This past Thursday, there was a young man in one of the local high schools that lost all hope and took his own life. Such a tragedy. My youth pastor lives around the corner from him and was a friend of his on one of the internet social network sites (that is to say that the kid added him as a friend amoung hundreds of others). After investigating, my youth pastor found out that the kid had scripture on his internet site and sited the Bible as his favorite book. This information caused me to wonder how does a young man that seems to know Jesus, find himself in a situation where he has no more hope?
Friday night after The Way Bible study, held at my associate pastor's home, I dropped by a small ministry that takes place from 8:00pm to 1:00am weekly on Friday nights, called OPFOR, and they were discussing this very incident. Out of approximately 100 young people, about a third knew this kid at least well enough that they saw him on a regular basis. Although not all of these young people were followers of Christ, a good portion were, which begged the question, "didn't he know any of them well enough to talk to them in his time of need?" Several people shared their experience with the young man and lamented that they didn't have another opportunity to talk to him, but encourage others to lean on someone in times of trouble.
It was at that moment that the Holy Spirit spoke to me and brought to mind a parable that Jesus told during his ministry. It was a parable that I have heard many times but for the first time truly understood in practicality. It was the parable of two men that each built a house. One built his house on a rock and the other on shifting sand. Matthew 7:24-27 (New International Version Bible) 24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
I pondered the parable for a moment or two and realized that this hopeless young man, that took his life, had built his life on shifting sand. Here was a young man that had head knowledge of Jesus, but didn't have a true relationship with Christ, the solid foundation on which we build our lives. His life was built on relationships no doubt; relationships with his family, friends, and girlfriend, but not on the solid rock of a relationship with Jesus. Friends, family, love relationships, school, jobs, churches, etc. are shifting sand. They will let you down, but Jesus is unmovable, he never changes.
An example of this is, if I build my life on a relationship with my wife, and after 20 years of marriage she decides she doesn't want to be married to me anymore, my foundation crumbles and my life falls apart. However, if my life is built on a relationship with Jesus, then no matter what happens in my life the foundation stands firm. If I lose my job (shifting sand), I lean on Jesus (the rock) who is my true provider; if I lose my best friend (shifting sand), I fall back on Jesus (the rock) who is a friend that sticks closer than a brother; if I lose my health (shifting sand), I rely on Jesus (the rock) that bore bruises and wounds for my healing. This principal applies even to church bodies. I have seen so many churches fall apart when a pastor fails in their morals and values, or just leaves to go to another church. These churches have not been built on the foundations of Christ (the rock), but on that pastor (shifting sand).
As you read this blog post, I pray that you will examine your own life and its foundation. If it's built on Jesus (the rock) then you will be able to stand in any test or trial (shifting sand) that may come your way, but if it's not, then you can bet sometime in your future, the sands will shift and your house will come crumbling down around you and hope will have escaped you. Jesus is the only hope we have. When all else fails, He will always stand.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Bridging the Generation Gap
Last night I shared a word I felt God was giving me for a young man and to a ministry leader and a church body. I shared from Jeremiah 29, but it wasn't until this morning that I truly understood what God was showing me. As we were all praying for a young man with crohn's disease, God reminded me that He has a plan for each of us and that nothing He has NOT allowed to interfere will interfere. Jeremiah 29:11 says For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. I was immediately encouraged knowing that God has a plan for that young man's life and nothing that the enemy tries to hinder or stop that plan will succeed; even crohn's disease.
As I gave this well known scripture more thought, I realized this was part of a letter being written by the Prophet Jeremiah "to the surviving elders among the exiles" which made me ponder a few things. First, realizing Israel was in exile and in bondage because of sin, I realized that not everyone in Israel was a part of the sin. I am sure there were some that really loved God and followed His decrees to the best of their abilities, but were in exile with the rest of Israel. It doesn't seem fair when the ones that aren't the cause of punishment receive that punishment along side of everyone else.
Second I recognized that the surviving elders probably knew what it was like living in the blessing of the Lord. I am sure many had seen the hand of God at work on many occasions. They knew what it was like when his presence was there and his favor was upon them. They had tasted God's goodness and longed for His goodness to return to Israel. The elders had many prophets and diviners that were giving reports and prophesies telling them they would be, to use a metaphor from years ago, out of the woods very soon. The prophesies were false and when they read the letter from Jeremiah, they must have felt great sorrow.
If you go back one verse from Jeremiah 29:11 to verse 10 the first part of the prophesy says, "This is what the LORD says: 'When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.'" This tells me that some of the elders, due to their age, would have had to realize that they would never see the fulfillment of this prophesy. The people of Israel would have to endure exile from Jerusalem for 70 full years before they would see deliverance and the older generation would have to prepare the younger generation to become the leaders that would take Israel back to Jerusalem. I would imagine they must have felt like a man that has received a hefty bonus each year at his job, but was now being let go. He knows he will never see another bonus like what he received over the past years and his bosses have asked him to train his replacement that will soon reap the benefits of the great bonuses.
For years Satan, the great deceiver, has worked to separate the generations. He wants the young to discount the wisdom of the old, and he wants the old to resent the dreams of the young. You can see this in our homes every day. Hollywood has been on a systematic campaign to separate the generation in the traditional home. Television shows and commercials depict fathers as being ignorant and worthless to the family unit, and that the children are so much smarter and wiser than their parents. Mom's are portrayed as being the mindless element that truly takes no side, there by becoming impotent as any type of moral influence in the modern family model. If children see no value in the elder generation, what lessons can they learn from the experiences of prior generations, and if fathers resent the dreams and visions of their children, what will they be willing to teach and how beneficial with that knowledge be. The elder generation must become mentors of wisdom, through love, to their children, and the younger generations must find value in their fathers.
It was up to the elders, of Jeremiah's time, to train, nurture, and grow the younger generation to be prepared to lead Israel back to Jerusalem when God was ready to move. In the same way, as the body of Christ, we have elders that have seen the hand of God, they have seen miraculous works, sensed His presence and know the goodness of Creator God. When this knowledge is shared it works to build faith in believers. Revelation 12:11 says, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." This means dieing to self and selfish ambitions. They must step up and lead a younger generation, through the example of repentance and humility, in the pursuit of our glorious and faithful, Redeemer God. In like manner, the younger generation must be willing to follow.
God has a plan for each of us, but if the fathers don't lead the children and teach obedience, righteousness and holiness, and children don't respect the wisdom of their fathers, then a new generation of seekers will have to walk a journey of hard knocks in pursuit of God's favor and God's plan for their lives and the Church.
As I gave this well known scripture more thought, I realized this was part of a letter being written by the Prophet Jeremiah "to the surviving elders among the exiles" which made me ponder a few things. First, realizing Israel was in exile and in bondage because of sin, I realized that not everyone in Israel was a part of the sin. I am sure there were some that really loved God and followed His decrees to the best of their abilities, but were in exile with the rest of Israel. It doesn't seem fair when the ones that aren't the cause of punishment receive that punishment along side of everyone else.
Second I recognized that the surviving elders probably knew what it was like living in the blessing of the Lord. I am sure many had seen the hand of God at work on many occasions. They knew what it was like when his presence was there and his favor was upon them. They had tasted God's goodness and longed for His goodness to return to Israel. The elders had many prophets and diviners that were giving reports and prophesies telling them they would be, to use a metaphor from years ago, out of the woods very soon. The prophesies were false and when they read the letter from Jeremiah, they must have felt great sorrow.
If you go back one verse from Jeremiah 29:11 to verse 10 the first part of the prophesy says, "This is what the LORD says: 'When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.'" This tells me that some of the elders, due to their age, would have had to realize that they would never see the fulfillment of this prophesy. The people of Israel would have to endure exile from Jerusalem for 70 full years before they would see deliverance and the older generation would have to prepare the younger generation to become the leaders that would take Israel back to Jerusalem. I would imagine they must have felt like a man that has received a hefty bonus each year at his job, but was now being let go. He knows he will never see another bonus like what he received over the past years and his bosses have asked him to train his replacement that will soon reap the benefits of the great bonuses.
For years Satan, the great deceiver, has worked to separate the generations. He wants the young to discount the wisdom of the old, and he wants the old to resent the dreams of the young. You can see this in our homes every day. Hollywood has been on a systematic campaign to separate the generation in the traditional home. Television shows and commercials depict fathers as being ignorant and worthless to the family unit, and that the children are so much smarter and wiser than their parents. Mom's are portrayed as being the mindless element that truly takes no side, there by becoming impotent as any type of moral influence in the modern family model. If children see no value in the elder generation, what lessons can they learn from the experiences of prior generations, and if fathers resent the dreams and visions of their children, what will they be willing to teach and how beneficial with that knowledge be. The elder generation must become mentors of wisdom, through love, to their children, and the younger generations must find value in their fathers.
It was up to the elders, of Jeremiah's time, to train, nurture, and grow the younger generation to be prepared to lead Israel back to Jerusalem when God was ready to move. In the same way, as the body of Christ, we have elders that have seen the hand of God, they have seen miraculous works, sensed His presence and know the goodness of Creator God. When this knowledge is shared it works to build faith in believers. Revelation 12:11 says, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." This means dieing to self and selfish ambitions. They must step up and lead a younger generation, through the example of repentance and humility, in the pursuit of our glorious and faithful, Redeemer God. In like manner, the younger generation must be willing to follow.
God has a plan for each of us, but if the fathers don't lead the children and teach obedience, righteousness and holiness, and children don't respect the wisdom of their fathers, then a new generation of seekers will have to walk a journey of hard knocks in pursuit of God's favor and God's plan for their lives and the Church.
Monday, August 23, 2010
First Blog!
This is the first blog for The Fountain Pen. I am the Pastor for Fountain of Life Assembly of God in Elizabethtown, KY. Fountain of Life opened with their first service August 2008 with 2 families. For the last two years we have followed a theme of, "It's not about us, it's about Him!" Our vision is to be an Ephesians 4 church that is relevant for this time and area. We are a house of prayer and praise and our motto is, "Building the Kingdom of God, one person at a time." We have a modern contemporary style of worship and preach an uncompromised message from the Word of God.
Almost a year ago, The Fountain brought on a great youth pastor and shortly after, Aftershok Student Ministries was birthed. From that time to now, we have seen tremendous growth in the spiritual maturity of our youth and a significant increase in the number of youth attending the main youth service. Aftershok is on Wednesday nights at 7:00pm.
We have two Life Groups: The Way Bible and Blacksmith Bible Studies.
Almost a year ago, The Fountain brought on a great youth pastor and shortly after, Aftershok Student Ministries was birthed. From that time to now, we have seen tremendous growth in the spiritual maturity of our youth and a significant increase in the number of youth attending the main youth service. Aftershok is on Wednesday nights at 7:00pm.
We have two Life Groups: The Way Bible and Blacksmith Bible Studies.
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