Do you know what Instant Messaging is? Unlike email, Instant Messaging (IM) software allows you to 'talk' to someone in real time by typing and receiving messages. It’s a text-based computer conference over the Internet between two or more people who must be online at the same time. When you send an IM, the receiver is instantly notified that he or she has a message. In November 2007, Windows Live Messenger, the world’s largest IM service, had 294 million active users worldwide. In January 2008, Yahoo IM had 248 million active registered global users. Here are some other stats to ponder:
- 74% of online teens use IM programs; in comparison, 44% of online adults have used these programs
- 69% of online teens use IM programs several times a week
- 70% of online teens say they use IM more often than email; in comparison, 24% of online adults use IM more often than email
- 55% of teen IM users have used IM to get help with their homework
- 22% of teen IM users have used IM to ask for or accept a date
- 43% of IM users have used IM to write something that they would not have said in person
In Luke 24:49, “what my Father has promised” that will bring “power from on high” refers to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that began at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is our Instant Messaging service. Jesus called the Holy Spirit a “Counselor” in John 14:16. Literally translated, this means He is the “one called alongside to help.” We don’t have to wait for Him to respond. He’s always on. He’s always there. It’s instant. He’s our Counselor, Strengthener, Comforter, Helper, Adviser, Advocate, Intercessor, Ally and Friend. The Holy Spirit continues what Christ himself did while on earth. While Jesus is our helper and intercessor in heaven, the Holy Spirit is our helper and intercessor on earth.
Sweat. If it looks like sweat, if it feels like sweat, it it smells like sweat, it's probably sweat. Oh, you may call it by a different name (after all, girls don't perspire, they glisten), but in the end, it's still sweat. Most think it's gross when it happens, and no one's fond of rubbing up against someone else who's covered in it, but like the kids book, Everyone Poops, by Taro Gomi, everyone sweats.
This is actually a pretty cool feature God gave our magnificent bodies. Sweat is a means of helping to regulate our body temperature. When the sweat evaporates from our skin, it provides a cooling effect. That's why, when it's hot, or when your muscles heat up from being worked, more sweat is produced. Sweat is sort of the proof that your body is overheating and needing to cool down.
This week in youth we talked about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial physical evidence of speaking in tongues. Just like sweat is the proof that your body is beginning to overheat, tongues is the proof that you've been filled with the Spirit. There had to be some sign. Tongues is it. If at Baptism you suddenly started sweating, you might think you were filled with the Holy Spirit while you were playing a sport. If being filled meant you suddenly got hungry for pizza, you might think you were filled with the Holy Spirit whenever you walked into a Pizza Hut. The filling of the Holy Spirit had to be something supernatural so that you would have no doubt. Speaking in tongues is that supernatural occurrence.
Take a moment to read Acts 4:31-35 and answer these questions:
- What were the affects of the Holy Spirit filling these people?
- How have you personally been affected by the Holy Spirit?
- How do you think that people can tell that you're filled with the Holy Spirit?
- In what specific ways listed in these verses can you display the infilling of the Holy Spirit to others?
Saturday, March 18, 2073. According to www.deathclock.com, based on my date of birth, height, weight, body type, general attitude on life, and the fact that I'm a non-smoker, that's the day I'll die. I don't give a lot of credence to it, but it is interesting to watch the seconds slowly tick away. Just over 2 billion seconds to go! What if that time was much shorter?
Sometimes, I'm not a good manager of my time. Traditionally, I've been a procrastinator, waiting to the last possible moment to do that big report, or finish that project or do what I need to do to meet the deadline. Sometimes that's worked, most of the time it hasn't. I've become acutely aware that if I don't manage my time, it will manage me. As we consider what we'd do differently with our lives if we found out we had ONE MONTH TO LIVE, I wonder how well I'd manage my time. In Sunday School yesterday, we talked through some things we'd like to do before we died and how much time we'd spend doing them. As it turned out, we came up six or eight things that we'd spend exactly 30 days doing; one month. The problem was, we all decided that those weren't the only things we'd want to do. In order to accomplish more, we would have to be better managers of our time.
I heard someone say recently that "what matters most must never be at the mercy of what matters least." It's been said that when faced with death, no one has ever wished they had spent more time at work and less time with family. In order to better manage our time, we may have to refocus our priorities. Consider Ephesians 5:15-17 (NLT) "So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of ever opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do."
What's most important to you in life? Does your time reflect that? What changes would you like to make before time runs out?
We started a new series in Youth last night called TREASURE HUNTERS. It’s Christmas; everyone wants gifts. Some are more important than others. Some are temporary. Some are long-lasting. We’re going to talk about the gifts of the Spirit, Baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the greatest gift of all, Jesus. This week…DISCOVERING YOUR GIFTS.
Three points:
1. We all have gifts. Mine aren't the same as yours. Just as an ear is no better than an eye, one gift or talent is no better than another. Romans 12:6-8 talks about spiritual gifts, but what other gifts and talents do you have? One of mine is playing the trumpet. God gave me that gift. Even with very little practice, I can play exceptionally well. With practice, I do even better. One of the things my parents stipulated in my learning to play an instrument was that if my ability to play was evident as a God-given gift, then I must use it for His glory. Over the years, I've played in a variety of venues and for countless people. But what I enjoy the most is playing on the worship team at church, with my eyes closed, strictly as an act of worship to God.
2. My gifts aren't any better than yours. From time to time, I've looked at other trumpet players and said, "I wish I could do that." I wish I was a good performer, or could play professionally, or play in a band or whatever. I thought was cool many years ago when an old friend of mine built and played his own bass guitar. Now, he's playing on a worship team for a major record label. It's sometimes easy to look at the gifts that others have and want their gifts. What it comes down to is that God gave us all a unique set of gifts, and if we use them as He has called us to, we work together to edify the entire Body of Christ. As such, I'm content to be a trumpet worshiper in the local church, hopefully creating a unique worship experience that will edify the local Body of Christ. Others are called to take their gifts and talents beyond these walls.
3. Use them or lose them. Whenever you receive a gift, there are three things that you must do with it. You must accept it, you must open it, and you must use it. If I had accepted the gift of trumpet playing, but chosen to play the sax instead, my gift would have been of no value. If I had accepted my, but never opened it and developed my gift, it would have been of no value. Several years ago, I received a rotary tool for Christmas. I thought it was really cool when I got it and opened it, but have never opened the package to use it. As such, it's been of no use to me. Several months ago, I received an iPod shuffle as a gift. I had intended to return it to the store and apply the credit to a "larger, better" iPod, but I never have, so it's been of no use to me; except to act as a paperweight on my desk. It's the same with our God-given gifts and talents. If I don't practice my trumpet, and use my gift, my ability to play well is greatly diminished. If we don't accept, open and use our gifts we'll lose them, and they'll be of no use to us or anyone else in the Body of Christ.
What gifts has God given you, and how are you using them?
A couple of months ago, a good friend of mine challenged me to read Psalm 103:2-5, paying particular attention to verse 2, where it says, "and forget not ALL his benefits."
For me, anytime I see the word ALL, I pay particularly close attention to the context in which it is being used. Especially when used in Biblical text. "ALL" allows for no exclusions or exceptions. It is whole. It is full. It encompasses the entire extent of subject it references. ALL is an extreme word.
Often, when you look for a new job, the benefits that come with it are just as important as the salary you receive: Paid Time Off, Health Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, Matching Contributions to your 401K, Corporate Discounts, Housing Allowance, Company Car, Uniform Allowance. The list goes on.
As I thought about this, I thought about the ALL of the "benefits" I have as a Christ-follower. Some are mentioned in this passage of scripture: Christ forgives of ALL of my sins, He heals ALL my diseases, He redeems my life from the pit of Hell, He surrounds me with love and compassion, He fills my life with good things.
Here are some others:
- Grace - forgiveness, a past that's paid, a better-than-I-deserve-life
- Good health - instant access to the Great Physician
- The Holy Spirit - a whole extra dimension of God's power
- Eternal Life - call it "Long Term Care" or "Free Life Insurance"
- Love that never fails
- The joy of the Lord
- A wonderful spouse
- An amazing family and extended family
- A great job
- A voice to praise
- Rest
- Peace that passes all understanding
- Compassion for those less fortunate than I
- Provision
What are some of the "benefits" you have? Let's not forget them!
I know it may seem weird, but I really like walking through cemeteries and looking at headstones. In doing that, I often wonder, what did this person live for? What defined them? What made them famous? What were they passionate about? What were they afraid of? What mistakes did they make? Did a mistake lead to their being here?! What regrets did they have? What lives did they touch? What kind of legacy did they leave? Who attended their funeral? Whose tears have fallen on this grave?
All of the answers to those questions are summarized in a tiny mark between their date of birth and their expiration date; a hyphen - a dash.
You get to choose how to spend your dash. Your time is limited. Pope Paul VI once said, "Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it, I say! Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows." What are you doing with your dash? Are you living the dash, or dashing to live?
What would you do differently in your life today, if you suddenly found out you had One Month to Live? Would you take the opportunity to say, feel and do what you really want? What big things would you want to do? What small changes would you want to make in your daily schedule? Is there anyone you'd want to "make things right with"? What risks would you take? What keeps you from living that way now? Why can't we all live like we are dying?
Psalm 90:12 (TLB) says it best: "Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should."
Here are a couple of points from Saturday afternoon’s message titled “Extraordinary Leader” taken from 1 Timothy 4:1-16. You can listen to the podcast for this message here!
- Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example.
- Be an example in Speech, Life, Love, Faith, and Purity.
Here are a couple of points from Saturday morning’s message titled “Extraordinary Love” taken from Mark 2:1-5:
- Extraordinary Love makes a difference in others lives.
- Extraordinary Love can make this year the best year of your life.
Hey! Just wanted to let you all know we made it to Kearney and had a wonderful first service at Fall Convention with Rod Whitlock, former Nebraska District Youth Director (DYD); now our National Student Discipleship Director.
Here are a couple of points from tonight’s message titled “An Extraordinary Life Without Masks” taken from Genesis 29:14-35. You can listen to the podcast for this message here!
- Some of us have some many masks for our lives that we don’t even know who we are anymore.
- We need to remove our masks and be who God wants us to be.
Parent: \’per-ənt\ noun – One that brings forth offspring; a person who brings up, rears, trains or raises a child.
Since moving into our apartment several months ago, we’ve had birds build nests on top of the shudders of our windows. It’s no big deal. In fact, it’s kinda cool to lay in bed on a Saturday morning and just watch the mom and dad fly in and out, taking care of the birds in the nest. As it is, I can’t help but see the similarities between parents, baby birds and the nest to parents, teenagers, and home.
First, the order the eggs are laid in, is the order in which they hatch. Ergo, older children and younger children. Both parents care for their young, which also works best for parents of children. Females show more care for the young after birth. Males provide food at first. (OK, so that doesn’t really fly (pun intended) with nursing moms, but, whatever.) Parents control the allocation of food, changing positions if necessary to ensure all offspring have an equal chance of survival.
The parents are probably a bit stressed as the chicks near independence and leaving the nest as they aren't as easy to protect as they were in the nest. They know that leaving the nest too early can be hazardous to the birds’ health. It may be seriously injured as it falls from the nest, not ready to or knowing how to fly on its own yet. It also becomes easy prey for predators, defenseless as it stumbles around on its own for the first time. Being away from the nest also makes it more difficult for its parents to feed it and protect it from danger.
Even still, baby birds often fly out of the nest before they can fly back to it. The father takes a couple of weeks to teach the babies how to survive, which may contribute elevated stress levels for the mother. But, the father will look after the babies until they become more independent.
Can you relate to any of this? I know that for me, it was fairly easy to “leave the nest.” For others, I know it’s more difficult. When kids first leave the “nest”, they are more susceptible to doing stupid things. But, if they have been “trained up in the way they should go, even when they are old, they will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
To parents who still have children living in your “nest”, these are critical years in developing your children. What can you do today to shape their tomorrow? What can you teach them now that they can apply when it comes time to leaving the nest? What can you do to better equip them for adulthood?
If you can become your child’s hero now, they will become your best friend as an adult. Let me challenge you with this question: Are you your child’s parent, or are you just the biggest person living in your home?
It thought this was going to be so easy! Kids Camp 2. After the first day, I was beat! Wasn't sure I could make it through the week! Well, I did, and it was AWESOME! I took 4 kids (Hannah, Matthew, Lyndsie, and Erykah) from our church and was a dorm leader for 10 Boys (Jordan, Daniel, Jacob, Quinn, Charles, Matthew, Tony, Jacob, Trevon, and Christian) in Ackerman #8! The camp theme: Transformed! Our speaker team: Pastor Carl Lussier and Family (www.kidzturn.com)
Who says adults can't learn something at Kids Camp?!
- Transforming Word: Revelation 1:5
- God made the outside and the inside. Just taking care of the outside is not enough.
- Transforming Love: John 3:17
- Transforming Spirit: Ephesians 5:18
- The Bible is not a collection of stories, but a record of events. Stories may or may not be true. Events are real.
- Transforming Faith: James 2:26
- Faith does not interact with any of our senses.
- We've all been given a measure of faith. What are you going to do with it?
Another great week at camp!
I've officially been at camp one day longer than I've been in my office! This week: High School Camp. I took 12 kids (Ashley, Alicia, Erik, Camille, Andrea, Alyssa, Julian, Daisha, Jena, Matt, Harlee and Presley) from our church and was a dorm leader for 5 High School Boys (Matt, Josh, Erik, Travis, and Julian) in Dickensen #9! The camp theme: Deepening! Our speaker: Jeff Little (www.jefflittle.org)
More spiritual "nuggets" if you will :)
- Going deep is not gradual. It's immediate, acute, straight down and dangerous. So many people are satisfied with the shallowness in their lives. We need to go deeper.
- "Follow the yellow-brick road!" You can choose what ever road you want, but you go where it goes. You don't chose the destination. Is the road you're on gonna take you to where you want to end up? Are you on the right road?
- You need to know what in the world you believe and why in the world you believe it. You must conduct worldview training in your youth group.
- Condemnation differs from conviction. Conviction is specific. Are you listening to the wrong voice?
- Your life is like a mortgage: So expensive that you cannot afford it. So expensive that God Himself had to die to pay the price for it.
- You can be whatever GOD wants you to be. It doesn't matter what YOU want to be.
- If you take care of God's business, He will get into your business and you will prosper.
- Destiny is not just a plan, job, etc. Your destiny has a face. It's the people you touch around you. Jesus did not die for a plan, he died for a person.
- 4 Types of People at the Beach, where the beach is the world and the water is the Kingdom of God: 1) Beach Bums (unbelievers; never get into the water). 2) Toe Dippers (like carnal/casual Christians - touch the water, but never really get wet). 3) Waders (have real relationship with God, but have reached a plateau). 4) Maniacs (willing to go deep with God).
- 6 Aspects of Deep Water: 1. It's the place of the presence of God 2. It's the place of hearing God's voice 3. It's the place of faith and trust 4. It's the place of miracles 5. It's the place of storms (the deepest relationships involve and require the toughest tests) 6. It's the place of rescue.
Two weeks without my wife and kids is killing me. Can't wait for them to get home this weekend! Another awesome week of camp! Next week: Back in the office, then Kids Camp the following week! Can't wait!
Wow! Been in Nebraska for 1 whole week and I’m off to Camp Lex for Jr. High Camp! I took 3 kids (Kyle, Grace and Brittnie) from our church and was a dorm leader for 5 Jr. High boys (Zach, Taylor, Blake, Cole and Jacob) in Dickensen #10! The camp theme: Deepening! Our speaker: Tony Cruiz (www.consumingfiremin.com)
Here are a few things I took away from the week. Spiritual “nuggets” if you will. Sort of like chicken nuggets - not sure where they come from, but they sure taste good!
- Holiness is doing what God says to do the first time He says to do it.
- “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” Sort of a “birds of a feather” philosophy. You’re only as holy as your best friend.
- Some people make things more difficult for you. Some people make things better for you. You need both kinds of people in your life.
- Not every person is called to do the same things for the Kingdom of God, but we all share in the reward.
- Three Life Lessons: 1. Never fight an ugly person, for they have nothing to lose. 2. No matter how many times you press the elevator button, it’s not going to get there any faster. 3. Don’t mess with a cat that’s angry. Although, that’s the type of fight we need to engage in in fighting sin. Be willing to do what no one else will do. Be willing to fight for people that can’t fight for themselves.
- Prayer: “Let the things that break Your heart, Lord, also break mine.”
- Think globally. Act locally.
- After preaching, pray: “Thank you for this privilege to share Your Word, Lord. May it pierce my heart as it does theirs.”
- “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Although this also began a two week period of separation from my wife and kids, as I’m off to camp and they’re back visiting friends and family in South Dakota (I am so missing them right now!), what an awesome week of camp! Next week: High School Camp! Can’t wait!
