At our local church fellowship, we have had Dr. Talley as a guest speaker. He has been sharing with our fellowship about the importance of having a personal prayer ministry. For the times I’ve been, it’s been some pretty good stuff.

Tonight was really cool. I’ll admit that when I saw the title (something like “how to be emotionally strong through prayer”), I wasn’t all that excited. As we unpacked Philippians 4:6-7, a few things stood out. One thing that I thought I’d share was the “bologna sandwich for worry”. Here’s how it goes (from Philippians 4:6):

Yesterday was a great day at our local fellowship.  It was a crazy day in that it was Graduate Recognition Sunday.  Even through all of the craziness that comes with recognizing graduates, it was an awesome day.  Here are some things that stood out to me…

• Graduate Recognition is always an emotional time. It doesn’t matter how many times you do it, it never gets old.  To watch the students that you’ve poured in to reach that pinnacle and step on to the next phase is always a great thing.
• Students never cease to amaze me. We had one high school graduate lined up to just say a short word of thanks to the church family for being there for him and supporting him through the years.  He was almost to the point of backing out and not saying anything (not much of an upfront guy).  He did step up though and shared from his heart.  I was left sitting there in utter amazement… God is doing some great stuff through our students.
• The meaning of “graduate”. Our pastor brought an awesome message about the meaning of graduate – which from the Latin is “to step”.  We all have a step to take in our lives.  What step are we trusting God with right now.  (You can hear the message for yourself here.)
• Salvation doesn’t just deal with our past. In our student worship service, we talked about the present-tense part of our salvation (sanctification).  We got some really great students who are eager to learn about God.

Today, I had the privilege of leading the Bible study with the senior adults in our fellowship who meet at the Midweek Lunch Service.  I decided to share about why it was no coincidence that Jesus’ first disciples were fishermen.  You can read the account in Matthew 4:18-22.  Jesus is beginning His earthly ministry after His baptism and chooses four men who were professional fishermen to “follow Him.”

Here are a few thoughts that I came away with from this…

• God never does anything by chance. Our great, sovereign Lord has a plan with every little thing that He does.  Even the most minute details and actions are a part of His glorious plan somehow.
• Fishing takes patience. I grew up fishing in the creek that ran behind our home.  There are so many different stories that I could share about those times, but one thing that I learned very quickly is that the art of fishing takes patience.  You’re not going to always get a bite a couple of seconds after you put the bait in the water.  Ministry is much like fishing because it takes a great deal of patience.
• Fishing takes passion. I have sometimes wondered how some people can spend so much money and resources on fishing stuff (boat, tackle, rod & reels, etc), but it is simply because they have a passion for it.  Where there is passion, there is the full dedication of everything that we are.  You will have those who are casual fishermen but really don’t have a passion, and you’ll see that they never really get much done.  Ministry can easily become a chore or job to some.  When it does, the passion is sucked out along with effectiveness.  A follower of Christ has to have Jesus as their chief passion for the long haul that He calls us to.
• Fishing takes persistence. While very similar to patience, fishermen must be persistent (especially bass fishermen).  Sadly, because we live in this microwave society of expecting immediate results, persistence is becoming a lost art form.  The life that Jesus calls us to is one that must be marked with persistence.  I’m amazed at how many people “give up” on God, sharing their faith, prayer, church, tithing, etc all because they didn’t see immediate results.  Just ask any fishermen who really knows his stuff and they’ll tell you: if you want to catch the big one, you have to keep at it.

It is awesome to know that our God doesn’t just fly by the seat of His pants, but has a plan and purpose in everything that He does.  It is also encouraging to know that He has given us some examples from everyday life (even fishing) to help us with our daily walk with Him.

I had the great privilege of speaking this morning to a group of students at Homewood Middle School (Birmingham, AL) at their First Priority meeting.   I love getting together with students and sharing a few moments together with the Lord.  I talked about excuses and used the text from John 5 about when Jesus healed the invalid who had been in that condition for 38 years.

The truth is, we all have excuses.  For any task, you can easily fill in the blank with an excuse.  We inherited this trait from Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden.  In the John 5 passage, Jesus asks the man if he wanted to be made whole/well?  Instead of just answering, the man threw out his excuses.

As I shared with the students this morning, there are many things that Jesus calls us to…

1. Salvation
2. Sharing Jesus with others
3. Turn from sin
4. Get out of our comfort zone

Many times, instead of showing our great love for Jesus, we give excuses like the invalid in John 5.  God doesn’t care about our excuses as much as He cares about us.  Whatever it is that God is calling us to, let us instead of giving Him excuses give Him obedience.

A couple of weeks ago, our student ministry started a new series called “It’s the End of the World As We Know It.” This series is an overview of end time events as the Bible talks about them. This has been a fun series to prepare and do. Reading different thoughts and study notes from a range of folks has caused me to really get in to it and try to get my mind somewhat aroud these events.

It always amazes me just how interested students are in the end of the world. Think about it. Teenagers do have this subconscious thought of lasting forever, but still they want to know how it all comes to an end.

One really cool thing that happened this week is that I got a text message from a parent saying that their student had some questions and was a little confused about these end time events. At first, I wondered if I had confused this student by teaching wrong. Then, God reminded me that this is why I am on staff at our church in the role of student pastor. I am called to come alongside and help parents spiritually train their child (not do it all for them). I gave the parent a timeline of events and my study notes with the invitation to help find more resources if needed.

As this series plays out, I’m anxious to see what God is going to do. One thing that I do hope for is that a passion and longing for Jesus’ return would be ignited in our students’ lives.

This was a message that I shared with our students last night at Crossroads.  It was the second message in a series we’re calling “It’s the End of the World As We Know It.”  It discusses what the Judgment Seat of Christ is about.

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As the Christmas season carries on, I’m reminded of the different stories of the Bible about this time: the angel’s proclamation, the birth of the Messiah, the shepherds and angels worshiping, and the Magi.  One story that seems to get lost in the hustle and bustle of this season is what takes place about the time that Jesus Christ was a week old.  Luke 2:21-35 paints the picture for us.  In this passage of Scripture, one can see the greatness of being faithful to what God has commanded and called us to do.  Two stories are given that turn into one.

The first story: Mary and Joseph

Why were these two young people chosen to be the earthly parents of the Messiah?  Was it their good looks?  Their standing in society?  No, the reason that these two were chosen is because they were found faithful (Luke 1:28-38; Matthew 1:18-25).  They had been faithful to God in keeping His commands.  They followed after God the best way they knew how. Now when this young couple’s world got turned upside down by the unexpected Child, their faithfulness did not fade a bit.  We see in the focal passage that Mary and Joseph continue to be faithful to the commands of God.  They had Jesus circumcised on the 8th day.  They took Him to the Temple to consecrate Him.  They offered the recommended sacrifice even when the funds were very low (remember the Magi wouldn’t arrive for another 23 months or so).

This young couple could have easily taken a different path.  Here we have a young couple who just had an unplanned (by them) baby, living in a place that was not their home.  This young couple could have easily let their faithfulness fade in trying to provide for themselves.  They could have gotten prideful in thinking, “We have the Messiah right here.  Why do we need to go through all these rules or even go to Jerusalem?”  The fact is that this young couple did not take the easy road, but rather, they stayed on the course they had come to trust (faithfulness to God).

The second story: Simeon

Here is a man of great faithfulness.  He had been told by the Holy Spirit that his eyes would see the Messiah before he died.  We are not told how long Simeon had been waiting on this promised to be made good, but any wait on something like that has to be hard.  He goes into the temple courts not really knowing why, and sees that God is faithful.  He takes the little Jesus and praises God.  True peace has come to this man of God by seeing the face of Jesus.  Isn’t that the way it usually comes?

The stories collide

One thing that has stuck in my mind about this passage was, “what if Mary and Joseph weren’t faithful?”  What if they didn’t see the need to go to Jerusalem and carry out all of these commandments of God?  They were facing many difficult obstacles at that time.  If Mary and Joseph weren’t faithful, then how long would Simeon have to wait to see the promise of God come true?  Mary and Joseph’s faithfulness to God became the fulfillment of God’s promise to Simeon.

What if we were faithful to the little things that God has commanded us?  Could it be that we just might the answer and fulfillment of God’s promise to another person?

Special Theme: Student-led worship service for the entire church.

Music: “Victory In Jesus”, “You Are Holy (Prince of Peace)”, “Come Thou Fount”.

Special: The student praise team put together a slide show/video to go along with them singing a great song about our need of each other called “I Need You To Survive.”

Message: “The Three Chairs.”  Joshua 24:15-Judges 2:12.  This was a message that deals with the different spiritual conditions of people (commitment, compromise, and conflict with God).  It uses the illustration from Dr. Bruce Wilkinson’s book Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs.

Overall: This night was one to remember.  I was so proud of the hard work that the students had put in to prepare to lead worship for our fellowship.  There was a great “spirit” in the building Sunday night.  I know that I spent a great deal of time in preparation on the message (more than I even usually do).  I was very proud of our students for stepping up and inviting their friends to come and see what God was doing at our fellowship.  One young lady that has been visiting our student ministry over the past month or so even brought a visitor!  I hope to have the mp3 of the message up soon.

Series: “Bonding with James” – An examination of the New Testament book of James by taking titles from James Bond movies.

Message: “A View To A Kill” James 3:1-12.  This message focused on the power of our words.  Our words can be a very powerful thing, and can be used for great things or to destroy.  We had a great testimony from a college student who’s family was visiting during the morning service about how a couple of our students used their words in a great way.

Music: “Blessed Be Your Name”, “Filled With Your Glory”, and “Mighty to Save”.  It was good to have Josh, Murphy, and Erica (all college students) back and leading worship for our students.

Games: We did another round of “Paper, Rock, Scissors” and made Emily Roberts (6th grader who is the reigning champion) defend her title.  She did defend it victoriously against the challenger.

Student Involvement: We had a student come by during the week last week and make a video of announcements that we shared with the group.  It was great.  The students paid more attention to the announcements and we had a good laugh at some of the mannerisms of the student.

You can hear the podcast of this message by clicking here.

I don’t mean to take light the tragedy of cancer or make light of it.  Sadly, my family has had many experiences with this monster called cancer.  That is why I choose to compare conformity to cancer.  I was working on a lesson for our student ministry.  We knew that we were going to talk about the danger of conformity and using the obvious verse of Romans 12:2.  But it was the day before I was to speak to our students that God showed me something that I had never paid attention to before.

Conformity has been a weapon that Satan has used to try to rob God of His glory since at least the Garden of Eden.  It was in the Garden of Eden that Satan tempted humans with being “like” God.  Just blend in with the surroundings.  Israel was to be a different nation from all others upon the earth.  They were constantly tempted into being just like everyone else.  The New Testament church is also called to be “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9).  I don’t use the King James Version much due to the difference in language from modern English, but it’s translation of this verse is awesome.  Instead of saying “a people belonging to God” it says “a peculiar people.”

We were created not to conform to the things around us, but to be transformed by the Holy Spirit and display the glory of God.  God created humans in a completely different way from everything in creation.  He used His hands and breath to bring us to life when only words worked with everything else.  From the beginning, we were to be different.  We are confronted from all sides with temptations to just blend in with the surroundings.  Let’s not fade into the background of our sinful surroundings, but rather let us be a “city on a hill” and let the light of Christ shine through us like never before.