will they ever leave?
will they ever leave? not that i want them to go, but here…let me explain.
i was reading this morning from the gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 36ish. this is where Jesus calls His first disciples. John the Baptist is hanging out with a couple of his disciples and Jesus walks by. John points and tells his disciples, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” Immediately, Johns 2 disciples left and followed Jesus. Left John in the dust.
After reading this I thought of my youth. Prior to this John had done a great job of preparing the way of the Lord. He really did nothing to bring praise to himself but instead, did everything to bring praise to the King whose sandal he is not worthy to untie. So John had these disciples who followed him, ( i am convinced) because they knew he would point them to this One who is to come. These were the very disciples who immediately left John to follow Jesus. The disciples were so sure of who this Jesus was. John must have done an amazing job preparing these disciples for the time when they would meet Jesus; for the time John knew was coming. The time when they would leave.
So here is the question I ask myself. I spend alot of time telling my youth about Jesus. Am I doing as good a job as John? Will my youth, the moment they truly catch a glimpse of Jesus, leave? Will they drop all they have and follow this King without asking questions?
I sure hope so.
please, if you would
i have a very dear friend who could use your prayers. my friend john sherrill’s wife gave birth to their third child a few days ago. the only thing is that their third child was born premature, at 23 4/7 weeks.
if you would please pray. everytime you think about it. pray. intercede for baby kyle and the sherrill family. thanks.
you can read there story here.
ohhh-emmm-geeeeeeee.
so the time is almost here. guitar hero 3 comes out in only a few days. i have been watching clips of experts on youtube and i think this one takes the cake. i’ll get there…eventually.
jesus in narnia…
i have been reading the lion the witch and the wardrobe for a while now. i read it when i was younger but now it takes on so much more meaning. c.s. lewis is so good. so here is the quote that got me today.
“You have a traitor there, Aslan,” said the Witch. Of course everyone present knew that she meant Edmund. But Edmund had got past thinking about himself after all he’d been through and after the talk he’d had that morning. He just went on looking at Aslan. It didn’t seem to matter what the witch said.”
when i read this i pretty much just shut my book and sat back to think. this quote is so true about our relationship with Christ. well, it is how our relationship should be. you see, edmund had basically gotten sucked in to the witches “promises” and betrayed his siblings and neglected the promises that were to come to him. the promise of being a king of narnia. all of edmunds siblings had met and encountered the real King, Aslan, but edmund had not due to the fact that he had followed after the empty promises of the white witch. when the time came and edmund met Aslan, he was floored. the beauty of this real King had all of his attention. when the white witch, edmund and Aslan were together, edmunds attention was solely on Aslan even though the witch, who had previously captured edmunds heart, was present.
at the beginning of this quote, the white witch reminds edmund of his past. this is so true in our lives as believers. satan always rears his silly little head and reminds us of who we once were. he reminds us of all those times we have screwed up, all those times we have blown it. but in this scene edmunds actions show that Jesus is more beautiful than his past.
so that is my prayer for myself and for anyone else who is a believer. that we would see Jesus as so beautiful that even when satan reminds us of our past, we can’t take our eyes off of Him.
i don’t care…
“And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘My son, your sins are forgiven’ ” – Mark 2:1-5 ESV
I have talked about this scripture many time to many people, and everytime I read it I want to take on hell with a super-soaker. One of the first things I see when I read this scripture is that where Jesus is, people want to be. The people heard that Jesus was going to be in town so they pack out this little house just to hear the guy talk (little did they know but they were going to see alot more than that). But this is not what I want to focus on. There was this group of friends and in this group was a paralytic. These friends had no doubt heard that Jesus was a man of miracles so like any friends would do, they wanted to take their paralytic friend to this Jesus to get healed. So they pick him up and carry him (who knows how far), and I’m pretty sure that they weren’t walking slowly. They get to the house, its packed. There is no way they can get their friend, on his mat, into the house to see Jesus. So they carry the guy upstairs, this is a feat in itself. They go on the roof of this random house and kick/dig/who knows what else, through the roof, knocking dirt/mud/straw onto everyone inside the house. Then they lower their paralytic friend down infront of Jesus, hoping that Jesus will heal him, and Jesus does.
The point of this is that these friends took drastic measures to get their friends to Christ. It’s exciting to see some of my youth starting to come around. Many times I wonder if what I am doing is making a difference. Many times I wonder if God is using me to my maximum potential. As of recent times, it is good to see the fruit. So in your everyday walk, in your comings and goings, when you are reaching out to your co-workers, your fellow students, do whatever it takes to get them to the feet of Jesus.
As far as my post title, I don’t care…what it takes. I’m going to get them to the feet of Jesus.
a little at a time…
i think one of the best things about being a youth pastor is seeing a student make progress. tonight i heard a student say from her own lips “i don’t wanna do that anymore” (in reference to part of her past that she knows was not Christ-like). that is always something good to hear.
when a student knows they are doing things that christ is totally not down with, and they make the commitment to themselves to change that part of their life. that makes me me smile, and i know it makes God smile.
baby steps. one baby step at a time.
