Does Anyone Care if Private Ryan is Actually Saved? - My 20th blog

Does anyone care if Private Ryan is actually saved???

You ever watch a movie and an image or scene just burns in your mind?  One of those for me was in the movie Saving Private Ryan when it showed a young soldier on the beach bending over to pick up his detached arm and carrying it off to who knows where.  That scene was amazing for all the wrong reasons, and it has just stuck with me since I saw it for the very first time.  That scene came back to me while reading 1^st Corinthians 12 the other day. Was this scene what our church looks like today??

1 Corinthians 12:12-19 says “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part!”

The church is one body made of many parts.  There are feet, hands, legs, arms, etc…  And yeah I know what I’m about to say is common sense, but feet not attached to any legs are pretty useless.  Hands with no arms aren’t gonna do you any good.  Try sitting on your shoulders sometime…not gonna work too well you know?  So back to Saving Private Ryan and the beach scene.  There were body parts everywhere because this was a warzone…and in a lot of churches that is exactly what it looks like.  Body parts everywhere detached from the body and useless to serve because of the separation.

Now before I go any further let me say this, I am not bashing the church.  I never will because that is what Jesus died for and in the end that is the only thing left standing.  So don’t read this and be inspired to write your “let’s love and not bash the church” status or tweet.  And if you feel inspired to do that, I challenge you to look at what many churches have become, and if you are happy with that or you think Jesus is happy with what we have made of church go right ahead.  More power to you.  I personally think that a lot of people are gonna be held accountable for realizing what is going on in our churches and doing absolutely nothing and saying absolutely nothing about it in the name of this is “my” church and this is “our” way or I don't want to upset the "money" in the church.  Also I’m pretty sure God was not too proud of the church when it killed Jesus, just my opinion.

And man oh man am I as guilty as I can be of detachment.  Working with youth for about the last 12 years I not only wanted to but actually did try to distance and shelter the young people from many aspects of the “business meeting” side of church. (By the way don’t you have to know that the devil’s favorite services are those churchwide business meeting services!)  But anytime you’re a foot and you try to distance yourself from the leg you’re just killing yourself. And anytime you try to be the head it definitely doesn’t work.  There is only one head and it’s not the pastor or chairman of the deacons or the little old widow lady with all the money…it is Jesus.  And when you try to replace Him with yourself or with anyone else you better look out!

But when the body parts works together and function and perform their role in conjunction with the other parts then the pastor doesn’t care about being perfect, just transparent.  The charter member of the 100 year old church doesn’t care when the music changes and the songs lyrics are shown on a big screen and the 1611 Baptist Hymnal isn’t our only source of song.  The chairman of the deacons doesn’t know the church bylaws better than he does the Bible.  When someone gets saved we are more concerned about going crazy and rejoicing because hell just got smaller than making sure we got a first, a second and a church wide vote to make sure WE accept who God already has.  Religion and tradition (by the way the reason that the church killed Jesus, addiction to those two things) do not matter, what matters is that we have the one thing that can save people from going to hell and we want as many people to know about Him as possible.  People are more important than protocol.  (And I am not against protocol but I have seen WAY TOO MANY times when Robert from Robert's Rules of Order was way more important than Robert the lost man who is visiting our church.)

When the body parts work together we go meet lost people where they are and don’t expect them to just come to us.  Because the legs carry the feet allowing the hands to meet at the back of the ones our arms are embracing and showing the love of Christ to.  When the body parts work together we realize that being an alcoholic, pornographer, drug addict, child abuser, or a sex addict isn’t the problem with lost people, it’s that they don’t know Jesus.  

When the body parts work together the hands don’t mind washing the feet, the legs don’t mind the load that they carry, the arms are always open, and the eyes are always on the lookout for someone that the mouth and tongue can share the good news with.

After all, the body of Christ is the one body we should always want to get bigger.

Your Church Canceled Sunday Night Service for the Superbowl?? Blasphemy!!! - My 19th Blog

Your church canceled Sunday night service for the Superbowl?  Blasphemy!!!

In full disclosure, this is not only something I would have said a long time ago, it is probably something I did say a long time ago.  

And I don’t write this blog to defend the church I am a member at now because I have learned people are going to be critical no matter what, and saying this as nicely as possible, you cannot argue with ignorant people (or religious people).  

So yeah my church canceled their Sunday night services on Superbowl Sunday and moved them to Saturday night.  I started attending there last year at this time and I heard the announcement of what they were doing and I was like “Uhhhhh…uhhhhh…what?”   You see I had heard so many times from so many pastors and church leaders about churches doing this and about how they would not cancel or move their service because of a football game no matter how big the game or how many people would be watching!!   So you see for 33 years I never watched an entire Superbowl because I was always at church with the 25 or 30 other people that showed up on that Sunday night.  (Okay that last sentence may have sounded kind of ugly, but the truth…she ain’t always pretty you know?)

So last year, the day before Superbowl Sunday, I actually attended the Saturday night service at my church instead of the traditional Sunday service.   And I was absolutely blown away at the attendance.  The building was packed out!!!  And during the invitation, I personally counted 25 people who responded to the call of salvation and I couldn’t even see the entire church.  You know how I know this?  Because I am that guy who when the preacher says every head bowed and every eye closed still looks around trying to avoid awkward eye contact with you as you look around too.  

In that moment it really hit me.  Over 100 million people watch the Superbowl every year.  It is not only appealing to the men because of the game, but it is very appealing to the women because of the commercials.  Let’s face it, most of America is at home watching this game.  Satan wants to get as many people out of church as he can and he is gonna use whatever method it takes to make something appealing to all sexes and to as many people as possible!  You see my church fought back against that…and that is really what struck me.  You see so many churches are just out there playing defense trying to make their membership happy and are so worried about the people inside the walls of the church that they lose their focus on the people outside the walls of the church. It is time our churches started playing some offense too, and if you read about the armor of God in Ephesians God actually gives us a sword to play some offense with!  Let’s unsheathe it church!!

The world is a different place than it was even as little as 10 or 20 years ago.  Technology has changed. Family structure has changed.  People have changed.  America has changed.  And a church or a pastor that is unwilling to change their methods in my opinion is in danger.  I’m not talking about the message now, but the methods.  This really hit me the other night as I was reading my three year old a story from her picture Bible.  It was the story from John 21 where the disciples had been fishing all night and caught nothing.  Jesus simply said, hey change your method and throw your net on the right side of the boat.  They did this and there were so many fish they couldn’t even haul their net in.  All night they fished and caught nothing until they changed their method and then they caught everything.   I bet if most churches looked at their numbers over the past 5 and 10 years they would not only see a plateau, but they would see a decline in their numbers.  Yet they will not change their methods.  WHY?  I am so glad that God did not call pastors and deacons to be military leaders.  Except you know what, He kinda really did!! You see because when God saved us He put us on the battleground and when we can’t or won’t change our methods yet the enemy is constantly changing his it puts us in a very perilous place when our church leadership refuses to respond or even acknowledge this. 

I’ll close with this.  Don’t be critical of a church that changes their service for the Superbowl.  I know of at least 25 souls that are glad my church did last year.  And my church is far from perfect, believe me, but I appreciate the way they go after the lost people where they are.  And by the way, and I don’t mean this to sound snippy or arrogant, but my church never cancels night services for Father’s day or Mother’s day like most churches do.  And we don’t cancel our services on Easter or Christmas either, in fact we have service Thursday night through Sunday night for those two important Holy holidays. This Christmas we had 44 services meaning 44 opportunities for people to attend.  

And of course there is this…if anyone can tell me where the Bible says you even have to have church on Sunday night I’ll take all this back :)

P.S. This thought just hit me, a church changing their Sunday night service to a Saturday night service because of the Superbowl isn't the world "entering into" the church, it is the church "entering into" the world...which is exactly where it is supposed to be.  

I'D LOVE TO JESUS, BUT A BIGGER NAME ASKED ME YESTERDAY - My 18th Blog

What if we were to look at an encounter with Jesus like it was a date with someone that we thought was incredible? Because I think if we did just that, not only would our world change, but the world around us would as well.


Think about the last time you really really liked someone and they asked if you would like to go out with them, or perhaps you were the one doing the asking and this amazing person agreed to go on a date with you. What exactly did that look like and how did it play out in your mind and in reality?

1- YOU WERE EXCITED: You didn’t just think about this person when the time came for your date, you thought about them from the time you both agreed to go out together.

2- YOU COULDN’T WAIT TO SPEND TIME WITH THEM: It was in fact just about all you could think about! You couldn’t wait to be in their presence again and have them right there beside you!

3- YOU COULDN’T WAIT TO TALK TO THEM: You wanted them to know things about your life and about you in general. You wanted to share with them your hopes and dreams and let them get to know you.

4- YOU COULDN’T WAIT FOR THEM TO TALK TO YOU: You like this person so they could pretty much talk about anything and you wouldn’t care! All you wanted to do was absorb and learn as much as possible about them.

5- YOU REMEMBERED WHAT THEY SAID BECAUSE IT WAS IMPORTANT: Of course you remember the grand stories and big details, but you remember the little things as well because everything that person said mattered to you and gave you a little more insight and wisdom into who they really are.

6- CROWDS WERE NICE, BUT ALONE TIME WAS MUCH BETTER: Doing things with your friends and hanging out with them was fun and all, but nothing beat just you and that other person getting to be alone with each other without all the distractions.

7- YOU WERE AT YOUR BEST: You cleaned up nice, debated over what made you look your best, and you made sure you were rested before your date.

8- YOU MADE SACRIFICES FOR THAT PERSON: You gave up time with others or gave up doing other things that you would normally be doing in order to spend time with that one person.

9- WHEN THE DATE WAS OVER YOU ANALYZED EVERYTHING: What did I say to them? What did they say to me? What thing new did I learn? Was old memory did I get refreshed on? Will I ever stop thinking about them? Are they thinking about me?

10- YOU TELL PEOPLE YOU LOVE ABOUT IT: We can’t wait to tell our friends and parents and anyone that will listen about this great person we just spent time with. We want them to know how amazing this person is and all the details.

11- YOU CAN’T WAIT UNTIL YOUR NEXT ENCOUNTER: We just have to see and hear from this person again, the sooner the better, and that call from them can’t come soon enough.

12- WE LONG TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT US: Whether it be from a mutual friend or social media or wherever, we want to know what this person is thinking and if they like us as much as we like them.

NOW WHAT IF WE VIEWED OUR ENCOUNTERS AND TIME WITH JESUS LIKE THAT?

1- YOU ARE EXCITED: You don’t just think about Jesus on Sunday morning or when you need something, you think about Him all the time and get excited about your relationship.

2- YOU CAN’T WAIT TO SPEND TIME WITH HIM: You can’t wait to be back in the presence of Christ and spending that alone time with just you and Him.

3- YOU CAN’T WAIT TO TALK TO HIM: You pray and talk constantly with Him and you make your conversation with Him the most intimate one of your day.

4- YOU CAN’T WAIT FOR HIM TO TALK TO YOU: You can’t get enough of God’s word to see what He has to say just to you! All you want to do is absorb and learn as much as possible about Him and from Him.

5- YOU REMEMBER WHAT HE SAYS BECAUSE IT IS IMPORTANT: Of course you remember the grand stories and big details, but you remember the little things as well because everything Jesus says matters to you and gives you a little more insight and wisdom into who He really is.

6- CROWDS ARE NICE, BUT ALONE TIME IS MUCH BETTER: Doing things with your friends and hanging out with them is fun and all, but nothing beats just you and Jesus getting to be alone with each other without all the distractions.

7- YOU ARE AT YOUR BEST: Jesus doesn’t get just the 15 minutes before you go to sleep after working for 12 hours or studying for 5 hours for that test or tailgating all day at the ballgame or at the end of game night with your friends when you’re exhausted. He gets the best of you when you are freshest, not at your very worst and most exhausted.

8- YOU MAKE SACRIFICES FOR HIM: You give up time with others, you give up going places and hobbies so you can be at church, you give your money, you give your ALL to be with Him.

9- WHEN THE DATE IS OVER YOU ANALYZE EVERYTHING: You look back at your quiet time and reflect on what Jesus said to you and you talk to Him about it and make it applicable to your life because one on one time with Jesus isn’t about anything else in His eyes except you! Is that not the coolest thought ever?

10- YOU TELL PEOPLE YOU LOVE ABOUT HIM: You can’t wait to tell your friends and parents and anyone that will listen about this great person you just spent time with. You want them to know how amazing Jesus is and all the details.

11- YOU CAN’T WAIT UNTIL YOUR NEXT ENCOUNTER: You just have to talk to and hear from Him again, the sooner the better, and that next encounter from Him can’t come soon enough.

12- WE LONG TO FIND OUT WHAT HE SAYS ABOUT US: Jesus has a unique plan for everyone, and you strive to seek and live that will for your life and to find out what He says to you and about you.

There are many people that love Christ, but today it just seems like you don’t find too many that are actually IN LOVE with Him. What if we were to put that romance and courtship that we are so easily and willingly wanting to give to a significant other, and put that back into our relationship with Jesus?

You know it is easy to get excited when someone compliments our new haircut or just the way our hair looks today, but Jesus actually loves us so much that he knows little details about us like the exact number of hairs on our head. Someone may say they love you so much that they would die for you, well Jesus actually did die for you. Someone may say they will never ever hurt you, but Jesus is the only one that will ever be able to keep that promise. Someone may say they will call you, when in reality Jesus never ever stops calling you. Jesus is the only perfect companion, so why don’t we make Him the most important companion that we have or that we ever will have?

I’ll end with this thought: Imagine the most handsome guy or beautiful girl and you so badly and desperately want to spend time with them and go out and spend time together. What if we viewed Jesus like that? And here is the greatest thing about that: He will NEVER turn us down when we ask Him to go on that date with us. It is a yes 100% of the time! And the best part, we don’t even have to pay for it, He already did that at Calvary.

My First Playboy - My 17th Blog

My First Playboy

I can remember it like it was yesterday. I don’t know how old I was but I know I was a young teenager so it had to be at least 20 years ago. It was after school and I went home and decided I wanted to ride my bike that day. My mom didn’t like me riding on the road but mom was busy that day so I decided to ride on this nice little straightaway in front of our house. The paved road was so much better than our gravel driveway. So off I went, I was probably no more than a half a mile from my house, when I saw it.

What it was doing in the ditch on the side of the road I will never ever know. I had never seen one that close before but I knew exactly what it was and what was on the inside. And that is exactly why I picked it up, quickly looked around to see if any of the neighbors had seen me, and took off back to my house. It was like suddenly my bike was the biggest and baddest Harley in town because I was racing to get home!

I remember going under the carport because nobody would see me there. It was just me and my very first Playboy magazine. Now mind you I had been in church my whole entire life, was saved at a young age, and was still very active in church at this time. But this was a free Playboy magazine that nobody knew I had. I knew it was wrong to have it and look at, but did I mention this was a Playboy magazine!!! And mind you I was a young teenager very capable of reading, but I can honestly say I did not read one single article that day. I was much more interested in other things.

So I looked it over once or twice or fifteen times and then had a decision to make. What do I do with this little treasure? If my mom or dad found it in my room or in the house I would no longer live there because plain and simple I would no longer live period. I thought about hiding it in the car or around the house somewhere, but my fear of dying actually made me have at least a little good judgment that day. So off on my bike I went to put the Playboy right back in the ditch where I got it from.

Fast forward to the very next day… Guess what our young friend Keith did? Now if you know me at all I’m not much one for exercise, but on this particular day I decided I needed another bike ride. That’s right I went looking for that Playboy because I wanted to “read” it again. So I got to the place in the ditch where I had left it but it was gone. To this day I don’t know how it disappeared because I’m pretty sure I hid it in the weeds pretty good so nobody else could find it. You know this isn’t one of my finer moments in life. I shared this story with my youth not too long ago because it is a perfect object lesson on sin. I did not get on my bike that first day and go for a ride to search the ditches for a Playboy! That thought never even crossed my mind. But it found me. And that’s what sin will do, you may not be looking for it, but satan is looking for you and he will take any and every opportunity to see you stumble and fall. Especially when you least expect it.

Another thing is that sin is desirable. Satan makes it look good! I couldn’t wait to get home and ride my bike the next day so I could go get my Playboy and take it back to the house again. Yes I knew it was wrong but I didn’t care! You see Playboy is full of naked women in case you didn’t know and I wanted to see them. I was a teenage boy I mean come on! Sin can entrap us. Sin will entrap us. Oh if we are not constantly mindful of that!!!

You know my first Playboy was also my last Playboy. I haven’t looked at one since. Can I say that will always be true? I hope so, but honestly I don’t know. I know what I’m capable of. I’m not a teenage boy but I’m still a man and I know the things that satan will use to tempt me. It would only take a snap decision for me to look at one again. If we are not constantly mindful of satan and mindful of the things that we are capable of doing…well that is when we will find ourselves in a ditch.

And that is exactly where he wants us.

The Truth in the Numbers - My 16th Blog

These are the blogs of my last month in youth ministry and some lessons and things God has taught me:

The Truth in the Numbers

The Director of Missions for Beaverdam Baptist Association recently sent out an email to many of the staff members of our local Baptist Churches. My mind was blown when looking at the numbers.

They are as follows:
-Over the last 10 years there has been a 23.4% decrease in church attendance in Oconee County.
-55% of the residents of Oconee County have little to no involvement in the faith community.
-78% of SC Baptist Convention churches are either declining or have plateaued in membership.
-The SC Baptist Convention estimates that 500 of 2,100 SC Baptist Convention churches will close their doors for good over the next 10 years

In addition:
-In Oconee County 20,881 people were on the membership rolls of SCBC churches
-Of those 20,881 people, 6,801 regularly attended worship
-There were 284 total Baptisms in Oconee County in SCBC churches

First of all praise God that 284 believed and participated in believer’s baptism in 2011!

But how can you not be sad when taking this data and doing some figuring on your own? For example it took 73.5 church members to help lead one person to the point of baptism. If we just look at the active church members, it took 24 active church members to help lead one person to the point of baptism. Wow!! IT TOOK 24 ACTIVE CHURCH MEMBERS PER PERSON BEING SAVED AND BAPTIZED.

Again you call me negative if you want to I really don’t care. If these numbers don’t show that we need to change what we are doing then what is it going to take to wake the church up???? I’m afraid that 500 of them over the next 10 years aren’t going to.

The message should never change. The gospel will always preach. And there is only one way to salvation and that is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

But here is the example I’ve used through the years with my kids. Satan is super smart. He knows the Bible better than any human alive. He is wise, he is patient, and he is cunning. And he doesn’t give up. If one tactic doesn’t work he will use something else and if that doesn’t work he will use something else and if that doesn’t work he will use something else etc… He will change his method at the drop of a bucket. It seems however that our churches just wanna play the same game and do the same thing that we have over the years. We never change our offense or our defense. We’re playing checkers while satan is playing chess. People are not the same as they were 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago. God is the same, people are not. Families are not the same. Teenagers are not the same. Life is not the same!!

The Great Commission says GO! That is the first word…GO…and teach all nations. We don’t have mission minded churches anymore. Our idea of missions is giving a love offering at Christmas and Easter. And that is fantastic because our foreign missionaries are getting more bang for their buck than the local church is that is for sure. But the Great Commission doesn’t say give so that somebody else can go or pray so that somebody else can go it says YOU GO! We’ve lost our mission focus, which should be our primary focus. Deacons have meetings about how to make people in the church happy. Deacons should have meetings about how to make satan unhappy and how to make their church a Great Commission minded church.

We’ve also made missions seem to have to be somewhat extravagant for them to be relevant. We have to go as a youth group on a grand mission trip or the college kid has to go to Africa or China or India or wherever or the church group has to go hundreds of miles away. And praise God for that but what about the mission field in front of our face? If we’re winning the battle elsewhere and overseas but losing the war at home what do we have to come back too? What about our lost parents and siblings and neighbors and classmates and coworkers right here and right now!! There are 74,273 people in Oconee County and if 55% of them are lost we have almost 41,000 people right here within shouting distance that need to be ministered to. And I think there are plenty of empty pews available for them to sit in.

Over the last 2 weeks I have had two people come up to me and point blank say they are not a Christian. I’m praying for God’s guidance in how to speak to them more than I already have.

And I hope it doesn’t take 47 other church members to help me share Christ with them.

A Few Thoughts on Worship - My 15th Blog

These are the blogs of my last month in youth ministry and some lessons and things God has taught me:

A FEW THOUGHTS ON WORSHIP

I hate hearing the Bible read by old men with deep voices. It is too loud and I mean you might as well drag your nails down a chalkboard. I hate hearing it read by young kids and hearing them stumble over the words. In fact I won’t tolerate it and I won’t even let them read the Bible when I’m teaching class. There’s an older man I know and I can’t understand much of what he says but him reading the Bible, forget about it. I mean he tries but it just comes out as mumbled jumbled jibberish and I’d just assume be deaf than hearing him read something about Jesus to me that I can’t understand. I have a friend who talks like an auctioneer. If I ever had to hear her read the Bible with her fast speech we would no longer be friends. If she were to get up and read the Bible in church I would find a new church. I won’t tolerate a fast reader reading to me about God. If you don’t want to anger me or upset me you best read the Bible when you’re around me the way I want it read at the volume I want it read and the pace I want it read. If not there will be problems.

I sound pretty ridiculous right? I think so too.

The point of my first paragraph is this: I just don’t understand why there are people in churches all over the place that will only tolerate one style of worship. The music has to stay the same and we have to sing the same songs from the same hymnal in the same traditional style we have always done it. Do you know how many people I know that have changed churches because their church went from a “traditional” service to a “contemporary” or “blended” service?? I’ll be honest with you I don’t even know what a blended service is because don’t we serve just one God and shouldn’t all our worship be directed to just Him? I’ve heard all my life people say “we’ll we don’t want to upset anyone or make anybody mad by changing the music any.” Well how about we change our focus from pleasing people to pleasing God?? The pleasing people method NEVER works!

I think people are afraid of worship. I really do, unless it is worship of tradition. That is why the church during Jesus’ day hated Him so much, because He came to change the entire tradition and process that they had in place. And the people worshipped the tradition that they had instead of God so they hated Jesus for these new age ideas that He was teaching.

I think people are going to be shocked at what worship really looks like when we get to Heaven. I love old hymns and I’m a rare young person who likes Southern Gospel, but I promise we won’t be singing “Jesus is coming soon” when we are in Heaven because he’ll have already come. And I think young people today want to worship. I know young people want to worship. And music is so so powerful and influential to them. Older folks have no idea how much music influences what they do and there moods and the choices they make. And I’m sorry but there aren’t many teenagers today listening to the Gaithers and Jake Hess on their iphones. They are listening to Eminem and Kanye and Fitty (I’m talking about 50 cent but I call him Fitty cause I’m from the streets of Westminster and that’s how I do). But man when I can get them to listen to Toby Mac or Lecrae or Third Day who might have similar styles but actually uplifting and God inspired lyrics then I have accomplished something! After all what you put in your ears is what comes out of your mouth!

I get so tired of hearing negative things about contemporary Christian music and praise and worship music. Me and a friend of mine were talking the other day and he said his pastor stood up in the pulpit and said that as far as contemporary Christian music was concerned, well he said the very word contemporary came from the word contempt so you can imagine how he felt. Wow! People dying and going to hell and we use God’s stage to badmouth God’s music.

I said the other day that when someone hurts you in church are you going for the people or for God? If you are going for God then don’t worry about the people and if you are going for the people then by all means move on. I’ll say the same thing about music, when you sing it are you singing it because you like the beat or the speed or the style or the noise level, or are you actually singing it because you like and mean the WORDS.

I could fill up 5 more pages with my thoughts on this subject but I’m going to be quiet now. But if you don’t think JESUS WAS A REBEL and a tradition changer, especially where worship was concerned, go back and re-read the gospels.

I’ve been called negative for some of the things I say and the beliefs I express and some people have had problems with it. You know what I have a problem with? The people that can see what is going on in our churches and with our young people and yet remain silent and complacent and unchanging.

And quiet…

Now I really will shut up :)

The Hardest Thing - My 14th Blog

These are the blogs of my last month in youth ministry and some lessons and things God has taught me:

THE HARDEST THING ABOUT YOUTH MINISTRY

If I had a time travel machine first of all I would be the coolest and most popular nerd in the world!! And second of all I would take it and travel back in time over the last 13 years I’ve been working with kids and use it in my youth ministry to travel into the future with each and every one of them. Go back in time just to travel into the future?? I am just that crazy.

This is what I would do. I’d take two separate trips with each kid. The first would be with them making the very best decisions that they could make in every aspect of life. I’d take them to say age 40 which is really really old. I’d have them staying in church, growing close to God, reading their Bibles, praying, staying 100% away from any form of alcohol, no premarital sex, no addictions to pornography, dated with a purpose, smart with their money, clean mouths, etc… And I’d let them see what their life looked like, every aspect of it.

The second trip I would make would be the total opposite. I’d still take them to when they were ancient and 40 but this time they have made the total opposite decisions. Out of church, never read their Bibles or pray, alcohol socially and alcohol recreationally, sex is just a casual thing not a spiritual thing, addicted to pornography, dated just for pleasure, horrible money managers, etc… And I’d again let them see what their life looked like, every aspect of it.

Now I know the Christian life ain’t easy street and nowhere does God promise a life of luxury for making all the right decisions. In fact I believe it is harder to be a Christian than it is to not be one. But I would make these two trips every single time and know that the outcome of the first trip would ALWAYS be better than the second one because I know 100% of the time that being in the will of God is better than not being in it.

So this brings me to the subject of my blog today. The hardest part of being in youth ministry is most definitely seeing your kids make bad decisions and the consequences they have to live with. If I had a time machine I know I could convince them to make good decisions but all I have is my words and I’m not very good with those. I know I don’t make the decisions for anyone but myself but you still can’t be in this job and not take things personal that you see people you love doing.

I like Facebook and Twitter for keeping up with people but I also hate it for being able to see what goes on outside of Sunday morning and Wednesday night. I love hearing from former students and running into them when I’m at Wal-Mart :) but I also hate it because of some of the updates I hear from them not only about themselves but also others I have taught in the past. Divorce, DUIs, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, sex how God did not intend it, drop-outs, financial issues, arrests…I can put a young name and a young face to all of those things.

I have a theory that one of the reasons that the ministry of Jesus on Earth was so short was because He constantly kept seeing all the bad things people doing despite Him teaching them firsthand the ways of God. I might be wrong about that and it won’t be the first time, but I think it was hard for Jesus to see those things. It had to be because He hates sin. Just a thought.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go work on my Flux Capacitor.