a sign.

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”

Jesus then left them and went away.

Matthew 16:1-4 (emphasis mine)



It isn't very easy to confess that there have been times in my life when you could have replaced "Pharisees and Sadduces" with my name. I come to Jesus. I test him and ask him to show me a sign from heaven.

But that is the truth. I've been there. This isn't a confession, though, because the rest of the truth is that I know I'm not the only one. I've spoken to so many youth who all echo this sentiment: they want Jesus to show that He's real, to show that He loves them, to show them a plan. They want a sign

It's amazing to consider two things in Jesus' answer:

1.) If we take a look at what Jesus says, He is letting us know that there are signs. We live and believe in God by faith, but He doesn't want us to live in ignorance. He provides ways to know the times and seasons we live in. We've just become more adept at interpreting other things. For the Pharisees and Sadduces, Jesus gave the example of the weather. I'd say our generation is great at deciphering trends and fads, things that pass away with the wind.

Jesus calls the generation who stands surrounded by signs, yet asking for a sign, wicked and adulterous.

2.) Jesus leaves.

Here were these people asking for a sign from heaven when Jesus was standing in the midst of them. They became so preoccupied with proof, with trying to discredit Him, that they end up seeing nothing but the back of the Messiah, turned to them and walking away.

When Jesus is close enough to ask something of, why would we waste our time asking for a sign? He is the greatest sign there is: the sign of love so big it died for us, a sign of hope, a sign of an eternity nearer than we think, a sign of power, grace, justice, healing, salvation, deliverance, and redemption.

We are surrounded by the signs of an almighty and living God. Let's learn to listen when God speaks, to see His face when it is turned to us, so that we never have to see Him walking away.  



introductions.

The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.

- Job 1:8 NASB

How would God introduce you?

This is My servant... she's lukewarm at best.

This is My servant... he claims to love me, but never does what I say.

This is My servant... she much prefers the things of the world.

This is My servant... he's bored with me.

It strikes me how God considered his servant Job, the tender words He spoke about him and the confidence He placed in him. If only God had that confidence in us all- the confidence that no matter what would happen to us, it wouldn't change the way we feel about Him. It wouldn't change our devotion.

Consider your life in the eyes of our Father.

What would He have to say about you?

In Faith.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

- Isaiah 55:10-11 (NASB)

I've had this word stirring in my spirit since our pastor, inspired by the Lord, declared 2012 the year where, "in faith and obedience, we will be His special treasure."

It's a simple word but one that I, more than ever, believe to be true:

it is time that the youth graduate from believing in God to believing God.

To say that you believe in God is to say that you believe in the idea of Him. That you believe He exists, and that's good! God calls us to believe in Him and in His Son who died for our sins. But. What good is a belief in God if we're just going to ignore what He says?

That is all to say, it's time we move from simply having a knowledge that He exists, to living in a state where we know that everything He says is true; where we act on the Word because our faith is one that believes so fully, it requires action. We do what He says because we believe Him. 

Yes, investing all of your faith is hard. It can be scary to trust that much. Thankfully, "God is not a man that He should lie, or a son of man that He should repent." Thankfully, the plans God has for us are good, "plans to prosper and not to harm [us]." Thankfully, "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Let us stop drowning the great promises God has declared over us in doubt. Believe eveything He has spoken over us, youth. Believe that this is our time and our season. Believe Him.

Even If He Does Not

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

The story of the three brave youth who stood up to King Nebuchadnezzar is a pretty well known one. The king made a statue of gold and summoned his people to come and bow down before it. It wasn't a request or a suggestion; it was a command. To ignore it meant burning alive.

As a kid, learning this story in Sunday school, my fascination was always with their names and my inability to pronounce any of them.

Since then, reading this story has always brought on a sense of admiration for Shadrach, Meshach and Abedgnego. I admired their bravery in the face of certain death.

I loved the part where Jesus shows up in the fire. There, in the midst of what was meant to be their destruction, was the Son of Man. It resonates with the part inside of us all that hopes Jesus will walk with us through the fires of life.

It wasn't until this past Sunday, hearing the story again as our pastor recounted it, that something else really struck me. I had read it before. I had heard it before. And yet, for some reason, the words decided to finally seat themselves in my spirit.

"..the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods..."

Even if he does not.

Working with youth for as many years as I have, I can say that I've noticed that unfortunately many times youth conditionally serve the Lord. They feel closer to Him when things are going well and back away when things are not. It seems that as a generation, we've focused on WHAT God does and not WHO God is.

It's a sad standard, one I think that we pick up from society and bring into church with us.

Take the love of a child towards it's mother or father, for instance. We love our parents and we've loved them for as far back as we can remember. It's almost an innate love.

But then, we are asked about this love.

Ask any child, "why do you love your mother?" If they are able to answer at all, you will mostly likely get a stream of things like "because she feeds me," or "because she lets me have cookies," or "because she's nice to me" or "because she bought me the toy I wanted." Yet, this are probably none of the reasons why a child loves their mother. And a mother does those things borne out of the love for her child.

It's cause and effect: I love my mother and my mother loves me, and because of that love, she tries to make my life better. But even if she never gave me another toy or another cookie, the truth is, I would still love her.

Is that true for our relationship with God?

If you were standing in front of an oven, the heat of it on your face and the men who approached it to make it hotter dead before you, would you be able to say, "even if God doesn't deliver us, we still know who we serve. We still know who we love. We still know that our God is good and great. We will still not bow down to the gods of this world."

Today I say to the Lord, Lord, I love you and You love me. And even if I never see another "cookie" or "toy" or any other blessing, I will still love You, because I love you for who You are. I trust you. I trust your timing. I trust you know what is best for me.  I trust You will know when I can stand in the fire.

Pharisees

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.- Matthew 16:1

Sometimes I fear that we read the Word of God as we would any other story: enjoying the action, the dialogue, cheering when we like what it says and skipping the parts that bore us or are hard to swallow.

It's easy to read the story of Adam and Eve, for instance, and shake our heads, saying things like, "It's all your fault Adam!" without taking a moment to consider our own disobediences. Without pausing to internalize the lessons.

We read about the Pharisees, as they try time and time again (read: Matthew 9, 12, 15, 16, 19, etc) to trap the Lord, to question him and to insist that he prove himself. These were the people who knew the Word of God the most! And here, in front of them, was the Son of God, the Living Word, and they were busy plotting how to trip him up.

It's easy to read about that and proclaim our judgement. Or to dismiss it entirely and move on to a more exciting story. Maybe one with a bear that eats kids or maybe some walking on water.

I pray a lot for the youth of our church. Countless times God has told us where we are going and what we are destined to be, but I admittedly struggle with the how we'll get there. I read about the early church and wonder where along the line we lost what they had. What's stopping us from the next level?

It seems to me that the modern day church might have its own battle with modern day Pharisees, people who know the Word above anyone else, people who claim to center their lives around religion. People who have Jesus, the Son of God, right in front of their faces but seem to totally miss the point.

"Show us a sign! Make church fun! Entertain us! Don't require too much of us!"

Take a moment to pause today and reflect. Am I a modern day Pharisee?

Leftovers.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them.” – Ecclesiastes 12:1

I have a problem: I am not very friendly with my food. There have been times when I flat out refused sharing food with someone, only to take a few bites and and find I was already full.  “Okay, now I’m full,” I say. “Want some of the leftovers?” Bits and pieces of food, spread haphazardly over my plate. All the things I didn’t want. All the food I would’ve eaten had I the capacity. Nice, right?

I was reminded of this (which I had written down since a couple of years ago) as I set up this website and reflected on our youth. The message God continues to send to us is clear: change your attitude. Climb up the mountain and out of the filth. Seperate the light from darkness. Commit to me, and I will help you.

Yet there seems to be a struggle to make the jump into the next level the Lord is calling our ministry to. There are many of you who have ties into the world, holding you back. You all know what is wrong and what is right but many of you have the notion that you can play between both with little to no consequences.

Basically, we are acting as a greedy eater towards God. He asks for a share in our lives, a big one, but we push Him back and say that first we’ll have our fill of pleasure and sin. First, we want to try what there is beyond the walls of church. We want to participate in trends, live the nightlife, mark our bodies, love whomever we want, talk filth, listen to filth, watch filth, and surround ourselves with people who encourage our bad behavior. We indulge ourselves, all the while playing church…

until the breaking point.

At that point, we return to God with crumbs on a plate, our life wasted to bits. “Here God,” we say, “You can have the leftovers.”

Please don’t misunderstand me. God will take them. He cleans filth and takes next to nothing and creates wonders. But we must understand that ALL sin has consequence. We reap what we sow, even if we are really, really sorry for sowing it. Solomon, in Ecclesiastes urges us, remember God in your youth! Remember when your plate is full, before the pain and the hurt that ALWAYS comes when we are apart from God. Remember him before life becomes heavy burdened.

Sometimes we think serving the Lord is too difficult, when all we have to face is our own desires and what other people will think. If you think you can indulge in sin and come running back when you’ve had your share, it won’t be so easy. You’ll have to deal with the consequences of your sin, whether they are physical, emotional.

What will be your breaking point?

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

- 1 Kings 19:11-13

Sometimes we expect the Lord to come thundering in. And believe me, He can. But we don’t understand that all along God has been whispering to us. How far does God have to go to get our attention? He will send the storms and the earthquakes, but always remember that those are destructive forces.


How much do you have left on your plate?