. And it's ok. He comforts me with His presence, words are not necessary. Does it make it all better, all go away? Nope, sure doesn't. But it makes it bearable...He makes all this heartache worth it, because my faith is not based in or on how I feel. I can have moments of feeling hopeless desperation. Because in the end, my God is a really big God and I will be ok. He is faithful and true. He is all that I need.
If Jesus based His faith and ministry on this earth on how He felt or how others treated Him, He probably would not have made it to the cross. We know from scripture that He felt emotion, our human emotion. We are told that He wept more than once, we are told of His anger and even of His fear. None of that stopped Him. Faith in God transcends feelings. I know and believe in Gods' promise to lead me, guide me, never forsake me and unconditionally love me. He has a plan for me, a plan even for this painful circumstance.
And I believe that God wants us to share these things with others. As I mentioned above, King David poured it all out to God and it is a part of the Bible. God wanted us to read it. Why? Because we can relate. King David was every bit the doofus that I am. And yet he was a man after Gods' own heart. Because from start to finish, David relied on faith, not feelings. Just as we can relate to David, so can others relate to our heartaches and fears, and once that bond is shared, then we get to introduce them to Jesus.....who came to set the captives free.
Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those that are crushed in spirit. Psalm 51:17, "My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise". Psalm 147:3, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds". See a pattern here? We don't have to pretend to be strong, He is waiting to be strong for us. When we are in pain, the Lord God Almighty, Creator of all things, is close to us. I want Him to be close to me. I want my broken heart healed and my wounds bound. I want to sacrifice my broken spirit and rest back upon the Lord. However, that can't happen if I don't admit my brokenness, if I don't bring it to Him, to the only One that can make ALL things good.
There is a song out called "Better than a Hallelujah". A part of the chorus says, "We pour out our misery and God just hears a melody. Beautiful the mess we are, the honest cries of breaking hearts....is better than a Hallelujah". God wants our messes, our misery, our broken hearts, our brokenness in general.....because He can do something with it.
I am broken and that's a good thing.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Love-Gods' Definition
Our culture paints a pretty grim picture of love. If we were to believe the societal definition of love, there would be no point in even seeking it. Love today is selfish, physical and short term. Over half of all marriages end in divorce, most dating relationships don't even last a year. Our culture is a "now" culture, we are addicted to instant gratification and gratuitous love. The love of today is really just lust and infatuation; it lives for the moment with no real thought of commitment and no real concern for another's well being. We buy into advertisements that tell us love is physical and immediate. This is scary and its no wonder 13 year olds are having sex and calling it love. This is what we are taught love is. What happens when infatuation wears off? When we are left with who we really are and real emotions being exposed? Are we falling out of love? I'd like to propose a definition that says no, this is where real love begins. A definition from the Creator of Love, God Himself.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us, "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices when the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance". This is quite different from how my generation sees love. Love waits, for physical expression, for intimacy and for marriage. Love is kind, it does not belittle, demean or intentionally hurt. Love is not selfish, it puts others first. Love does not have the "looking out for number one" mentality. In real love, you are not number one. Love forgives, unconditionally. Love never, ever gives up. Love endures and lasts forever.
John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this: that he lay his life down for his friends". This is absolute selflessness. When we truly love someone, we must be willing to do anything for him or her. To lay down our lives if necessary. Love looks out for the other person, it tries to make decisions based on what is best for the other. An added blessing in this is that God also tells us in Galatians 6:7b, "You will always reap what you sow." That means if you sow selflessness in your relationships, you will reap it as well. The one loving you will have your best interests at heart and will put you first.
Ephesians 4:25 tells us, "Put away all falsehood and tell your neighbor the truth because we all belong to each other." Love doesn't lie, love rejoices in the truth. If we are to truly love someone, we must be honest, even at the cost of losing the relationship. A relationship built on lies will never last, the truth always comes out. It is a sign of respect and humility to be honest with the ones you love. This culture tells us to hide everything, all imperfections and insecurities. God tells us to be honest about them and to help one another through those things. When we are truthful, love rejoices.
1 Corinthians 13:13 says, "There are three things that will endure - faith, hope and love - and the greatest of these is love". Love lasts, real love never goes away. Truly loving someone, not just with feelings, but with time and commitment will endure. It will endure all things, good and bad. We all know stories of love that "stood the test of time". These are stories of true love, whether it was a marriage or a friendship. Love wins out over all other things.
In Matthew 5:44 Jesus tells us, "But I say love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you". This is a hard truth about love. To love someone unlovable, who shows no love themselves...why love them. Jesus goes on to say in verse 47, "If you are only kind to your friends, how are you different than anyone else?". Love has no prejudices, it is not selective, not reserved for only the "good" people. Love is for anyone and everyone and what a testimony it is to the state of our hearts when we love those who show no love. Love is a sacrifice of self.
As you can see, the Lords' definition of love is quite different than ours (and we haven't even covered all He had to say about it!). As unromantic as it may seem, love is an investment of time, emotion, energy and commitment. Love sacrifices and puts others first. Love says no to instant gratification. True love waits. Love forgives and reaches out to the unlovable. What a difference there would be in this world if we loved the way God asks us to, the way He first loved us. God forgives our every sin, He sacrificed Himself for us, He waits patiently on us and is kind and gentle. We could begin to make a difference in our relationships today if we applied His definition of love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us, "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices when the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance". This is quite different from how my generation sees love. Love waits, for physical expression, for intimacy and for marriage. Love is kind, it does not belittle, demean or intentionally hurt. Love is not selfish, it puts others first. Love does not have the "looking out for number one" mentality. In real love, you are not number one. Love forgives, unconditionally. Love never, ever gives up. Love endures and lasts forever.
John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this: that he lay his life down for his friends". This is absolute selflessness. When we truly love someone, we must be willing to do anything for him or her. To lay down our lives if necessary. Love looks out for the other person, it tries to make decisions based on what is best for the other. An added blessing in this is that God also tells us in Galatians 6:7b, "You will always reap what you sow." That means if you sow selflessness in your relationships, you will reap it as well. The one loving you will have your best interests at heart and will put you first.
Ephesians 4:25 tells us, "Put away all falsehood and tell your neighbor the truth because we all belong to each other." Love doesn't lie, love rejoices in the truth. If we are to truly love someone, we must be honest, even at the cost of losing the relationship. A relationship built on lies will never last, the truth always comes out. It is a sign of respect and humility to be honest with the ones you love. This culture tells us to hide everything, all imperfections and insecurities. God tells us to be honest about them and to help one another through those things. When we are truthful, love rejoices.
1 Corinthians 13:13 says, "There are three things that will endure - faith, hope and love - and the greatest of these is love". Love lasts, real love never goes away. Truly loving someone, not just with feelings, but with time and commitment will endure. It will endure all things, good and bad. We all know stories of love that "stood the test of time". These are stories of true love, whether it was a marriage or a friendship. Love wins out over all other things.
In Matthew 5:44 Jesus tells us, "But I say love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you". This is a hard truth about love. To love someone unlovable, who shows no love themselves...why love them. Jesus goes on to say in verse 47, "If you are only kind to your friends, how are you different than anyone else?". Love has no prejudices, it is not selective, not reserved for only the "good" people. Love is for anyone and everyone and what a testimony it is to the state of our hearts when we love those who show no love. Love is a sacrifice of self.
As you can see, the Lords' definition of love is quite different than ours (and we haven't even covered all He had to say about it!). As unromantic as it may seem, love is an investment of time, emotion, energy and commitment. Love sacrifices and puts others first. Love says no to instant gratification. True love waits. Love forgives and reaches out to the unlovable. What a difference there would be in this world if we loved the way God asks us to, the way He first loved us. God forgives our every sin, He sacrificed Himself for us, He waits patiently on us and is kind and gentle. We could begin to make a difference in our relationships today if we applied His definition of love.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Why we talk about S-E-X
There has been some controversy lately surrounding our High School youth group, that the group talks about sex. We do.
However, we do not discuss it every week or even every month. We have a godly curriculum that we use once a year. That being said....we do our best to answer teens questions that come up. If its a question asked with respect and a genuine desire for knowledge, we will do our best to answer it. There are a few reasons for this:
1. I (along with all the small group leaders) have done my best in the last 3 years to create a safe environment where teens can be heard and understood. They ask many questions about many things....marriage, divorce, godly living, drugs, relationships and yes, sex. As youth leaders, we are not trying to replace parental discussion, but to help reinforce it. Research shows that parents/guardians are the number one resource of information for most children and teens. We know, love and respect that fact. We only desire to reinforce ideas of abstinence, healthy dating relationships, etc.
2. As a mom myself, I agree with the belief that conversations of sexual nature should be held at home. As a Director of Jr&Sr High Ministries, I have learned that teens sometimes have questions they are too embarassed to ask their parents. As a mom, I hope that my children will have godly, trustworthy and honest adults to talk to about the things that they feel they cannot ask me or dad. That is our desire at our youth group....to provide godly, biblical principles to every facet of these teens lives, including sex and dating. We also have teens whose parents are not around or who won't discuss sex with them. I have told these teens over and over again that I would much rather they ask their small group leader rather than Google it (a VERY bad idea) or ask their friends (which are not good resources for sex). We do not want them to be misinformed or lied to about these things that matter to them.
Dr James Dobson had a letter written to him after a young girl saw him discussing teen sex when he was a guest on a panel about abstinece versus safe sex education. This was the letter: "This has been on my mind for a long time. I've heard that if you have sex during your period you won't get pregnet (sic). If not, I have a problem, I'm only 11. signed Really Worried".
This little girl was only 11 and had already fallen victim to all the misinformation that is out there about sex. We do not want our teens to be misinformed and they are fed misinformation from so many different sources that it can become extremely confusing to know what to believe. We offer them Gods' truth.
3. Statistically speaking, 47% of teens are sexually active, most statisticians believe that the number may be higher because there is still a social stigma surrounding premarital sex, so girls especially, tend to lie about being sexually active. The number increases with age, 62% of 12th graders report being sexually active compared with 33% of 9th graders. Compared to older adults, teens are at higher risk for contracting STDs due to lack of regular health care and being physiologically more susceptible to infection. 25% of teens contract an STD every year. An estimated half of all new reported HIV cases yearly are in people under 25. 50% of sexually active youth will contract an STD before age 25. 40% of older adolescents incorrectly believe that the birth control pill prevents STDs and HIV. Some teens, including those that have recieved abstinence education, consider oral and anal sex to be abstinent behaviors and do not realize these behaviors present risks of STD transmission. There are currently 20 STDs considered to be at epidemic levels in the U.S., many of them incurable. There are STDs, such as HPV, herpes, and genital warts (all of which are incurable) that can be transmitted even with condom use. It is estimated that 90% of cervical cancer cases are caused by HPV, which cannot be erradicated once it's in the body. Some STDs, such as syphllis and chlamydia can lead to infertility, especially in girls. 31% of teen girls will become pregnant at least once before the age of 20. 27% of teen pregnancies end in abortion every year. The United States has the highest teen pregancy and birth rate in the Western industrialized world. (all statistics were pulled from the Kaiser Family Foundation, SADD and the Guttmacher Research Institute)
These statistics are scary and give even more reason to promote and advocate abstinence, as well as making sure our teens are not misinformed about the dangers of premarital sex. There is no such thing as "safe sex" and all teens need to know that. That is why we talk about sex, to educate them, to reinforce abstinence and to respect their desire for biblical knowledge regarding sex.
That being said, we cannot always predict what question a teen is going to ask on any given Wednesday. Many times we redirect the conversation and ask the teen to bring it up privately with their small group leader. There are times (rarely), however, that we do address the question as a group.
I encourage any parent with questions or concerns to please, please, please contact me. I am more than happy to let you review our curriculum, to ask questions and share any concerns you have with me. We generally send home a flyer when we are close to starting our sex/dating curriculum and if you would like your child to not participate, that is perfectly ok. Our curriculum on sex deals only in biblical principles regarding purity, abstinence and healthy relationships. We do, however, answer questions about pornography, masturbation and homosexuality if they are brought up in the course of the curriculum. I realize that these are uncomfortable topics for most people and that many feel the church should not be discussing them. I say, why not the church? Where else will they get biblical, purity driven answers? I believe the church should be discussing these things and we will continue to do so.
I want to again reiterate the fact that this does not happen every week or even every month. Most of the times that kids are talking about sex, we shut it down. But we will answer honest, respectful questions.
In regard to the Jr High youth group, we do no sex curriculum. For 6th graders, we do a curriculum on building healthy friendships/relationships. For 7th and 8th graders, we focus on respecting the opposite sex, that God purposefully made men and women different, emotionally. And for the boys, we help them learn to deal with impure thoughts. All small groups are aged based and boys and girls are separate. We do answer their questions as well, age appropriately. We are not interested in giving sex education and we don't. Some girls last year had questions about teen preganacy and we answered them age appropriately and biblically.
We do respect the different places all of our youth (Jr&Sr High) are in and base our curriculum and answers around their different ages and needs.
I hope that this helps clear up some of the "controversy" and again invite any one with questions to please contact me at jami@harrisonlegacy.com or 513-266-1017.
However, we do not discuss it every week or even every month. We have a godly curriculum that we use once a year. That being said....we do our best to answer teens questions that come up. If its a question asked with respect and a genuine desire for knowledge, we will do our best to answer it. There are a few reasons for this:
1. I (along with all the small group leaders) have done my best in the last 3 years to create a safe environment where teens can be heard and understood. They ask many questions about many things....marriage, divorce, godly living, drugs, relationships and yes, sex. As youth leaders, we are not trying to replace parental discussion, but to help reinforce it. Research shows that parents/guardians are the number one resource of information for most children and teens. We know, love and respect that fact. We only desire to reinforce ideas of abstinence, healthy dating relationships, etc.
2. As a mom myself, I agree with the belief that conversations of sexual nature should be held at home. As a Director of Jr&Sr High Ministries, I have learned that teens sometimes have questions they are too embarassed to ask their parents. As a mom, I hope that my children will have godly, trustworthy and honest adults to talk to about the things that they feel they cannot ask me or dad. That is our desire at our youth group....to provide godly, biblical principles to every facet of these teens lives, including sex and dating. We also have teens whose parents are not around or who won't discuss sex with them. I have told these teens over and over again that I would much rather they ask their small group leader rather than Google it (a VERY bad idea) or ask their friends (which are not good resources for sex). We do not want them to be misinformed or lied to about these things that matter to them.
Dr James Dobson had a letter written to him after a young girl saw him discussing teen sex when he was a guest on a panel about abstinece versus safe sex education. This was the letter: "This has been on my mind for a long time. I've heard that if you have sex during your period you won't get pregnet (sic). If not, I have a problem, I'm only 11. signed Really Worried".
This little girl was only 11 and had already fallen victim to all the misinformation that is out there about sex. We do not want our teens to be misinformed and they are fed misinformation from so many different sources that it can become extremely confusing to know what to believe. We offer them Gods' truth.
3. Statistically speaking, 47% of teens are sexually active, most statisticians believe that the number may be higher because there is still a social stigma surrounding premarital sex, so girls especially, tend to lie about being sexually active. The number increases with age, 62% of 12th graders report being sexually active compared with 33% of 9th graders. Compared to older adults, teens are at higher risk for contracting STDs due to lack of regular health care and being physiologically more susceptible to infection. 25% of teens contract an STD every year. An estimated half of all new reported HIV cases yearly are in people under 25. 50% of sexually active youth will contract an STD before age 25. 40% of older adolescents incorrectly believe that the birth control pill prevents STDs and HIV. Some teens, including those that have recieved abstinence education, consider oral and anal sex to be abstinent behaviors and do not realize these behaviors present risks of STD transmission. There are currently 20 STDs considered to be at epidemic levels in the U.S., many of them incurable. There are STDs, such as HPV, herpes, and genital warts (all of which are incurable) that can be transmitted even with condom use. It is estimated that 90% of cervical cancer cases are caused by HPV, which cannot be erradicated once it's in the body. Some STDs, such as syphllis and chlamydia can lead to infertility, especially in girls. 31% of teen girls will become pregnant at least once before the age of 20. 27% of teen pregnancies end in abortion every year. The United States has the highest teen pregancy and birth rate in the Western industrialized world. (all statistics were pulled from the Kaiser Family Foundation, SADD and the Guttmacher Research Institute)
These statistics are scary and give even more reason to promote and advocate abstinence, as well as making sure our teens are not misinformed about the dangers of premarital sex. There is no such thing as "safe sex" and all teens need to know that. That is why we talk about sex, to educate them, to reinforce abstinence and to respect their desire for biblical knowledge regarding sex.
That being said, we cannot always predict what question a teen is going to ask on any given Wednesday. Many times we redirect the conversation and ask the teen to bring it up privately with their small group leader. There are times (rarely), however, that we do address the question as a group.
I encourage any parent with questions or concerns to please, please, please contact me. I am more than happy to let you review our curriculum, to ask questions and share any concerns you have with me. We generally send home a flyer when we are close to starting our sex/dating curriculum and if you would like your child to not participate, that is perfectly ok. Our curriculum on sex deals only in biblical principles regarding purity, abstinence and healthy relationships. We do, however, answer questions about pornography, masturbation and homosexuality if they are brought up in the course of the curriculum. I realize that these are uncomfortable topics for most people and that many feel the church should not be discussing them. I say, why not the church? Where else will they get biblical, purity driven answers? I believe the church should be discussing these things and we will continue to do so.
I want to again reiterate the fact that this does not happen every week or even every month. Most of the times that kids are talking about sex, we shut it down. But we will answer honest, respectful questions.
In regard to the Jr High youth group, we do no sex curriculum. For 6th graders, we do a curriculum on building healthy friendships/relationships. For 7th and 8th graders, we focus on respecting the opposite sex, that God purposefully made men and women different, emotionally. And for the boys, we help them learn to deal with impure thoughts. All small groups are aged based and boys and girls are separate. We do answer their questions as well, age appropriately. We are not interested in giving sex education and we don't. Some girls last year had questions about teen preganacy and we answered them age appropriately and biblically.
We do respect the different places all of our youth (Jr&Sr High) are in and base our curriculum and answers around their different ages and needs.
I hope that this helps clear up some of the "controversy" and again invite any one with questions to please contact me at jami@harrisonlegacy.com or 513-266-1017.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Comfy?
Are you comfortable?
T.V. ads and society certainly tells us we should be. But the Word of God paints a different picture.
We'll start, if course, in the beginning. Adam and Eve lived in paradise, the Garden of Eden. They knew what true fellowship with God was, the walked with Him and talked freely with Him. Then they sinned(Genesis 2-3). They were then cast out of the Garden. Adam now had to work, he had to cultivate the land to try to produce food for his family. He would spend his life toiling and trying to find God(Genesis 3:17-19). Eve was cursed with the pain of childbirth (trust me....uncomfortable). She also had to now learn to live with Adam as her master and not just her mate. The problem here is that instead of the unparalleled bliss and blessings that come with her desire for Adam and his headship over her, there would now be anguish and trouble. So, one of the first reasons we live uncomfortably is sin, it's the barrier between us and God.
Almost every other "big" name in the Old Testament dealt with being uncomfortable. Abraham wandered as a nomad because God called him to leave his country, his relatives and his fathers house to go to an uncertain place that God had for him (Genesis 12:1-3). Moses was called out of his life of luxury to share in tthe sufferings of his fellow Hebrews (Exodus 3). God also asked Moses to speak to the Pharoah on Gods' behalf and he felt he was not good enough (Exodus 4:10-17). Joshua had to fight many battles against armies much bigger and better than his, with nothing but his faith in God to lead him (Joshua 10). Ruth left her country and her family to go with Naomi and follow Naomis' God (Ruth 1:16-18). Esther had to hide her Jewish heritage to keep from being killed by her husband, the king (Esther 8-15). Poor Job, there's not much that man didn't go through (I recommend reading the whole book of Job). Daniel was thrown into a lions' den (Daniel 6). Jonah was in the belly of a fish for 3 days (Jonah 1-4). There are so many more......
The point is....these were Gods' people, His chosen and loved people. And yet they faced these things. Why? For the glory of God, to show His sovereignity, power and unfailing love towards His people. In every instance, the impossible was done and all knew it was only God who could have done it. Sometimes we must go through difficult things to increase our faith and the faith of those around us.
But what about Jesus? Didn't he come to change things? Yes. he came to save us, offer us forgiveness and eternal life, to bridge the gap between us and our Father. But he did NOT come to make everything easy and confortable. In fact, Jesus said, "Do not imagine that I have come to bring peace to the earth. No, I have come to bring a sword."(Matthew 10:34) Jesus' teachings and sayings were and still are so revolutionary and contrary to worldly life that He knew following him would mean rejection, loss of friends and family, loss of life for some and even just plain old being uncomfortable.
Look at the 12 disciples. When Jesus called them, they had to leave behind everything they knew, everything comfortable and secure. Can you imagine what they would have lost by not answering his call? If they would have decided to remain in their security and comfort? They would have missed the Messiah! They gave up their jobs, their families, their respect in the community (remember, these were good Jewish boys :). They were then thrown in the middle of controversy, insecurity and instability. There were people who wanted to kill them. I don't think any one of them would have traded the decision they made to follow Jesus. Peter was the only other person to ever walk on water!!! What if he had said, "No thanks, I'll stay in the boat, where it's safe."? He would have been an idiot! :) By deciding to take a step toward Jesus and away from being comfortable, he learned the power of Jesus and walked on water (Matthew 14:25-33). Pretty awesome, huh? Are you willing to leave behind comfort to step out on the water with Jesus? It's something to think about.
Jesus himself did not live a comfortable life. He was not born into a wealthy family with all sorts of luxury and privleges. He was born in a barn and laid in a manger (Luke 2:6). A pretty humble beginning for the Son of God. From his birth, there were those who wanted him dead (Matthew 2:13-18). As Jesus neared the beginning of his ministry, he was led into the desert for 40 days (with no food!) to be tempted by Satan. Any of you that have been persistently tempted by something knows how uncomfortable this is! Jesus was mocked (Matthew 27:27-31), people doubted who he was (Mark 3:1-6, Matthew 22:41-45). He reached out and physically touched those that were in need of healing (which was unheard of in those days), even those with leprosy (Luke 5:12-16). He was beaten beyond recognition (John 19:1-3, Mark 15:16-20, Matthew 27:67-68). In Roman times, flogging was so severe that most people did not survive it to see their crucifixions. Yet, Jesus endured this. Then the crucifixion, the pain of being nailed to the cross, the dehydration, still feeling the pain from the flogging. Then the cross is raised and our Christ slowly suffocates. Every minute that passes brings increased difficulty in taking even a small breath. But this isn't the worst of it. God, the Father must now turn his face from his Beloved Son. Jesus is so covered and so saturated with our sins that God must forsake him. Imagine the pain, the heartbreak that our Savior, the only spotless person to have ever walked this earth, must have felt as he took our punishment (Matthew 27:46). This is what our Savior suffered for us. He came to earth just for this moment, the excruciating, painful moment.
If Jesus, the Son of God, sacrificed so much and walked through so many uncomfortable situations, what makes us think that we will breeze through life? What makes us think that we will or should be comfortable? Jesus warned us 2000 years ago that if we chose to follow him that things would not be easy (Matthew 10:28-39, Matthew 17:24-28, Mark 10:35-45, Luke 12:1-12, John 17:6-26).
God promised he would never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6), to never give us more than we could bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), to always do what is best for us (Luke 11:13), and to be continually transforming us into the image of his Son (Galatians 5:24-25). He did NOT promise us that we would be comfortable.
So, are you ready to take a step out of the boat towards Jesus? Are you ready to forsake comfort and stability for the awesome power, joy and peace of our God? In every instance that we have looked at, the rewards far outweighed the uncomfortable circumstance. Faith was strengthened, joy and peace were felt and blessings beyond measure followed. Is it worth it to follow Jesus, no matter what the cost? There are eternal rewards, as well as the ones we recieve while here on earth. The Lord, our God has promised so much that our minds cannot comprehend it. We will face trials and there will be things we do not understand. But, incredibly, we get to walk the water with Jesus......
Can you hear him call "Come, and follow me"?
T.V. ads and society certainly tells us we should be. But the Word of God paints a different picture.
We'll start, if course, in the beginning. Adam and Eve lived in paradise, the Garden of Eden. They knew what true fellowship with God was, the walked with Him and talked freely with Him. Then they sinned(Genesis 2-3). They were then cast out of the Garden. Adam now had to work, he had to cultivate the land to try to produce food for his family. He would spend his life toiling and trying to find God(Genesis 3:17-19). Eve was cursed with the pain of childbirth (trust me....uncomfortable). She also had to now learn to live with Adam as her master and not just her mate. The problem here is that instead of the unparalleled bliss and blessings that come with her desire for Adam and his headship over her, there would now be anguish and trouble. So, one of the first reasons we live uncomfortably is sin, it's the barrier between us and God.
Almost every other "big" name in the Old Testament dealt with being uncomfortable. Abraham wandered as a nomad because God called him to leave his country, his relatives and his fathers house to go to an uncertain place that God had for him (Genesis 12:1-3). Moses was called out of his life of luxury to share in tthe sufferings of his fellow Hebrews (Exodus 3). God also asked Moses to speak to the Pharoah on Gods' behalf and he felt he was not good enough (Exodus 4:10-17). Joshua had to fight many battles against armies much bigger and better than his, with nothing but his faith in God to lead him (Joshua 10). Ruth left her country and her family to go with Naomi and follow Naomis' God (Ruth 1:16-18). Esther had to hide her Jewish heritage to keep from being killed by her husband, the king (Esther 8-15). Poor Job, there's not much that man didn't go through (I recommend reading the whole book of Job). Daniel was thrown into a lions' den (Daniel 6). Jonah was in the belly of a fish for 3 days (Jonah 1-4). There are so many more......
The point is....these were Gods' people, His chosen and loved people. And yet they faced these things. Why? For the glory of God, to show His sovereignity, power and unfailing love towards His people. In every instance, the impossible was done and all knew it was only God who could have done it. Sometimes we must go through difficult things to increase our faith and the faith of those around us.
But what about Jesus? Didn't he come to change things? Yes. he came to save us, offer us forgiveness and eternal life, to bridge the gap between us and our Father. But he did NOT come to make everything easy and confortable. In fact, Jesus said, "Do not imagine that I have come to bring peace to the earth. No, I have come to bring a sword."(Matthew 10:34) Jesus' teachings and sayings were and still are so revolutionary and contrary to worldly life that He knew following him would mean rejection, loss of friends and family, loss of life for some and even just plain old being uncomfortable.
Look at the 12 disciples. When Jesus called them, they had to leave behind everything they knew, everything comfortable and secure. Can you imagine what they would have lost by not answering his call? If they would have decided to remain in their security and comfort? They would have missed the Messiah! They gave up their jobs, their families, their respect in the community (remember, these were good Jewish boys :). They were then thrown in the middle of controversy, insecurity and instability. There were people who wanted to kill them. I don't think any one of them would have traded the decision they made to follow Jesus. Peter was the only other person to ever walk on water!!! What if he had said, "No thanks, I'll stay in the boat, where it's safe."? He would have been an idiot! :) By deciding to take a step toward Jesus and away from being comfortable, he learned the power of Jesus and walked on water (Matthew 14:25-33). Pretty awesome, huh? Are you willing to leave behind comfort to step out on the water with Jesus? It's something to think about.
Jesus himself did not live a comfortable life. He was not born into a wealthy family with all sorts of luxury and privleges. He was born in a barn and laid in a manger (Luke 2:6). A pretty humble beginning for the Son of God. From his birth, there were those who wanted him dead (Matthew 2:13-18). As Jesus neared the beginning of his ministry, he was led into the desert for 40 days (with no food!) to be tempted by Satan. Any of you that have been persistently tempted by something knows how uncomfortable this is! Jesus was mocked (Matthew 27:27-31), people doubted who he was (Mark 3:1-6, Matthew 22:41-45). He reached out and physically touched those that were in need of healing (which was unheard of in those days), even those with leprosy (Luke 5:12-16). He was beaten beyond recognition (John 19:1-3, Mark 15:16-20, Matthew 27:67-68). In Roman times, flogging was so severe that most people did not survive it to see their crucifixions. Yet, Jesus endured this. Then the crucifixion, the pain of being nailed to the cross, the dehydration, still feeling the pain from the flogging. Then the cross is raised and our Christ slowly suffocates. Every minute that passes brings increased difficulty in taking even a small breath. But this isn't the worst of it. God, the Father must now turn his face from his Beloved Son. Jesus is so covered and so saturated with our sins that God must forsake him. Imagine the pain, the heartbreak that our Savior, the only spotless person to have ever walked this earth, must have felt as he took our punishment (Matthew 27:46). This is what our Savior suffered for us. He came to earth just for this moment, the excruciating, painful moment.
If Jesus, the Son of God, sacrificed so much and walked through so many uncomfortable situations, what makes us think that we will breeze through life? What makes us think that we will or should be comfortable? Jesus warned us 2000 years ago that if we chose to follow him that things would not be easy (Matthew 10:28-39, Matthew 17:24-28, Mark 10:35-45, Luke 12:1-12, John 17:6-26).
God promised he would never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6), to never give us more than we could bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), to always do what is best for us (Luke 11:13), and to be continually transforming us into the image of his Son (Galatians 5:24-25). He did NOT promise us that we would be comfortable.
So, are you ready to take a step out of the boat towards Jesus? Are you ready to forsake comfort and stability for the awesome power, joy and peace of our God? In every instance that we have looked at, the rewards far outweighed the uncomfortable circumstance. Faith was strengthened, joy and peace were felt and blessings beyond measure followed. Is it worth it to follow Jesus, no matter what the cost? There are eternal rewards, as well as the ones we recieve while here on earth. The Lord, our God has promised so much that our minds cannot comprehend it. We will face trials and there will be things we do not understand. But, incredibly, we get to walk the water with Jesus......
Can you hear him call "Come, and follow me"?
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Learning to Dance In The Rain
Stormy seasons, low in spirit, downhearted, down in the dumps, hopeless.........
Above are some of the euphemisms we use for depression and we have to use euphemisms because we Christians don't get depressed. Almighty God sent Jesus to die on the cross for us...what in the world could we possibly be depressed about?!?
Almost 10% of Americans,18 and older, have a diagnosed depression disorder. Want to bet some of those are Christians? And I wonder how much higher that percentage would be if more Christians sought help for depression?
I will get of my soapbox now :) and get back to my blog!
I'm depressed....pretty much all the time. I have been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. Something misfires in my brain and I have a tough time functioning without medication. It really ticks me off a lot....I know all that I have to be thankful for, all the reasons I have to smile every day....and I'm still depressed.
About 10 years ago, when I became a Christian I fell into the "Christians cannot be depressed" trap, the unspoken rule of churchgoers everywhere. I stopped taking my medication and believed that I would be ok because I was a Christian now......
I was most definitely NOT ok, not even a little bit. I was nasty, deep, dark, in a pit depressed. I couldn't get out of bed, I couldn't take care of my self and I wanted to die. Very seriously not ok. And I didn't understand?????? Didn't I accept Christ? Didn't He love me? Wasn't I supposed to be all better and fixed up now? Some nice, kind people in the church told me that "I just needed a little more faith"...okie dokie, sprinkle some of that in there with the "church folk aren't depressed" and I should be alrighty! Or NOT. I was told "we all have our crosses to bear"...."God's ways aren't our ways".....and my personal favorite (sounds a lot like Jobs' friends) "What sin are you not confessing?"
So.....I had my answer! I needed to get happy, get some more faith, shoulder up my cross, understand God's ways are His own and start making up sins to confess (because I was pretty sure I had confessed mine already). That folks, is the anti-depression plan :)(sarcasm inserted here)
Through some pretty serious soul searching and tear-riddled conversations with God, I really did find my answer....2 of them, in fact:
1. I needed to take my medication. Every single day, without fail. Much like a diabetic needs insulin....I need an anti-depressant. A diabetic can die without insulin......I had to realize that I could die without my anti-depressant. God and I had long conversations about this :) I questioned Him and didn't really understand. Couldn't He just make me perfect, take out the depression defect? Yes...He could...but then I wouldn't get to learn #2.
2. Learn to dance in the rain.....learn to praise Him no matter what. Over and over in the bible, people prayed to God for rain, because it gave new life and caused things to grow. And they praised Him in those storms, right in the middle of them! You don't have to wait for the storm to pass, you don't have to sit by, doing nothing, being depressed or angry.......dance with Him in the rain!
When Jesus was out on the water in the storm and called Peter out to Him, what do you think would have happened if Peter danced his way across the water? He wouldn't have fallen in, I think. Eyes upon Jesus, dancing in the new life the storm brings, Peter could have walked anywhere he wanted. But he didn't and he began to sink.
I don't like being depressed, I really truly don't. There is not a whole lot I can do about the way I feel (the depression) but I can do A LOT about how I choose to react to it. I can go boohoo in a corner by myself, isolating myself and making it worse OR I can dance. If any of you have seen Evan Almighty, there is a scene at the end where he does the happy dance with God.....I cry every time I watch that scene (ask my husband, I really do) because I want to do the happy dance with God.
And I do, every day :)
Above are some of the euphemisms we use for depression and we have to use euphemisms because we Christians don't get depressed. Almighty God sent Jesus to die on the cross for us...what in the world could we possibly be depressed about?!?
Almost 10% of Americans,18 and older, have a diagnosed depression disorder. Want to bet some of those are Christians? And I wonder how much higher that percentage would be if more Christians sought help for depression?
I will get of my soapbox now :) and get back to my blog!
I'm depressed....pretty much all the time. I have been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. Something misfires in my brain and I have a tough time functioning without medication. It really ticks me off a lot....I know all that I have to be thankful for, all the reasons I have to smile every day....and I'm still depressed.
About 10 years ago, when I became a Christian I fell into the "Christians cannot be depressed" trap, the unspoken rule of churchgoers everywhere. I stopped taking my medication and believed that I would be ok because I was a Christian now......
I was most definitely NOT ok, not even a little bit. I was nasty, deep, dark, in a pit depressed. I couldn't get out of bed, I couldn't take care of my self and I wanted to die. Very seriously not ok. And I didn't understand?????? Didn't I accept Christ? Didn't He love me? Wasn't I supposed to be all better and fixed up now? Some nice, kind people in the church told me that "I just needed a little more faith"...okie dokie, sprinkle some of that in there with the "church folk aren't depressed" and I should be alrighty! Or NOT. I was told "we all have our crosses to bear"...."God's ways aren't our ways".....and my personal favorite (sounds a lot like Jobs' friends) "What sin are you not confessing?"
So.....I had my answer! I needed to get happy, get some more faith, shoulder up my cross, understand God's ways are His own and start making up sins to confess (because I was pretty sure I had confessed mine already). That folks, is the anti-depression plan :)(sarcasm inserted here)
Through some pretty serious soul searching and tear-riddled conversations with God, I really did find my answer....2 of them, in fact:
1. I needed to take my medication. Every single day, without fail. Much like a diabetic needs insulin....I need an anti-depressant. A diabetic can die without insulin......I had to realize that I could die without my anti-depressant. God and I had long conversations about this :) I questioned Him and didn't really understand. Couldn't He just make me perfect, take out the depression defect? Yes...He could...but then I wouldn't get to learn #2.
2. Learn to dance in the rain.....learn to praise Him no matter what. Over and over in the bible, people prayed to God for rain, because it gave new life and caused things to grow. And they praised Him in those storms, right in the middle of them! You don't have to wait for the storm to pass, you don't have to sit by, doing nothing, being depressed or angry.......dance with Him in the rain!
When Jesus was out on the water in the storm and called Peter out to Him, what do you think would have happened if Peter danced his way across the water? He wouldn't have fallen in, I think. Eyes upon Jesus, dancing in the new life the storm brings, Peter could have walked anywhere he wanted. But he didn't and he began to sink.
I don't like being depressed, I really truly don't. There is not a whole lot I can do about the way I feel (the depression) but I can do A LOT about how I choose to react to it. I can go boohoo in a corner by myself, isolating myself and making it worse OR I can dance. If any of you have seen Evan Almighty, there is a scene at the end where he does the happy dance with God.....I cry every time I watch that scene (ask my husband, I really do) because I want to do the happy dance with God.
And I do, every day :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
The Narrow Gate
Matthew 7:14-15 - Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
I've been in the church life long enough to be able to somewhat understand "Christian-speak". We Christians have our own language, for those of you who don't know. We use words like "fellowship" which really just means: church folk like an excuse to eat :) or "the lost" which can really mean anything at all-from those who don't go to church, go to church but don't know Jesus or know Jesus but seem to have lost Him. One thing we are really good at as well is using scripture to makes ourselves feel better and others feel worse (more "lost"?). We take it out of context and bend it to suit ourselves. What if we took a good, long, hard look at what Jesus is really saying to us? This is what I have been doing with the scripture above.
As I have heard as long as I've been a Christian (10 years or so), parts of this verse are used to make someone feel better about choosing the way that few can find. Some Christians proudly say, "Few find the narrow path to God", with the implication that they have found it. And I wonder about that.....
I've been going through a rough time lately...not ouch, I stubbed my toe bad time...but heart and soul and gut wrenching rough time. As most people do during difficult times, I have cried to God, yelled at Him, pleaded with Him and tried to bargain with Him. And this verse just kept floating around in my head.....stubborn me, it took me a while to realize God was trying to tell me something. So I looked up the whole verse (actually the whole chapter) to see what He might be saying.
First I started by trying to compare these gates or paths to something I can relate to. I thought of going to Mammoth Caves with my dad when I was younger. We stood at the bottom of what looked like a mountain to me :), with the choice of two paths.....one was paved, flat, easy and led to a well known "safe" cave. The other was barely noticible, just a little smidge of a line through the forest. It led to a lesser known cave. Dad and I were up for an adventure, so we chose the little "non-path" path. We fell down a lot, in fact I slid about halfway down this "mountain" and we had to start all over again. We were bruised, sore and cranky when we reached the cave. And it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It was beautiful, there were tons of stalagmites and stalagtites that hadn't been worn down from years of being touched. Everything seemed to sparkle :) then we found a cave lake and got to see the cave fish that had no eyes! At 11 years old, this was really the most incredible thing I had ever seen. Neither one of us even remembered the rough way we had getting there. It was worth it and I would do it again.
The gate is narrow and the way is hard.....the way is hard......the way is hard. Finding this narrow gate is NOT what Jesus says is hard. He says the way is hard, the road you follow after finding the narrow gate is HARD. So, why then as Christians are we so shocked when the way is hard?
And why, as Christians, do we gloat to others in trouble, that our way is easy, better, fun etc? Jesus said, the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction! If your life is a little too easy, check and see which road you're on!
God is and continues to conform me to the image of His son. Jesus' way was hard here on this earth. He worked hard as a carpenter, he was mocked, tempted, beaten, betrayed, denied and killed. If I have truly decided to follow Him, to live a life fully devoted to becoming Christ-like, that means I've found the narrow gate and the way WILL be hard. Why would it be anything less?
God is not interested in my comfort, He is interested in my soul, my love, my life and my salvation. He is interested in seeing me live the most full and abundant life I can here on earth. He is interested in how I show others His love. None of those things are easy to achieve.....so the way will be hard.......
And I know when I get to the end of the road, it will be amazing! It will be worth it.
I've been in the church life long enough to be able to somewhat understand "Christian-speak". We Christians have our own language, for those of you who don't know. We use words like "fellowship" which really just means: church folk like an excuse to eat :) or "the lost" which can really mean anything at all-from those who don't go to church, go to church but don't know Jesus or know Jesus but seem to have lost Him. One thing we are really good at as well is using scripture to makes ourselves feel better and others feel worse (more "lost"?). We take it out of context and bend it to suit ourselves. What if we took a good, long, hard look at what Jesus is really saying to us? This is what I have been doing with the scripture above.
As I have heard as long as I've been a Christian (10 years or so), parts of this verse are used to make someone feel better about choosing the way that few can find. Some Christians proudly say, "Few find the narrow path to God", with the implication that they have found it. And I wonder about that.....
I've been going through a rough time lately...not ouch, I stubbed my toe bad time...but heart and soul and gut wrenching rough time. As most people do during difficult times, I have cried to God, yelled at Him, pleaded with Him and tried to bargain with Him. And this verse just kept floating around in my head.....stubborn me, it took me a while to realize God was trying to tell me something. So I looked up the whole verse (actually the whole chapter) to see what He might be saying.
First I started by trying to compare these gates or paths to something I can relate to. I thought of going to Mammoth Caves with my dad when I was younger. We stood at the bottom of what looked like a mountain to me :), with the choice of two paths.....one was paved, flat, easy and led to a well known "safe" cave. The other was barely noticible, just a little smidge of a line through the forest. It led to a lesser known cave. Dad and I were up for an adventure, so we chose the little "non-path" path. We fell down a lot, in fact I slid about halfway down this "mountain" and we had to start all over again. We were bruised, sore and cranky when we reached the cave. And it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It was beautiful, there were tons of stalagmites and stalagtites that hadn't been worn down from years of being touched. Everything seemed to sparkle :) then we found a cave lake and got to see the cave fish that had no eyes! At 11 years old, this was really the most incredible thing I had ever seen. Neither one of us even remembered the rough way we had getting there. It was worth it and I would do it again.
The gate is narrow and the way is hard.....the way is hard......the way is hard. Finding this narrow gate is NOT what Jesus says is hard. He says the way is hard, the road you follow after finding the narrow gate is HARD. So, why then as Christians are we so shocked when the way is hard?
And why, as Christians, do we gloat to others in trouble, that our way is easy, better, fun etc? Jesus said, the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction! If your life is a little too easy, check and see which road you're on!
God is and continues to conform me to the image of His son. Jesus' way was hard here on this earth. He worked hard as a carpenter, he was mocked, tempted, beaten, betrayed, denied and killed. If I have truly decided to follow Him, to live a life fully devoted to becoming Christ-like, that means I've found the narrow gate and the way WILL be hard. Why would it be anything less?
God is not interested in my comfort, He is interested in my soul, my love, my life and my salvation. He is interested in seeing me live the most full and abundant life I can here on earth. He is interested in how I show others His love. None of those things are easy to achieve.....so the way will be hard.......
And I know when I get to the end of the road, it will be amazing! It will be worth it.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Not Me
I was not a "good" kid.......gave my parents a lot of trouble....I was mouthy and stubborn. I got into physical fights at school and did drugs and alcohol from a young age. Not a good kid at all.
At 20 years old, I became pregnant with my daughter, Haille. I was not married and her dad left when I was 4 months pregnant. This is when I came to Christ....I attended an Alpha Course at a local church and realized that I needed Jesus. My life began to change.....slowly.....but it changed.
At a later Alpha Course I was an assistant leader, this was a big deal to me! I felt better than I had in a long time. God loved me! He was changing me!
Then............
prayer time happened at Alpha.....I felt God tell me to get involved with youth. I laughed out loud! Certainly, that message was meant for someone else! Not me, I was a bad kid and a bad example. There was no way I was working with the youth! I then had another leader in the church tell me the same thing, at almost the same time! Seriously, God had his lines crossed. I was sure of it! I was getting someone elses' message :)
At this point.....I ran. Away from church, somewhat away from God. It scared me. I felt I couldn't possibly be involved in ministry, especially with kids. I would fail Him, I would let God down and that just wouldn't do. I couldn't do it.
Soon after, I got married to an abusive man and a divorce quickly followed. Now, I was really not a "good" person. Divorce? God doesn't like it and I was convinced He didn't like me either.
The months following the divorce were the darkest days of my life. I was in a depression so deep I couldn't see my way out. My heart hurt and I couldn't laugh anymore. I wanted to die. I wasn't suicidal. I never tried to hurt myself, but I prayed to God daily to "please, take me home". It hurt to live, to breathe. I couldn't function. I was failing as a mother because I was too depressed to care for Haille.
One night, I was laying on the floor sobbing, my heart was breaking. All I wanted was Jesus. I wanted to be forgiven and loved and healed. I heard Him that moment say to me "You've asked for forgiveness, love and healing. I hear you. Let me do MY work here." I was blown away! It never occured to me that I was the one standing in the way of what I needed. I was so far into my pity party that I wasn't letting Him work in me. It changed everything. Again, it was a slow process but the fog began to lift and life began to change. I could laugh again! I took care of Haille and started coming back to church.
Also again.....the youth ministry messages began coming.....at this point, I knew it was Him talking to me but I was still convinced He was wrong (I'm a big dummy, I know)
Around this time, there was Saturday night service for the youth called TAG (Totally About God). So, I decided to try to go around Gods message by getting involded with the praise team for this service. I had always loved to sing (but had never done it in public) and it was for the youth. Win-win situation in MY mind. I was with the youth (which God wanted) but had no actual contact with them (which I wanted). I have to give a "shout out" to Ken Dawson at this point!!!! Thank you for your patience with me! I know it wasn't easy! Part of why it wasn't easy is because I was too nervous to sing out loud :) still a dummy, I know....
However, being involved in this ministry changed me forever. It gave me a real appreciation of worshipping God. It also gave me an appreciation of His grace and strength. If it was not for His strength, I would never have gotten up on that stage and sang into a microphone (thanks Don Freese for turning me up! Otherwise no one would have heard me). And the congregation sounds so amazingly beautiful as they are worshipping God! You hear it differently up on stage than you do from in the congregation. To me, it seemed it must be what the angels in heaven sound like as they are worshipping Him! I loved this ministry and all the praise team folks! (this is where I began dating my husband, Brad :)
Brad and I began helping more and more with the youth....I still stayed my distance though, I still was certain I was not good enough to do much. Then decision time came.....we were asked to pick one ministry that we could excel at, instead of trying to do two. What the heck?!? That's what went through my mind at the time. Why would I have to choose anything? Wasn't I where God wanted me? (nope) Wasn't I serving in ministry? (yep) Was I not good at it? (jury is still out on that one..lol)
I decided not to run again. I was going to prayerfully consider this and listen to God.....that is until He told me to pick youth group over praise team. I argued with Him, yelled at Him and cried...a lot. I didn't want to leave praise team. I loved it! And didn't He know who I was? Didn't He know how bad of a kid I was?
Oh, He knew all right. He knew all along what He was doing :)
I decided to listen to Him. Decided I would choose youth group because that's what He wanted. All the time, in the back of my mind, thinking "I'll prove Him wrong and I'll be back at praise team in no time", yep I am STILL a dummy :)
And then.........I began to fall in love. With youth group, with the kids, with the gifts God had given me to minister to them. I learned what Pastor Mark was preaching about this past Sunday. In MY weakness, God makes me strong. I was sure that I was wrong for this job, sure that I had nothing to offer these kids.....and all that's true.....without GOD! He knew where I belonged all along and He knew that He had what it took for me to succeed. In all my trying to prove Him wrong, He showed me how wrong I was (in that loving God way that He is so good at :)
I still miss praise team...a bunch, actually. Its been about 3 years since I left and I miss it all the time. But I am where God wants me, doing what He wants me to do. Praise team taught me how to be involved in ministry and how to rely on God for strength.....He was preparing me for where He wanted me. There are times I regret not answering this call sooner. I wonder what I could've accomplished for Him if I hadn't run away....I'll never know. But it shaped me into who I am today. And that's who God loves :)
He wasn't waiting for me to get "good", He was waiting for me to learn to trust Him and lean on Him. God doesn't look for "perfect" people. We see that example over and over in the bible...Abraham, Moses, Peter, Paul. He is looking for people willing and ready to serve HIM. When I think "not me Lord", God says "I know the plans I have for you" and that's enough :)
At 20 years old, I became pregnant with my daughter, Haille. I was not married and her dad left when I was 4 months pregnant. This is when I came to Christ....I attended an Alpha Course at a local church and realized that I needed Jesus. My life began to change.....slowly.....but it changed.
At a later Alpha Course I was an assistant leader, this was a big deal to me! I felt better than I had in a long time. God loved me! He was changing me!
Then............
prayer time happened at Alpha.....I felt God tell me to get involved with youth. I laughed out loud! Certainly, that message was meant for someone else! Not me, I was a bad kid and a bad example. There was no way I was working with the youth! I then had another leader in the church tell me the same thing, at almost the same time! Seriously, God had his lines crossed. I was sure of it! I was getting someone elses' message :)
At this point.....I ran. Away from church, somewhat away from God. It scared me. I felt I couldn't possibly be involved in ministry, especially with kids. I would fail Him, I would let God down and that just wouldn't do. I couldn't do it.
Soon after, I got married to an abusive man and a divorce quickly followed. Now, I was really not a "good" person. Divorce? God doesn't like it and I was convinced He didn't like me either.
The months following the divorce were the darkest days of my life. I was in a depression so deep I couldn't see my way out. My heart hurt and I couldn't laugh anymore. I wanted to die. I wasn't suicidal. I never tried to hurt myself, but I prayed to God daily to "please, take me home". It hurt to live, to breathe. I couldn't function. I was failing as a mother because I was too depressed to care for Haille.
One night, I was laying on the floor sobbing, my heart was breaking. All I wanted was Jesus. I wanted to be forgiven and loved and healed. I heard Him that moment say to me "You've asked for forgiveness, love and healing. I hear you. Let me do MY work here." I was blown away! It never occured to me that I was the one standing in the way of what I needed. I was so far into my pity party that I wasn't letting Him work in me. It changed everything. Again, it was a slow process but the fog began to lift and life began to change. I could laugh again! I took care of Haille and started coming back to church.
Also again.....the youth ministry messages began coming.....at this point, I knew it was Him talking to me but I was still convinced He was wrong (I'm a big dummy, I know)
Around this time, there was Saturday night service for the youth called TAG (Totally About God). So, I decided to try to go around Gods message by getting involded with the praise team for this service. I had always loved to sing (but had never done it in public) and it was for the youth. Win-win situation in MY mind. I was with the youth (which God wanted) but had no actual contact with them (which I wanted). I have to give a "shout out" to Ken Dawson at this point!!!! Thank you for your patience with me! I know it wasn't easy! Part of why it wasn't easy is because I was too nervous to sing out loud :) still a dummy, I know....
However, being involved in this ministry changed me forever. It gave me a real appreciation of worshipping God. It also gave me an appreciation of His grace and strength. If it was not for His strength, I would never have gotten up on that stage and sang into a microphone (thanks Don Freese for turning me up! Otherwise no one would have heard me). And the congregation sounds so amazingly beautiful as they are worshipping God! You hear it differently up on stage than you do from in the congregation. To me, it seemed it must be what the angels in heaven sound like as they are worshipping Him! I loved this ministry and all the praise team folks! (this is where I began dating my husband, Brad :)
Brad and I began helping more and more with the youth....I still stayed my distance though, I still was certain I was not good enough to do much. Then decision time came.....we were asked to pick one ministry that we could excel at, instead of trying to do two. What the heck?!? That's what went through my mind at the time. Why would I have to choose anything? Wasn't I where God wanted me? (nope) Wasn't I serving in ministry? (yep) Was I not good at it? (jury is still out on that one..lol)
I decided not to run again. I was going to prayerfully consider this and listen to God.....that is until He told me to pick youth group over praise team. I argued with Him, yelled at Him and cried...a lot. I didn't want to leave praise team. I loved it! And didn't He know who I was? Didn't He know how bad of a kid I was?
Oh, He knew all right. He knew all along what He was doing :)
I decided to listen to Him. Decided I would choose youth group because that's what He wanted. All the time, in the back of my mind, thinking "I'll prove Him wrong and I'll be back at praise team in no time", yep I am STILL a dummy :)
And then.........I began to fall in love. With youth group, with the kids, with the gifts God had given me to minister to them. I learned what Pastor Mark was preaching about this past Sunday. In MY weakness, God makes me strong. I was sure that I was wrong for this job, sure that I had nothing to offer these kids.....and all that's true.....without GOD! He knew where I belonged all along and He knew that He had what it took for me to succeed. In all my trying to prove Him wrong, He showed me how wrong I was (in that loving God way that He is so good at :)
I still miss praise team...a bunch, actually. Its been about 3 years since I left and I miss it all the time. But I am where God wants me, doing what He wants me to do. Praise team taught me how to be involved in ministry and how to rely on God for strength.....He was preparing me for where He wanted me. There are times I regret not answering this call sooner. I wonder what I could've accomplished for Him if I hadn't run away....I'll never know. But it shaped me into who I am today. And that's who God loves :)
He wasn't waiting for me to get "good", He was waiting for me to learn to trust Him and lean on Him. God doesn't look for "perfect" people. We see that example over and over in the bible...Abraham, Moses, Peter, Paul. He is looking for people willing and ready to serve HIM. When I think "not me Lord", God says "I know the plans I have for you" and that's enough :)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Don't Wanna Be Politically Correct
A friend I were talking the other day......we were talking about how you approach another person about something you have heard or know about them that is damaging to them and uncomfortable to talk about. We were talking in generalities (this was not a gossip sesh, people). We truly had concerns about how, as Christians, we confront people with the sins in their lives (as the bible instructs us to) when that sin is a touchy subject (i.e. sexual sin, alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc). Also, how to confront someone about a "rumor", something that if true, would be devastating to their walk with God, and if not true, could be devastating to their reputation in the church. We talked a really long time.......
We ended the conversation in agreement that there are just certain things that are not "politically correct" to bring up with people. We don't want to embarrass them (or ourselves) or make them feel "judged" or hurt their feelings. This conclusion.......we BOTH agreed with.
However, it really stuck with me the rest of the day. I couldn't get it out of my head. Politically correct?!? Is that what Jesus calls me to? To be so concerned about what the rest of the world says, that I let a fellow brother or sister in Christ remain in slavery and darkness to their sin? Would I want someone to do that to me? Would I want my friend to not call me out for fear of not being "politically correct"? I seriously could not stop thinking about this........
Jesus was never "politically correct", he healed on the Sabbath Day....that was a BIG no no. He called out the woman at the well and the adulterous woman...........and they were both freed from their sin. He healed those that no one else would touch or talk to. He looked into the hearts of people so enslaved, so entrenched in their sins and ailments, that no "politically correct" person would dare be seen with. Luke 7:36-50, tells us of a sinful woman who washed Jesus' feet with tears and her hair, she poured expensive perfume on Him......she wanted to be seen for who she was, so that she could receive forgiveness and freedom. She didn't care that He knew she was sinful, she did not care that she would be seen for who she was. And Jesus didn't care that it might hurt her feelings, He obviously didn't care what the others in the home thought..........He just freed her.
Jesus also tells us that we are to do the same things He did. John 14:12, Jesus says "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." Jesus told us that we would and can and should be doing even greater things than He did here on Earth if we have faith in Him. WOW!!!
That means that if I can stop worrying about being "politically correct" and hurting people's feelings and all that other mumbo jumbo.....and have faith in Jesus....then I can help people reconcile their relationship with God and be freed from their sins!!!! What?!? DUH!!
If I am called to conform to the image of Christ, then I should be doing what He does.Talk about a smack in the head for me :) That's what I should be doing, every single day.
I sincerely and truly just love people. I really really do. But there is so much more to love than just being nice and doing nice things for them. I need to love them so much that I can, without fear, confront those I love about their lives and sins and help them find freedom in Christ.
I don't wanna be "politically correct" anymore........I wanna be like Jesus :)
We ended the conversation in agreement that there are just certain things that are not "politically correct" to bring up with people. We don't want to embarrass them (or ourselves) or make them feel "judged" or hurt their feelings. This conclusion.......we BOTH agreed with.
However, it really stuck with me the rest of the day. I couldn't get it out of my head. Politically correct?!? Is that what Jesus calls me to? To be so concerned about what the rest of the world says, that I let a fellow brother or sister in Christ remain in slavery and darkness to their sin? Would I want someone to do that to me? Would I want my friend to not call me out for fear of not being "politically correct"? I seriously could not stop thinking about this........
Jesus was never "politically correct", he healed on the Sabbath Day....that was a BIG no no. He called out the woman at the well and the adulterous woman...........and they were both freed from their sin. He healed those that no one else would touch or talk to. He looked into the hearts of people so enslaved, so entrenched in their sins and ailments, that no "politically correct" person would dare be seen with. Luke 7:36-50, tells us of a sinful woman who washed Jesus' feet with tears and her hair, she poured expensive perfume on Him......she wanted to be seen for who she was, so that she could receive forgiveness and freedom. She didn't care that He knew she was sinful, she did not care that she would be seen for who she was. And Jesus didn't care that it might hurt her feelings, He obviously didn't care what the others in the home thought..........He just freed her.
Jesus also tells us that we are to do the same things He did. John 14:12, Jesus says "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." Jesus told us that we would and can and should be doing even greater things than He did here on Earth if we have faith in Him. WOW!!!
That means that if I can stop worrying about being "politically correct" and hurting people's feelings and all that other mumbo jumbo.....and have faith in Jesus....then I can help people reconcile their relationship with God and be freed from their sins!!!! What?!? DUH!!
If I am called to conform to the image of Christ, then I should be doing what He does.Talk about a smack in the head for me :) That's what I should be doing, every single day.
I sincerely and truly just love people. I really really do. But there is so much more to love than just being nice and doing nice things for them. I need to love them so much that I can, without fear, confront those I love about their lives and sins and help them find freedom in Christ.
I don't wanna be "politically correct" anymore........I wanna be like Jesus :)
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The Boy With No Shirt
One boy with no shirt completely changed our Youth Group............
It was a typical Wednesday evening, about 15 teens (both Jr and Sr high). We were having our "fun" time......at the beginning of each youth group, we eat together, talk a little, play a few games before the lesson starts. I was watching some teens play basketball when one of the small group leaders came up to me and said, "There's a boy outside that really wants to come in. But he doesn't have a shirt. Can he come in?"
I thought about it for a minute, thought about the impact that he may have on the kids already there (which at the time, were pretty much all "churched" kids), thought about what it could mean if I let someone not wear a shirt (something you certainly have to think about when Jr high boys are around :), then I thought about our Youth Leader covenant. One of the points on that covenant says, "I will never turn away a teen that needs what this youth group offers".
So I said, "Sure, tell him to come in". It changed everything....
All the outreach that we had tried up to that point to reach kids in the community had failed. But a split second decision to let a neighborhood kid come in with no shirt on turned our group upside down. After that night, we have had 40+ teens join our group.....most of them "unchurched" neighborhood kids. We grew so large that the Jr and Sr High formed 2 groups, instead of just 1.
We continue to see a fairly large number of new kids every week. No shirt boy still attends youth group (side note - he wears a shirt now), over a year later. And has brought many many friends in with him.
I am still amazed that one little decision had such an impact....I wonder what would have happend if I had said "No, he can't come in". Would we still be where we were?
It has been a difficult adjustment for everyone involved, the leaders, the teens that already attended and the new teens who are learning about a whole new way of life..............but I wouldn't change it for anything in this world :)
We have ALL (leaders and teens) learned a lot about patience, love and sacrifice. I was forced to look at the way we were doing things and admit that they weren't really working AND be brave enough to change the things that needed changing........we are still changing things and will continue to do so.
We currently have 12 small group leaders!!! And are always looking for more as we continue to grow. We are maxed out in small groups, we see new faces every week, we are touching lives for Jesus, we are seeing kids accept Christ and get baptized...........
Because of one boy with no shirt :)
It was a typical Wednesday evening, about 15 teens (both Jr and Sr high). We were having our "fun" time......at the beginning of each youth group, we eat together, talk a little, play a few games before the lesson starts. I was watching some teens play basketball when one of the small group leaders came up to me and said, "There's a boy outside that really wants to come in. But he doesn't have a shirt. Can he come in?"
I thought about it for a minute, thought about the impact that he may have on the kids already there (which at the time, were pretty much all "churched" kids), thought about what it could mean if I let someone not wear a shirt (something you certainly have to think about when Jr high boys are around :), then I thought about our Youth Leader covenant. One of the points on that covenant says, "I will never turn away a teen that needs what this youth group offers".
So I said, "Sure, tell him to come in". It changed everything....
All the outreach that we had tried up to that point to reach kids in the community had failed. But a split second decision to let a neighborhood kid come in with no shirt on turned our group upside down. After that night, we have had 40+ teens join our group.....most of them "unchurched" neighborhood kids. We grew so large that the Jr and Sr High formed 2 groups, instead of just 1.
We continue to see a fairly large number of new kids every week. No shirt boy still attends youth group (side note - he wears a shirt now), over a year later. And has brought many many friends in with him.
I am still amazed that one little decision had such an impact....I wonder what would have happend if I had said "No, he can't come in". Would we still be where we were?
It has been a difficult adjustment for everyone involved, the leaders, the teens that already attended and the new teens who are learning about a whole new way of life..............but I wouldn't change it for anything in this world :)
We have ALL (leaders and teens) learned a lot about patience, love and sacrifice. I was forced to look at the way we were doing things and admit that they weren't really working AND be brave enough to change the things that needed changing........we are still changing things and will continue to do so.
We currently have 12 small group leaders!!! And are always looking for more as we continue to grow. We are maxed out in small groups, we see new faces every week, we are touching lives for Jesus, we are seeing kids accept Christ and get baptized...........
Because of one boy with no shirt :)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
One Size Does NOT Fit All
I was recently approached by a well meaning person that wanted to give me advice on how to make the youth group here at Legacy "better". (side note - this person is not a leader in youth group, does not have a child in youth group and does not even live in this state). That being said, I listened patiently and decided to truly hear out what they were saying to me. Was it bad advice? Nope, it was good advice. As I sat and thought about it, however, I realized that it just didn't fit our youth group.
I have come to realize that many people have a specific idea of what a youth group should look like. Most are of the opinion that it is a small bunch (4-10) of churched kids that meet every week, eat, play and talk about God a little. They are well behaved, sit through the lesson and respect their elders. Maybe because I had little to no experience in youth ministry before I became involved in the youth group here, I had no opinion (or any idea, for that matter) on what a youth group should look like.
Our youth group here is about 80% unchurched kids, and by that I mean have never, ever stepped foot in a church and don't know the difference between Jesus and Moses. They are loud, energetic and sometimes a little crude. We also are not a small group, with Jr and Sr High combined, we average about 55 to 60 a week, and we've had weeks where there were more. They are rough around the edges and tend to come off a little scary. And I love them :) They are honest and eager to learn. Because they are who they are, we could not do youth group in a "traditional" sense. We have to meet them where they are. We have to love them right where they are, right this minute. We couldn't wait for them to be "better". I sure know Jesus didn't wait on me to be "better".
We also do not separate the "churched" kids from the "unchurched" kids. We see no difference in their need for caring adult leaders and the love of Christ. We believe that they need to be together. The best way for churched kids to learn to spread the gospel and love their neighbors is to actually do it. And I love them too :) All small groups do the same lesson every week, no matter if they are "churched" or not. All small groups are the same every week, so the teens have a chance to bond with one leader. They all have done an amazing job of coming together and creating a wonderful youth group.
When you visit our youth group, things may seem a little crazy....or a lot crazy. But believe me, there is always a plan in place. We, as a leadership group, decided the best thing we could do for this youth group was to minister to it as it was. Not try to change them, but to let Jesus work in them. To accept and love them for who they are and through that, they would learn about the love of Christ. We have seen some kids baptized recently that I honestly wasn't sure we would ever get into church, much less into the water :) But it is what they wanted to do, because they were so loved by their small group leader that they wanted what he had........Jesus. And isn't that what its all about? Pointing the lost to Christ?
Jesus' ministry was certainly not one size fits all.........neither is our youth group :)
I have come to realize that many people have a specific idea of what a youth group should look like. Most are of the opinion that it is a small bunch (4-10) of churched kids that meet every week, eat, play and talk about God a little. They are well behaved, sit through the lesson and respect their elders. Maybe because I had little to no experience in youth ministry before I became involved in the youth group here, I had no opinion (or any idea, for that matter) on what a youth group should look like.
Our youth group here is about 80% unchurched kids, and by that I mean have never, ever stepped foot in a church and don't know the difference between Jesus and Moses. They are loud, energetic and sometimes a little crude. We also are not a small group, with Jr and Sr High combined, we average about 55 to 60 a week, and we've had weeks where there were more. They are rough around the edges and tend to come off a little scary. And I love them :) They are honest and eager to learn. Because they are who they are, we could not do youth group in a "traditional" sense. We have to meet them where they are. We have to love them right where they are, right this minute. We couldn't wait for them to be "better". I sure know Jesus didn't wait on me to be "better".
We also do not separate the "churched" kids from the "unchurched" kids. We see no difference in their need for caring adult leaders and the love of Christ. We believe that they need to be together. The best way for churched kids to learn to spread the gospel and love their neighbors is to actually do it. And I love them too :) All small groups do the same lesson every week, no matter if they are "churched" or not. All small groups are the same every week, so the teens have a chance to bond with one leader. They all have done an amazing job of coming together and creating a wonderful youth group.
When you visit our youth group, things may seem a little crazy....or a lot crazy. But believe me, there is always a plan in place. We, as a leadership group, decided the best thing we could do for this youth group was to minister to it as it was. Not try to change them, but to let Jesus work in them. To accept and love them for who they are and through that, they would learn about the love of Christ. We have seen some kids baptized recently that I honestly wasn't sure we would ever get into church, much less into the water :) But it is what they wanted to do, because they were so loved by their small group leader that they wanted what he had........Jesus. And isn't that what its all about? Pointing the lost to Christ?
Jesus' ministry was certainly not one size fits all.........neither is our youth group :)
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