Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope that this finds all of you enjoying the holiday season. I happen to now be sitting at the table at my in-laws kitchen after a rousing game of phase 10 (which took 2.5 hours to finish, Carmen!). Earlier today we went to Christmas eve service at the church my in-laws go to.

Last year I remember seeing a movie about Mary and Joseph and the events leading up to Jesus' birth. It was long and I am not real sure what the point was other than focusing on Mary. We sang "Mary did you know". It was a different approach to the Christmas season. This year as we went we were wondering if we were going to watch another movie. Sure enough, we did.

The movie this year, however, was much shorter and just covered the basic facts. We still sang "Mary did you know" but she did not seem to be the focus this year. What stood out to me this time was "O little town of Bethlehem".

After we sang the song, Pastor Phil told us to reread verse 4 and that it should be a prayer to all of us. I am amazed how God has lately been getting me to really listen to the words of the songs that I hear all the time (read I can only imagine below). Here is verse 4:

O Holy child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today.

Wow. That should be our desire. All the gifts we get each other and get from one another can not compare to that gift that He has given us.

Descend to us, we pray. In my reading I have just been learning that God always shows up when people pray. So here it is in this song. When God is trying to tell you something, He really hits you with it.

Cast out our sin and enter in. That's all we have to do. Just ask him to enter in and all of our sin will be cast away. Other than asking, there is nothing else required of us. What an amazing free gift. One size fits all, it is in the perfect color and it is easy to use. I pray for those of you that have not experienced a relationship with Jesus Christ to take advantage of that free gift offer. If you have received the gift, take it out of the box and start using it.

No one said it would be easy.

I think that a lot of times people get the wrong idea about becoming a Christian. I think that they think that (wow, a lot of t's) once you accept Jesus Christ that everything in your life from then on will be hunky-dory. Really what has happened is mostly in the spiritual realm, so the attacks start right away.

So here we are again. I have some youth with me in the car again (I tell you that if I ever write a book I think I am going to call it "Mobile Ministry") going somewhere and we begin to talk about parental relationships. Her relationship with her mother is not where it should be, and sometimes I think that both of them are at fault, but that is not the issue here. We were talking about how we as youth leaders have tried to deal with her mom and the reasoning behind we do what we do. I told her that sometimes she doesn't help us out.

If her mother doesn't see a change in her since she has been coming to youth group and her mother is leary of her being in a "church" setting to begin with, why would she continue to let her come to youth group? Her response to me was that it was hard to have a different attitude and that she struggles with that.

That got me to thinkin'. I am reading "Fresh Faith" by Jim Cymbala. In the current chapter I am reading, he happens to talk about "struggling". In there he says that a lot of Christians (and I have said it too) say things like "I am struggling to obey the Lord..." or "We all struggle in that area...". He says that this shows that Christians are focused on their abilities, not God's.

Let's look at Galatians 3:3 "Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?"

Sometimes we just forget that He wants to be involved in every part of our lives. We think I can give him control over that part, but I really need to take care of this part on my own. He is big enough to take care of it all. All we need to do is to know Him, trust in Him and to realize that our strength comes from Him. Remember, no one said it would be easy.

I can only imagine....

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted. I have been so busy trying to get christmas stuff done and getting ready to get out of town and head back to New Mexico to see our families. This topic actually came to me last thursday.

So here I am, busy with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and I get invited to go to the christmas play of one of my very close church kids. I come in there thinking about a thousand things, what I did not get done what still needs to be done, you know the drill. One of the songs they sing is "I can only imagine.." So I am watching this beautiful young girl sing this song, eyes closed rocking back and forth clearly worshiping. It brought tears to my eyes.
Have you ever really took the time to read the lyrics?

Surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still?
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah or will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine... I can only imagine....

Here I am so focused on what is going on around me that I have forgotten the "reason for the season". I have been playing that song a lot lately because I wonder what I would do if he showed up here this afternoon. I can only imagine. There is so much that he wants me to do with the youth and I sometimes don't know if I will have enough time with them. I can only imagine. He has so much for them to do after we equip them. I can only imagine.

Don't forget why we are here. Take some time to give to him and to honor and thank him for the gift he has given us.

"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires." Psalm 37:4


http://www.andiesisle.com/icanonlyimagine.html

Mom, can you put butter on my toast...please?

You have got to be kidding me. I always enjoy the fact when I can get some one on one time with any of my youth. The down side to it is finding out some of the things they do with the rest of their lives. Take yesterday for an example. We were continuing on with our flamingo fundraiser and I have one of my youth going with me and we begin talking about how she and her brother got in trouble in the morning before school (I even think that they had been grounded as a result). So we were talking about what was going on and why they do what they do. Was it their fault or was mom on the warpath. Well, after talking with her and hanging out with the rest of the family for awhile afterward, I had an answer. I don't think the problem was what they got in trouble for in the first place. Sure, they were arguing, wasting time, not listening, etc, but the real root of the issue was "encouragement."
Mom felt that the kids only complained about things, never had a positive word for her. That got us thinking. When we were kids, did we ever encourage our parents? You always hear that it is important for parents to encourage their kids, but you don't hear much about the other way. Now I know that being a parent can be a thankless job, but parents have feelings too. During one of our youth lessons one day I asked them if they ever thanked their parents. Not for the big stuff (cell phone, drum set, birthday presents, etc.) but for the fact that when they go to the fridge, there is food in there. Or when they go to do their homework and they turn on the lamp in their room the light comes on. These little everyday mundane things that make the world go round. I know that I did not do that. Sure I try to do it now, but can that make up for all those years that I took my parents for granted?
Encouragement is a gift. It is seldom given and it is valuable. God's Word tells us to do it "So encourage each other and build each other up..." (1 Thes. 5:11a). Take the time to give this gift. There is no monetary cost attached to it, you don't have to go out to the mall to get it and you don't have to get it gift wrapped. It does, however, require something from "you".
So don't be stingy. Give the gift of encouragement!

Sure I am committed.....maybe?

So why is it so hard to commit to something? Is it a fear of losing out on something better? I think that it mostly comes down to not wanting to admit you are responsible for something. Once you commit to it, you now are responsible. I think people nowadays don't want to take responsiblity. They feel that what ever happens is not their fault. God told us to commit totally to him, and it pleases him when we do. Look in 2 Chronicles 15:14-15. Asa and his people clearly committed themselves to God, even using trumpet blasts to proclaim their commitment. This resulted in peace for the nation.

So why did this need an entry? I have been working on our youth for a year now on trying to get them to take some responsiblity. I know that I have not helped out by not letting them do certain things, but ultimately they need to take ownership of their group and become responsible and commit (wholeheartedly) to it. Over the last two weeks I have seen the fruits of that work start to show up. It has been awesome to watch a few take some initiative. It is slow in coming, but I can't change their hearts, only God can do that. It will take time for all of them to be there, but I am committed to them!

Gotta Start Somewhere...

Good Evening Everyone! Not sure how to do this since I have never been much of a journal writer, but hey gotta start somewhere. I have a few of my friends who have blogs and I had been kicking around the idea of starting one myself so now i find myself entering my first post. Wow. I guess I mostly was hoping to have a place to share with all of you what God is doing in the midst of our youth. Somewhere I can brag on them, share about them and maybe even get on them a little. I hope that all of you will see what an effect my relationship with Jesus Christ has on the people God has put in my path.