It is easy to get caught up in condemning ourselves, blaming ourselves, and dwelling on our own failings.  As believers we cannot do this, it is wrong.  It is self pity and self pity is a form of pride.  We need to realize, I need to realize, that it is not about ourselves but about He who has saved us.  Philippians 1:4-7 says

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of  Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.

Sometimes it is easy to think that things aren’t going well, because of our own doing, but think of the power in understanding that God is allowing us to go through this to enable us to carry His good work.  How often we overlook the joy in trials, because we focus on ourselves.  This mindset is called humility.  Humility is something that the disciples didn’t know, until Jesus’ departure.  When they were overcome with the Holy Spirit, and surrendered to humility, look at how things changed for the good of Christ.  They became warriors to the Gospel.  Peter, denied Christ three times, and then became one of the biggest voices for Christ, even unto death.

Pride is so often thought of as someone puffing themselves up , and boasting, but it is also ones self wallering in failures.  The grace of humility is sufficient to bring joy in all things.  Consider it pure joy my brothers when you encounter various trials.  We will never know pure joy until we clothe ourselves daily in humility.

To paraphrase Andrew Murray’s book, Humility: The Journey to Holiness , Humility is the the highest virtue that is so hard to attain, but we should pray for it daily, and seek it with our whole being.

Martin Luther once said,  “God creating everything out of nothing, and if we become nothing, He can make something out of us”.

How has humility infected your life?  How does humility give you a different view of struggles in your past?

How do you get through seasons like this?  Do you have any truths from His Word that encourage you through times of discouragement?  What are they, please share?

I admit I do not live with urgency in my personal prayer life.  I should but it is something that I neglect.  I really admire those of you that are prayer warriors.  Jackson screamed all weekend because of an ear infection that we discovered last night after taking him to the doctor.  I finally reached a point of “I cant do it, please help him”.  I am saddened to say that it takes me reaching this point before I turn to Him.  Even after hearing my pastor preach a message on prayer this weekend I did not realize how pathetic I am in communicating to my Provider.  If I am to live a life of passion, in this hard world, then I should probably talk to Him more.  Don’t get me wrong I pray but I don’t pray with urgency.  I don’t pray like my life depends on it.  I don’t pray with openness.  In the small things , in the big things, my God is sufficient for them all.  He knows me better than anyone.  I also need to learn to just listen.  “Please forgive me”.

Psalms 139: 1-18

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up.  You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.  4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!  7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave,^[a] you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning,  if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. 13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.  17 How precious are your thoughts about me,^[b] O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

Are you where you would like to be in your prayer life?  What do you implement in your life to keep you disciplined in your conversations with God? How has prayer effected your life?

My family has really been focused as of late celebrating time together around the dinner table.  The conversations have been great and this evening one took place that brought me to a (my child is the best child ever, daddy teary eyed) moment.  My son, Gavin, who is three, saw a painting on the wall that had a collie on it, and no, it was not a painting of dogs playing poker (because my wife wont allow ).  Anyway I wanted to share that conversation with you as well as others that we may have in the future.

Gavin:  “Daddy that is like your doggie when you were a little boy, but, he died and is in heaven now”

Me: “Yes that is like my doggie when I was little.”

Amber:  “Who told you that he was in heaven?”

Gavin:  “Grandma”,  and “Pedro is in heaven playing with him.”

(note: Pedro is  was Gavin’s puppy that got run over.  Remember the run over part because it is funny later on.)

Gavin:  ” Later I wanna go see them.”

Me:  “Buddy, you know that heaven is so cool, and fun that when you get to see it you wont even remember Pedro.”

Gavin:  “Can we go now”

Me:  “Go to heaven?”

Gavin:  “Yes daddy heaven.  Can we go now?”

Me:  “Someday we can go when we die but not right now.”  “God has something special for you and wants you be to alive right now”

Me:  ” Isnt that cool to know?”

Gavin: “Yes” “How can we get there”

Me: ” Gavin, you remember us talking about Jesus”

Gavin: ” Yes daddy, God is his daddy.”

Me:  “Yes he is.”

Gavin:  ” I cant wait to see baby Jesus, where is he”

Me:  “Jesus is all grown up and in heaven right now”

This next part I was surprised he connected with.

Gavin:  “Jesus died”

Me: “Yes he died and is in heaven with God”

Gavin:  “Did he get run over by a car too”

Me: “No, he died on a cross”  ” He had to die on the cross because we are all mean and God does not like it”  “He died so we could go to heaven someday”

Gavin:  “That is not very nice”

Me:  “There are times we are not very nice” ” Are you nice all of the time?”

Gavin: “No, I am a meany head sometimes, and sometimes a goofy head”

Me:  “Jesus really loves us and he died on the cross so we could come live with him and God someday in heaven”

Gavin:  “I want to tell Caden about it”

Me: “Buddy, if you want to tell him you tell him.” “Isnt it neat that God loves us so much?”

Gavin: “Yes, he loves everybody”

Me: “Gavin, do we need to love everybody?”

Gavin: ” uh huh daddy”

Me:  “Do you want to learn a Bible verse about that”

Anyways, that was the jest of the conversation.  I left one thing out, he told me that he to die so he could have new eyes.  How did he know he would have new eyes? I taught him I John 4:7 and he memorized it tonight.  I wish I had a memory like that.  My sons are so special to me and all I want for them is to love God with greater passion than I have in my life.  It is our responsibility to prepare the next generation, I just hope I never fail in doing my part with my two boys.

How can we prepare ourselves to share the truth? Kevin commented on my post yesterday and shared a link that I want to share with you.  Check out Jimmy Needham!

Now to get on to what I wanted to talk about today.  In our own lives, mine included, we must live with urgency as well.  I have failed so many times I cant even count.  I remember back in 1990 I was 13 years old and just starting in youth.  A book came out  and the author gave something like 100 reasons he believed the rapture was going to take place in 1995.  This literally scared me to death.  I questioned my salvation like many of you may have before.  I dug into the Word.  I tried to be more Christlike.  All of this because I was shaking in my boots.  This lasted for about 6 months.  Needless to say, the rapture did not take place.  I think in 1995 that same author came out with a new book because his calculations were off by 5 years.  You know how people acted in 2000/2001.  With all that said, I was affected by scare tactics to live a life honorable and pleasing to God, and not because I needed but because I wanted to go to Heaven.  My hope is that all of us start chasing after God because He loved us so much and because His Son gave so much for us.  Brokeness is all I need. Humility is my desire.  I am tired of letting my pride get in the way of having a great relationship with the One I choose to spit on out of my own neglect.  He doesnt need us.  I need Him.  At my best I am a sinner, and despicable.  At His best, I can be a servant and a warrior.

We must live with urgency, not because we do not know when the rapture will take place, but because love and passion are urgent. To understand I am nothing and He is everything and not live with urgency is being complacent, lukewarm.  Urgency charges ahead to find focus.  I am not so focused.  My solitary moments in the Word have been great as of late, but my prayer life is struggling.  It is not struggling in the area of lifting others up before God but in personal reflection.  I am a work in progress and because of my lack of humility I do not want to ask God to show me where I need to be better.  I know if I do, I wont like what He shows me.  As I am writing this now, He is working on me in the area of pride.  Just recently I have not had the best attitude, with someone close to me and I know I am wrong.  How can I be focused?  Maybe, focus can only happen if everything in your life is pointed in the same direction.

What is keeping you from finding your focus?

I recently spent some time studying Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  I wanted to learn about my Saviour and how He ministered and led while He was on this earth.  The first is one that I truly believe God delivered.  If Wednesday night were the last time that students had to hear the gospel of Christ, what would I do differently?  What would I change? How would I do it?  Should I be direct or relational?

I had a good friend in high school that God had been wanting me to share the gospel with.  Unfortunately I put it off.  He died that week tragically in an automobile accident, and I blame myself.

A buzz word that I hear today is relational evangelism.  What is it?  What does this mean?  The biggest challenge in my life has been to share the Gospel with those I was closest to.  Jesus faced this same issue.  He told His disciples in Mark 6:10 that if anyone refuses to accept or receive the message to dust off your feet and move on.  The instruction was to speak a message of repentance and then heal the sick.  I see the relational aspects of this instruction being secondary to the instruction of evangelism.  Don’t get me wrong I am a relational person and a feeler so I have that desire to get to know a person and get close to them first before I introduce Christ.  However, what if the first time I met them was the only time I had with them to introduce Christ and His salvation?  The word says that there will be those that do not understand or can not hear because they are not open to hear.  These people we cannot dwell on or they will discourage us.  We must dust off our feet and move on to someone else.  We do not know the time of Christs return.  You may be ready but is the person next to you.  Another question to ask yourself.  Is your urgency to share the gospel reflective of the impact that Christs sacrifice has in your life?  I once heard a preacher say, “My desire is to live as a dying man preaching to dying men”.

Now the question that I will leave you with is this.  Is relational evangelism Biblical?  How is it Biblical? Maybe I do not truly understand the philosophy of relational evangelism so enlighten me.

I remember when I was a student and everything I knew about being a Christian was either taught to me through someone speaking or something I read.  I never fully engaged in the practice of being a disciple.  Maybe we should be more engaging in the way we lead others through discipleship.  I see many that try so hard to think outside the box, to come up with new ways, but it ends up being a hop from one box to another.  How can we engage?  A big cultural trend today are that students like to jump on the bandwagon of causes.  You know many of these and if you dont just take a look at Facebook and see all the causes you can join.  There is a passion in students to serve others.  Wouldnt it be wise to take advantage of this by engaging students to not just join a cause but to figure and imaginative way to serve a cause.  It is great to teach what being a disciple is all about but the goal of being a disciple (student) is to ultimately become an apostle (practitioner).   We have to teach and build up and then lead them into the practice of following Christ.  It is very difficult to become an apostle without the armor of God.  The following are ways we need to step up to the plate to develop true warriors for the cause of Christ.

1. Confession

2. Prayer

3. Personal Bible Study

4. Scripture Memorization

5. Serving

6. Perseverance

7. Humility

8. Compassion

9. Leading

10. Evangelism

These are a few things that I see as vital to training.

There were some students from a church in Chicago that took up a cause to provide text books to 1000 orphans in Africa for three years.  They were challenged to raise $25000 dollars over a semester to aid in this mission.  The students were challenged to think outside the box and be imaginative on how they could serve Christ.  This was no little feat but one that could be accomplished with focus.  Some students asked for money for their birthday for this cause, some students hosted a film festival at their school.  The films were created by students and allowed them the opportunity to share the gospel to their classmates.  They raised the $25000 dollars faster than they realized and because of their focus and determination to serve they were also able to lead others to Christ.  This is just an example of students being led into serving.  The impact it had on their understanding of serving was exponential and unforgettable.  The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  We must realize this and act accordingly.

We cannot just teach but we also have to engage students through activity to participate in these activities.  How can we engage students creatively in these areas?

What is the most important thing you want people to remember you for?

What are you doing now to make that happen?

Is the world impacted by your presence?

What would the world say distinguishes you from itself?

I have been talking about my experiences with small group ministry. I am not an authority and do not wish to be thought of as one. What may work for me may not work for you but experience shared can many times help someone come up with a better idea. Small Groups are about the discipleship and growth of a believer. They can offer fellowship and community, allowing believers the ability to encourage, and be encouraged, confess, and serve. My focus right now is in student ministry and student ministry discipleship.

The other day I talked about experience I have had with high school guys in my small group. We have focused on spiritual growth and numbers have been secondary. Small Groups are never meant to be large and that is why they are labeled small. What if your group only has 3 students? Why do you want more? I have learned that the more I have the less one on one time I can spend with each of them. A majority of us that lead a small group are in other careers and have families and our time is absorbed in those areas. The little extra time we have to devote to small groups should never be about quantity but quality. If you do not have the time you need to be more efficient with the time you have.  I have talked to people that lead small groups and they start curriculum just to start curriculum. They desire to see their students grow but they do not know what their students need. This all goes back to asking your students question to see where they are spiritually and how you can encourage further growth. If we honor God with the 3 that we have then He may give us the opportunity for more.

Once our guys have started to buy in to growing spiritually I have seen them start talking about inviting others. There is nothing more powerful than word of mouth. If your students are experiencing change themselves they will have the desire to share with their friends or will be asked by their friends whats going on.

Instead of focusing on recruitment, focus on retention. Why aren’t students more committed in attending small groups? Why aren’t adults more committed to attending small groups? I have seen students leave because they are confused, challenged, but more than not because they are not ready. How do you get a student ready? You get a student ready by knowing them. Many times we don’t jump on this early enough. Small Groups are not for getting to know students but for developing God Chasers. Know a student and grow a student. Why would they want to be challenged by someone that doesn’t truly know them? If a student is confused about who God is, why would they be in a discussion that they don’t understand? Once we know them then we can lead them appropriately. I only have two guys that regularly attend my small group and my focus has been on using what I have learned about them to formulate a plan that helps them grow with a solid foundation in Christ. The joy I have in this small group is something that I wish every other leader of a small group could experience. If God allows our group to grow, then I am all for it. Don’t judge your success in numbers but in what God is doing in the lives of your students.

Small Groups allow the church’s youth ministry’s core to grow, and develops a healthy spiritual foundation to grow numbers in the overall ministry. If this did not happen then the depth would be extremely shallow. Small groups or any discipleship is the backbone that allows a student ministry to build successfully upon. Your leadership is important in building the kingdom of God.