Trusting God (even when it doesn't make sense)

Tonight we had a discussion based on a film clip from Minority Report. Now this movie is PG-13, dealing with murder and some sexual content so check with your folks to see if it is alright to see. We started off with a trust walk. One youth leads another that is blindfolded around the church using only voice commands to aid the blindfolded one. From there we went into our movie discussion which can be found at the Source for Youth Ministry site here.

Minority Report is a movie starring Tom Cruise set in the 2050s. He is the chief of police for an experimental pre-crime division in Washington DC. Three unique siblings called pre-cogs are able to see when people commit murder in the future. The catch comes when Tom Cruise is examining a future crime, and it turns out to be him murdering another man approximately two days in the future. So during that time he is on the run.

The particular scene we looked at has Cruise with one of the pre-cogs in the mall still on the run from his pre-crime division team. The pre-cog, Agatha, keeps telling Cruise's character, Jon Anderton, about certain people pass, to take certain things, go certain places, not go certain places, etc. One time Agatha had them stand completely in the middle of a large opening where they could easily be seen for almost a minute. Anderton is wondering why they are there and wants to run, but Agatha keeps him there just in time for a balloon salesman to come in front of them and block their view from the pre-crime team looking down from a floor above.

Do we empathize with the Jon Anderton character? When you see the clip, do you say, "Come on! Move!"? It is this kind of thinking that led to our discussion about trusting God, even when it doesn't make sense. Think about the last time you wre in a difficult situation. How did you react? Did you wonder if God was taking care of you at all? Why do you think it's difficult to see God taking care of you during difficult times?

There are many stories in the Bible that exemplify this idea. In fact, the Bible is arguably mainly about God seeing if His people will trust Him. The passage we looked at is 2 Kings 6:8-17. The King of Aram sent an army to where Elisha was because he led the king of Israel away from the Aramean army. Surrounded by a vast army, Elisha's servant was frightened until Elisha prayed to the Lord to open his servant's eyes, and then saw horses and chariots of fire.

Are you more like Elisha or his servant? I think most of us have felt more like the servant. It's easy to feel overwhelmed, but seeing God's hand working amidst the strife can better prepare us to deal with it. It's like the time Jesus was in a boat with His disciples when a fierce storm arose. Do you get frightened and panic, or believe that God will take care of the situation in the best way possible?

To close, I would like to quote a popular bible verse. But I encourage everyone to meditate on it and get a deeper meaning of it. It says in Romans 8:28- "And we know that in all things God works for the good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose."

blessings

prayer

I know many, many studies can be devoted to prayer, but last Sunday (11/11/07) we took a glimpse at it. This was by no means a complete study on prayer, but we looked at the Lord's Prayer and a couple of other things about it.

We first started in 2 Chronicles 33. This chapter refers to King Manasseh, someone who completely ignored God at first and did many evil things. We're talking about making altars to other gods, sacrificing his sons, witchcraft, and more. Manasseh and his people ignored God. But sometimes the Lord gets our attention in dramatic ways. He did so with King Manasseh by having the Assyrians capture him and do some amount of torture to him. Manasseh called upon the Lord and truly repented. It says in verse 13 that the "Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea."

We looked at the four different areas of prayer as well (praise, thanksgiving, confession, petition) and compared that with the Lord's prayer. Often when we pray, we just ask for what we want, or when we are in serious need or trouble, confess our sins. It's a habit to build up each area of prayer and remember to do them. And this is just the time when we talk. It is also very important to listen to God. This takes time to build up as well, and is something I need to work on.

I also used a couple games with the junior high kids to illustrate a couple of other points. We played the game telephone. That's where you pass on a message down the line by whispering and see what you have by the time it reaches the last person. You can only whisper so the person next to you can hear, and you can only say it once. Often times, it produces hilarious results! The connection is this. No longer are priests or any in-between people needed to talk to God. In the Old Testament, the high priest was the only one allowed to enter in the presence of God in the tabernacle. And this was only once a year after long, elaborate cleansing rituals. But now, as it says in Hebrews, we have Jesus as the great high priest who allows us to talk directly with God.

Next we played pictionary. Where you have an object to draw, and your teammates try to guess what it is. This is a little bit of a looser connection, but prayer is one of the ways we can see what God is doing- in our own lives and the world. I'm a very interested in the big picture. Through prayer, reading God's Word, and fellowship with other believers we can grasp a better understanding of what God is doing.

God longs to hear our prayers. He tells us in Luke, that we do not have because we do not ask. And when we do ask, we must be patient for answers. God knows what is best for us and wants to bless us. But sometimes we cannot see the big picture as He can. God only answers in 3 ways- yes, no, not now. It's kind of like the person who prayed, "Lord give me patience and give it to me now!" Doesn't quite work that way. Waiting is where we build our character. Waiting is where God sees if we will be persistent with our prayers and depend on Him.

keeping your word

Last Friday (10/12/07) we had a devotional about making oaths and keeping our word. Before that, we played an old childhood game that I loved playing back in the day. One person is "it" and goes on a line. The rest of the players line up on a line across from who's it about 15 feet away. The person who's "it" has to think of a movie title, TV show, or band name, then tells everyone the initials. Whoever guesses the correct name races with the person who is it to the opposite line and back to where they started. Whoever wins gets to be "it" next. It's a bit shaky when the game is new for everyone, but after awhile, you get in sync with the movies, shows, and music that people are entertained by.

Afterwards, we had our bible study lesson. We flipped to an interesting story in the middle of Judges about a man named Jephthah. Basically, he makes an oath to the Lord saying that if he wins in battle against the Ammonites, whatever comes to greet him out of his house upon returning will be sacrificed and offered to the Lord. Well, turns out his only daughter comes out to meet him when he returns.

There is a debate about whether Jephthah actually sacrifices his daughter. Did he consider a person might come out to greet him? Did he not consider human sacrifice a sin along with the pagan religions of his area? He was a leader of the Jews so didn't he know that God's law forbade it? Verse 39 also makes it confusing because it stresses that she was a virgin, meaning he may not have killed her. After all, why would God honor a vow that went against His laws? But is also says that "he did to her as he had vowed" in the same verse. That, along with next verse, makes me think he went through with the vow and sacrificed his daughter.

All this goes to say we should watch what we promise, vow, and even say. What does Jesus say about this? During his Sermon on the Mount he preaches about vows (Mt 5:33-37). He says do not swear at all (v. 34). It all comes down to being a person of your word. That makes a person of integrity. If we say we'll do something and we do it ("let our 'yes' be 'yes'") then we wouldn't have to emphasize something we really mean to do with an oath or promise. Just watch what you say. That is my prayer for us all.

the teachings of Jesus

For part 2 of our Foundations of Faith series we looked at several of Jesus' teachings. We looked mostly in Matthew, but included a few more from Luke and John. Then we discussed the big themes of what Jesus was saying.

It is probably easier just to go through the various topics. Each topic is linked to the specific bible passage we went over. The topics ranged from repenting, to the beatitudes, settling quarrels, loving your enemies, prayer, money, worry, asking from the Lord, looking down on others, reconciling with your brother, humility, and the greatest commandment.

A good point was brought up in our high school class. In the passage with the Parable of the Lost Sheep, it sounds as if God is saying he loves those who come back to Him after being lost. And with the ones who remain faithful their whole lives, He is just like, "whatever." Not the case though. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God loves some more than others- those who are more faithful or not. I didn't bring this up in class but if you remember when we studied the Parable of the Talents and the Parable of the Mina, there is a greater reward in heaven for those who bear more fruit through their serving. You can find that blog here.

There is no doubt that Jesus Christ was a great teacher while here on earth. I wanted to get at the big things though. What are three of the big messages that he was saying, just in regards to His teachings? (His miracles and claims to divinity is our lesson next week.)

The first two big messages I believe are found in John 15. The first section has Jesus making the analogy between Himself and His followers with a vine and its branches. Without Him, we cannot bear fruit. It doesn't say we cannot do good in the world. Those are two different things. This passage goes along with the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:34-40. Our relationship to Jesus Christ must be our #1 priority in life. We must believe in Him, first of all, and then strive to be closer to Him. That is the only way we will bear fruit.

The second big message follows in verses 12-17. We must show love to others. As a few of the teachings earlier say, we must even love our enemies and put others' needs before our own. In order to be great in the eyes of Jesus, we must lead a life of humility and serve others before ourselves.

So what does this add up to? I believe these teachings add up to the life that a Christ-follower should live that is very different from the world. One that is the least self-centered, least glory-seeking, and anxious about how we will be taken care of. After all, if God cares for the "birds" and the "lilies of the field," will He not care for you?

lots has happened

I was gone on vacation and then we lost power. Needless to say, youth group and time at church in general has been quite irregular for me lately. However, when I was gone on Friday 8/17, Ming filled in and talked with the youth group about prayer from Matthew 14:22-33. This is the passage where Jesus walks on water towards the disciples in the boat after praying alone on land. He then calls out to Peter to walk on the water towards Him. This blog will contain his points as well as my own.

Here's a good passage on what prayer and faith are and are not. It should be any one or more of the following things: 1) further God's kingdom, 2) glorify Him, 3) make us closer to Christ, 4) make us be more like Christ. It is meant to focus on Jesus.

But just speaking the prayer and doing nothing afterwards is not enough. We must act. It is important to note that Peter was not testing Jesus in verse 28 when he was asking Jesus if it was really Him. Instead he was responding impulsively, as he typically did. When first going out on the water, Peter was actually walking on it. But then he saw the wind, saw he began to sink. Basically he took his focus off Jesus. When we see our problems as bigger than what we think Jesus can handle, we will sink.

As I mentioned earlier, faith is focusing on Jesus. It is not looking at our environment, surroundings, past experiences, or our feelings/emotions. For Peter walking on water, his faith in Jesus at that point should not be focused on the wind, the waves, the scientific notion that people cannot walk on water, or fear. But how difficult it is to do that sometimes! In the end, no matter where we are, it is good to know that Jesus is always there when you need help the most.

Bigger or Better?

Last Friday (7/13/07) we started off with a great activity called Bigger or Better. It's great because it gets the youth out of the church and into the neighborhood. However, it does get them out of their comfort zone because you have to approach people, most likely strangers, and ask them to trade. By far, the best item we probably received that night was a TaterTwister. It was a lot of fun and a couple of the youth stepped up really well to do the activity.

After we returned to the church, we went into a study of two very similar parables, but each with distinct lessons- the Parable of the Talents and the Parable of the Mina. The first, found in Matthew 25:14-30 has a master that leaves for awhile and entrusts different amounts of money to three servants. The first two double the money they were entrusted with and receive the praise of their master. The third hides his money and returns the original amount to the master when he returns. This angers the master, and he gives the one talent to the first servant and throws the third servant out.

The latter is found in Luke 19:11-27. Not as well known as the Parable of the Talents but starts off in a similar way. This time it's a king giving a mina (significantly larger than a talent) each to ten servants this time. But it still only focuses on the actions of three of the servants. As you can see, the same amount is given to each servant (unlike the former) with different results (like the former).

Both the talents and the mina can be seen as financial resources. However, the talents can also be seen as gifts/abilities. We each have different skills and need to be faithful with the ones God has blessed us with. The mina can also be seen as resources to expand the kingdom of God. As Christians, we all have gifts like God's Word, prayer, and the help of the Holy Spirit to further His kingdom. It is what we do with these different gifts that produces the different results, just as in both parables.

Another big difference in Luke is the situation with the king. In their time, it was familiar for a King, not Jewish, to leave on a trip to claim his inheritance in another city (Rome) and then return as their ruler. Obviously this upset the Jews and verse 14 shows their negative response to this. However, Jesus is referring to Himself, being sent from another place (heaven) to rule over the Jews and unfortunately, will receive the same response.

In both parables, the reward for being faithful is praise from the Master and more responsibility in the future. That future being in heaven. It's like God saying, "Ha! You thought that was a lot? That was nothing compared to what you will do in heaven." In Luke, the servants who multiplied their mina are put in charge of as many CITIES as they multiplied their mina by.

In conclusion, we all have varying gifts abilities but the same amount of resources I talked about before (God's Word, prayer, etc.) to be faithful with in order to expand His kingdom. If we are faithful with what may seem like a lot, or what is difficult, here on earth, it directly affects our reward and what we are given in heaven. It is my prayer that we all become "10 mina" servants.

blessings

p.s. Bruce Wilkinson teaches a lot about these topics and parables, which were very influential to me. The book that relates most to this blog is A Life God Rewards.

Responsibility

Taking a cue from the whole Noah's ark/Evan Almighty story, we talked about responsibility on Friday, 7/6/07. More than once, the bible says that Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. We looked at how that can apply to us today.


We went through a lot of lists of things for this lesson. First was statements about it. The youth had to reply yes, no, or maybe to the following (taken from a Group Publishing teen talk sheet):
1) Being responsible is boring.
2) Being responsible is part of growing up.
3) People my age don't need to be responsible.
4) People my age are less responsible than adults.
5) People my age don't get a chance to show they're responsibe.
6) I'll get more responsible as I get older.
7) Being responsible is a good thing.

Reasons for young people being irresponsible:
1) too young
2) not the one to blame
3) i forgot
4) i was mad
5) bad luck
6) i don't care

How responsible are you for:
1) personal hygeine
2) homework
3) getting along with parents
4) choosing good friends
5) staying away from alcohol/drugs
6) reading your Bible
7) keeping a secret for a friend
8) telling the truth

It's good for you to see where the youth think they are at with these things. I remember using the heck out of "I forgot" when I was growing up! It was good to see that the youth do have many opportunities to show they are responsible and that it is important to show that when it matters.

We went all over the Bible to see how some biblical characters displayed responsiblity:
1) Gen 3:12 (Adam blames Eve)
2) Ex 32:21-24 (golden calf)
3) Mt 25: 31-46 (the least of these)
4) Lk 10:30-36 (the parable of the Good Samaritan)
4) Lk 15:11-16 (first 1/2 of the parable of the Prodigal Son)
5) I Cor 10:33

And finally went over some more passages/verses to point out how responsiblity comes into play with certain characters or conditions:
1) I Cor 15:33- choosing good friends
2) Phil 1:27- being responsible inspite of circumstances
3) Rom 14:12- we all give an account to God and God alone
4) Mt 27:24- Pilate removed responsibility from his hands in condemning Jesus
5) Mt 25:14-30- parable of the Talents
6) Gen 1:28- God gives authority to Adam & Eve over the earth and its living things

I then had everyone break into small groups to discuss and pray for each other's weaknesses to close. If anyone tries this, let me know how it goes for your group.

blessings

Relying on God

Last Sunday morning, I spoke during the adult service. Ahhhh! Scary, I know. I have no idea why my pastor let me do that, but it turned out alright. After much prayer and meditation on what God wanted me to say, I spoke about how God can use us best when we are most reliant on Him.

3 points stem from this:
1) We need a relationship with the Lord.
2) God can work past our doubts and inadequacies.
3) It usually gets worse before it gets better. Especially when it's a big task or purpose.

Plenty of biblical examples and personal accouts from friends to use. From the bible, I chose to talk about Moses and Mary, the mother of Jesus (Exodus 4:10-17, 7:1-6 and Luke 1:26-38). After seeing Evan Almighty with the youth group, I gladly referred to the movie a few times as well.

I am taken back to a time in Mexico just at the beginning of my time in high school. We served in a border town, or colonia, but stayed in Texas each night. Every morning we would pray for safe travels and our work that day. Well, one day (I can't remember if it was Wednesday or Thursday) we forgot to pray. Guess which day we had troubles that week...

1) It doesn't matter how long our relationship with the Lord has been going. It doesn't matter what we did in our past. What is important is that our relationship is continually growing and getting more intimate with the Lord. After all, Paul rejected Christ's name and persecuted Christians before his life-changing encounter on the road to Damascus. Moses killed an Egyptian after watching him beat up a Hebrew (Ex 2:11-12).
Evan Baxter had virtually no relationship with the Lord. Just a slogan to "change the world" as a newly elected Congressman. As the movie and the building of the ark progressed, so did Evan's relationship and intimacy with God.
The truth is we are all called by God for a purpose. It is up to us to answer that call and follow- just as the disciples had the ball in their court to drop what they were doing and follow Jesus.

2) Moses expressed 5 times to God his doubts and inadequacies! He complained of being slow of speech and tongue and not an eloquent speaker. I love this part. In Ex 4:14 it says "the Lord's anger burned against Moses" (emphasis mine). Even though Moses didn't have the confidence of speaking in front of Pharoah with God's help, He still worked around that anyway and sent Aaron with him.
Mary just had one doubt- she was a virgin. Quite reasonable to feel as such. But the angel, Gabriel, explained that the Holy Spirit would come upon her. Mary's answer? "I am the Lord's servant." Sometimes women just get it quicker than men.
I have to admit that I mirror Moses' feelings. I am not an eloquent speaker. Some piece of advice from Pastor Lee came in handy. It actually relates quite well to point #1. "Let the Holy Spirit guide you. Prayer is a 2-way dialogue with God." Which means I need to take time to talk to God and take time to listen as well.
My friend, Matt, was asked to go to Chile a few years ago by his then-pastor. 2 weeks before leaving, his pastor told him that he (the pastor) couldn't go and Matt was quite a bit short financially as well. Uncertain but still reliant on God, Matt prayed whether he was supposed to go or not. A week before the trip, a man approaches Matt and tells him that he is supposed to support him on his trip. He proceeded to write a check for $1000 to Matt. Guess how much money he needed to go on his trip...

3) The Israelites faced harsh conditions under the Egyptians. After approaching Pharoah for the first time, Pharoah made them find their own straw instead of supplying it to them (Ex 5:6-21). Straw was mixed with mud to make bricks more durable. The Israelites had to find their own straw and keep up the same production level as before (Ex . They were also in fear after being released, as they found themselves in between the Red Sea and Pharoah's army (Exodus 14).
It's no doubt that both Mary and Evan (from the movie) faced ridicule. I'm not sure exactly how the conversations and insults went, but I'm pretty sure it went something like this. "You're pregnant. You and Joseph aren't even married yet! What's that? The Holy Spirit did it? Riiiiiight. Good one there." And with Evan or Noah... "You're building an ark? It barely rains at all! We don't even need an umbrella here! Yeah, you keep building that ark. We'll just keep doing what we're doing."
It is also important to mention that Mary and Joseph had to escape from King Herod, who ordered the slaying of all boys under 2 in Bethlehem (Mt 2:13-18).

What does this mean today? Small problems require just small solutions. But bigger problems are bigger opportunities to showcase God's power. Do you wish for big miracles to happen in your life? Let's not forget that through faith in Jesus Christ, we have the miracle of eternal life. Although not quite as visually stunning as turning the Nile into blood, it is no less of a miracle than the plagues God inflicted upon the Egyptians.
In closing, I leave with a thought from Evan Almighty. Evan's family has left him because they do no understand what he is doing. God talks to Evan's wife through a busboy at a restaurant. "If someone asks for courage, does God just give them courage, or the opportunity to be courageous? If someone asks for more time with the family (Evan's wife prayed for this at the beginning of the film), does God just give them happy times, or the opportunity to spend more time together?"

My prayer for all of us is to seize those opportunities, and rely on God as much as we possibly can so He can perform greater works through us.