What Are You Doing Today?

Many of you who read this blog on a regular basis have heard about the passions in my life. For those of you who have not let me give you some insight into my world.

I am currently serving as the Student Pastor (Minister) at University Baptist Church in Macomb, Illinois. This basically means that I work with 7th graders thru college. I love my job. I love the students I work with each week. I love getting together with them and just hanging out. I miss them when they are gone during Christmas and Spring Breaks. They are one my great passions in life. I hurt when they hurt. I rejoice when they rejoice. I am sad when I see them doing things that I know God does not want them to do. These are days that I am so broken for their friends that I am in tears. Their salvation, spiritual growth and the salvation of their friends are at the forefront of so much of my life.

So why do I share this with you today? You know I am not totally sure. I suppose at some level I want people to know how much I love working with students. Along with that I want people to realize how wonderful students are. I have heard a number of comments about both college students and teenagers that make me so sad. So many people look down upon these young people. Sadly, many of their parents are the worst offenders. People look at students and see raging hormones and freaks. While at some level this is true they are so much more than that.

When I look at students I see incredible creations of God. I see young people who not only have great potential for the future but also incredible talents for today. The students, just like the generations, before them can literally change the world. Yes, they are a lot different than even my generation but that mean I should look down upon them. In fact, we need to be doing the opposite. Those of us in the older generations need to be the ones who are lifting up and encouraging this group of young people. It amazes me to see the difference in a student when they begin to see that they have the support of older family and friends. The accomplish great things when they have the love and support of old people like me.

So have you hugged a young person today? Have you told them that you believe in them? Have you told them that you believe they can change the world? If not why?

Sticking With What You Know

The past couple of days have been somewhat trying for me. I have recently learned somethings about a number of people that have caused a great amount of grief to flood over my heart. This grief has caused me to question a number of different aspects of the ministries at my church. The best way I can describe my feelings on this would be to say that I have felt rather disheartened.

However, God showed me something incredibly wonderful this morning. He showed me 2 Timothy 3:14. This verse essentially says that I am to continue with those things that I know to be true. This has given hope for those things that I believe God is leading myself and other leaders towards in our church. I know the road ahead may not be easy but it is one that God will lead us down and with Him in the lead I know great things will happen.

God is good to those who call upon His name. He will never leave us or forsake us. Take courage my cyber-friends that the same good who brought the Israelites out of Egypt can rescue you from your doubts and fears this day. He can give you a peace and hope beyond anything you have ever seen or heard. I pray that you will allow Him to give you these gifts today.

God's Renovation Project

Have you ever had the chance to help with a renovation project? Maybe helped someone with that special fixer upper of a home? I have and it amazes me how just a little bit of time and TLC can change a dump of a house into something beautiful. I find myself fascinated with these kinds of projects because you never fully get rid of the old house yet you have new house at the same time.

God's work in our life follows the same kind of pattern. You see God never fully eliminates all of your past. Yes, He heals us and fixes our brokenness but He uses our past to mold us into the person we are today. Therefore, we should no longer be ashamed of our past. It is what it is and we can not change that. Personally, there are things in my past that I am not proud of yet I am no longer ashamed of them.

Remember my friends, the new self of the believer "is being renewed into a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created Him" (Colossians 3:10) .

So how is God renovating or renewing you today? What things in your past do you no longer need to be ashamed of?

True Love Waits

A couple of weeks ago I was given the opportunity to preach my first sermon. The topic..... sex. Below you will find my sermon outline. You can listen to sermon here. You will also find my power point presentation here. I look forward to any comments you might have.

Purity and Battling Satan

I. Introduction-

II. Why have the fight?

a. Some Statistics for you

b. Internet Stats

i. 90% of 8-16 year olds have viewed porn online, most of them while doing homework

1. Avg Age of fist exposure is 11 years old

2. Largest Consumers of Internet Porn are 12-17 year olds

ii. 20% of all youth have received a sexual solicitation

iii. 12% of all website are for adults only-4.2 millions sites

1. Nearly 2 Sites for every person in Chicago

iv. 40 million Adults in the US visit adult sites on a regular basis

1. Approximately 1 out 6 US Adults-17%

v. Not just men- 1 out 3 visitors to adult sites are women

1. Women are far more like ly to act out their sexual immoraility with multiple partners, affairs and casual sex

c. Adult Industry

i. $57.0 billion world-wide-12 billion in the US alone

ii. The adult industries revenue is larger than all combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises.

iii. In the us alone their revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC (6.2 billion)

d. Christian Statistics

i. Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home-47%

ii. Promise Keeper Men who viewed an adult site in a given week-53%

III. Who or what are we fighting against in the battle for purity

a. Ephesians 6:12

i. the flesh, denotes mere human nature, the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God

ii. The porn industry is not to blame for our societies problems with sexual purity

iii. The media is not to blame for our societies problems with sexual purity

iv. The music industry is not to blame for our societies problems with sexual purity

v. The schools are not to blame for our societies problems with sexual purity

vi. The goeverntment is not to blame for our societies problems with sexual purity

vii. There is no person on the worlds who is to blame for our purity problems

viii. This battle is not about flash and blood. This is a spiritual battle. This is us as Believers against the Devil himself.

IV. How are we to fight?

a. What does it mean to struggle

i. Wrestling -a contest between two in which each endeavours to throw the other, and which is decided when the victor is able to hold his opponent down with his hand upon his neck

b. This is a daily struggle for all of us. We are in this together!

i. Larry Boy and the Bad Apple-The apple is seen again after her defeat.

V. What is God’s Game plan for us to win this wrestling match-His plan is for us to win.

a. James 4:7

i. Submit yourselves to God

1. His Lordship and direction is our starting point

ii. Resist the devil

1. Flee- to literally escape by flying away.

2. Notice his is not totalyy eliminated he escapes to live another day.

b. Being Unified in our Struggle against the forces of evil

i. Ephesians 4:3-6

1. vs3- Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

ii. We are of one spirit and we must do everything we can to stay united in our fight.

1. This does not mean we will agree on everything but it does mean that we will be united in our love for one another.

2. It also means that our disagreements should not lead us down the road of anger and sin.

c. Spiritual Growth

i. Ephesians 4:14

1. No longer infants who are tossed about by the waves

ii. V.15- we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

iii. As we grow we become more aware of how Satan is attacking us and those around us.

iv. Spiritual growth is how we prepare for our spiritual battle.

VI. If you have ever struggled with pornography. Today is your day to turn the tide!

a. God is call you to literally run in opposite direction of sexual immorality.

b. There are a lot of wonderful resources out there that can help people with sexual immorality but they are all in vain unless there is a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Evolution and Christianity

One of the most widely accepted "truths" in our culture today is that of evolution. Most people in this and probably in the world just seem to accept evolution as some sort of fact. Many people have never heard that there are legitimate scientific problems with evolution. Currently those who believe in evolution are having to deal with the Cambrian Explosion of life. In essence fossil records have shown a great explosion of new and complex organisms that "developed" much much faster than would be possible under evolutionary theory.

This problem is only the beginning for evolutionist. There are a variety of other philosphical and scientific problems with modern evolutionary theory. (I do not have the time to deal with these here. If you would like to know more about these let me know and I can try and get some stuff our on the blog about it.) Given that these issues exists, how did evolution become and accept "truth."

The answer is two-fold. First, on a surface level, evolutionary theory seems plausible. I remember reading in school about how a species of butterfly changed its color (a difference mechanism) over time because of factory was built near its home. We also see animals that seem to have adapted themselves to their new living conditions. This makes it easy for us to accept evolution. Second, people want science to be able to figure out the great mysteries of the world. Science is easier to believe than religion and so people are more willing to accept (without investigation) the things science gives out.

The spread of the "truth" of evolution should be of no surprise to Christians. Paul tells us in Colossians 2:20-23 that the elementary wisdom of this world will have the appearance of wisdom and that because of that many people will believe and follow it. Personally, I believe what Paul understood was that the Devil tells us lies that contain a nugget of truth. This makes the lies seem at the very least possible. Once we begin to believe one lie then he is able to tell us other lies based on the first lie. This cycle continues until we are confronted by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is then able to shine light on the darkness of the Devil's lies.

So what are you doing to shine the light on the lies of this world? If you need help with this let me know.