A Service I Am Proud Of...

     Well, I have to say that I was pretty excited to preach last Wednesday to my youth and young adults so that I could write about point number 2 on How To Keep What God Gives… (It is going to be good!). However, due to some weird thing going on with my right foot I was unable to walk and even standing was extremely painful. So with that I must say how amazingly blessed I am to be a youth pastor with such amazing young people that have such a huge passion for the things of God. My thought was, I could teach my next point sitting on a stool but how boring would that be? Right? I know that would drive me crazy having to listen to some “old” guy preaching while sitting! Lol. So I was able to call one on my interns that has had a word on his heart to preach for some time now. I knew that this would be his first time preaching and didn’t have time to even go over his notes with him, but figured that anything would better for these youth than hearing me teach from a stool.

      Now to boast about my intern for  sec. His name is Sean Gleason. I believe that he is 19 years old. A young man that is passionate about living out his God purpose here on earth, good looking and single!! ;0) Make sure to follow him on Facebook! Sean grew up with parents that decided to give him and his brother up at a young age. One day they just didn’t want them anymore. So Sean and his brother were raised by his grandparents. After hearing his testimony in detail the other night. It is just so evident on how good our God is. Sean grew up feeling not wanted, not good enough and always trying to seek the approval of whoever would give it. He had major anger problems and dealt strongly with the thoughts of suicide on a consistent basis. Sean had an identity crisis!

      As I was sitting there listening to Sean share, it made me think how being given away from people that are supposed to protect him the most, what a hole that would leave in someone’s soul. How would have I reacted? Wow! How many other young people are dealing with these same issues? Those who have been given away and those who still live in the same house as their parents but they are not really there emotionally, protecting there precious children. To busy with work or their own selfish endeavors…

       Anyway. Sean was not just telling a cute lil story here. He was preaching with passion, of who he was before meeting his true father. His creator. The God who knew him before forming him in his earthly mothers womb. Jeremiah 1:1-5. The God who created him with such a great purpose. A purpose greater than the crap life threw at him to get him to loose his true identity… He shared his struggle through life trying to find his worth and who he was.

     After 15 min of painting a picture to everyone about his life he switched gears and shared how through finding God and making Him the top priority in his life, he found more that just peace and comfort from God, but his identity! He continued to go through scripture to scripture and what he had to do, to find his true self… in Christ. These are the points that he gave.

1. You have to renew your mind through the Word of God.

·      Romans 12:2

·      Romans 8:1

·      Galatians 2:20

·      Gen. 1:27

·      1 Tim. 2:29

2. Meditate on the Word of God.

·   Joshua 1:8

o   Make sure not to get weirded out by “mediation”. It simply means to be thinking and reminding yourself of a topic or thing. I meditate on His word all day long. I meditate the best while shopping! :0)

3. Speak life into death.

·      Judges 6

o   Gideon was spoken into! God spoke “Mighty man of valor” to a scared little wimp hiding in a wine press! Even though Gideon’s emotions were telling him he was the weakest of them all and to freak out, he stood on the words of God!

o   Continue to speak the life of Gods word into your life not matter what your emotions are screaming at you.

4. Meditate on the promises of the God.

·      When you are constantly thinking about all God had done for you… If you see it already or not, it makes all the stuff that would normally look like huge problems seem so small and weak in comparison.

     After Sean was done preaching his message, that I was truly amazed and so proud of what an awesome job he did, I felt lead to close the night by having the youth who deal with identity issues raise their hands. I was amazed at the amount of hands that went up. I didn’t do a prayer line or alter call because I don’t think that would have really made a difference. I simply reminded them that God has done what He can do. He has spoken. It is written, and if they truly want to find their identity they need to do and apply what God spoke through Sean, and that would be points #1-4 to their lives. In doing those simple 4 things anyone can find their true identity!

     So with all that I will conclude today’s thoughts, I just want to say how blessed I am to have a calling that allows me to see the transforming power of God work in so many amazing young people that are around me. Young people that look up to me as their pastor and spiritual leader. To be able to witness over the last year and a half this timid, lost young man find himself in Christ, get up for his first time and preach a home run that spoke to the hearts of everyone in the room… I am honored and would not trade it for the world. 

     Last Wednesday's service was not one that was planed, by me at least. It didn't go like I had envisioned it to go the whole week prior. But I can say it was a service that I am proud of. :0)

How To Keep What God Gives..pt.1

I am just coming off an AMAZING weekend! PURE2011 Conference blows my mind every year. It amazes me how every year God shows up and moves in the lives of the young people. This year we had guest speakers Poncho Lowder http://youtu.be/0d-00mYV2Js, prophet Ruckins McKinley http://youtu.be/gGBDHJQQugI, my senior pastor Glen Johnson, my beautiful wife Kate Trenda and myself. After hearing so many great messages and being in the life changing atmosphere of the power of God, I started to think about how many times growing up in the church... going to youth camps, conferences, youth services, and mission trips and how many times God gave me a word, a dream, even a vision for life that was so powerful at the time but years later seem to have forgotten, misplaced or even doubted. Having God dreams so vivid, yet over time faded into someday wishes... Were they really from God? Were they form the nacho bar? Where they just my imagination?

Looking back I would have to be honest with myself and say that they were form God. I was just not putting into practice or maybe was not equipped with the tools to use, to KEEP those dreams that that God had given me. So over the next few blogs I think I am going to lay out a few things we can do to KEEP what God gives us. I mean, if I come up to you and give you a million $$ for your future or to pay for your medical school, it is safe to say that you would protect that million $$ because your future could rely on it, right? Whats more valuable than a word, dream, or life vision given from God!? What God has for us  carries way more value that any amount of money but yet we protect a few bucks with more intensity than the very thing God has for our lives. So the here are a few things we can do to KEEP what God has given us, whether it was yesterday, today or tomorrow.

1. Keep Your Mouth Shut!

               If you are like me the first thing you want to do when God shows you something, is to tell ANYONE! lol. I think a lot of the time we run out and share with people who we trust, like a parent, B.F.F., etc and since they might not understand fully the dream or vision they shoot it down with a "thats stupid" or "haha, how are you going to do that" or maybe "That has never been done before"or God forbid "That would never happen in this church", the sayings could go on and on.. That person that you so trusted to share something so big, not realizing it, has begun  to help you loose what God just gave you! We can learn this lesson from our friend Joseph. Remember, he had a God dream... Then he went and shared it with his own brothers! His blood. The guys he had grown up with.. and they SOLD HIM INTO SLAVERY just so that his dream would not come to pass. Read it for yourself in    Gen 37:3-10  - "Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him. 
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. 6 So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7 There we were, binding sheaves (bundles of wheat) in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 
8 And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 
9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” 
10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”

We need to be carful of who and when we speak the words or dreams that God give us.

There are many places when Jesus Himself would do a miracle for someone and then tell them not to tell anyone... I wonder why? I think this is interesting in Matthew 16:15-20  - He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 
20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ."

Now why would Jesus COMAND his disciples to not tell anyone who He was?? I believe that because the doubt from others would have birthed doubt in them! If you live with or hang around negative people… YOU WILL FALL SHORT!  I don’t care how “Good” your heart is or how “Well” you can hear God. Doubt will get you hearing wrong! Here is a cute lil story to back up that thought in 

Luke 8:49-56  - "While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.”
50 But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” 51 When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. 52 Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.” 53 And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. 
54 But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.” 55 Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. 56 And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened."

WOW! Jesus knew that they needed to shut their mouth! So He put them outside. I love how it doesn't say "He asked them to please leave the room". Lol. Jesus was "the man" and took authority her and it says "He PUT THEM OUTSIDE". I love it. Come on, He just told them she was not dead but sleeping! But their mouth of negative words was going to kill His words of life!

It dose not matter “HOW IMPOSSIBLE” Gods word sounds to you!!

The only thing that will stop it from happening is your mouth!