When it's worth it

Just like life in general, ministry definitely has its ups and downs.  Sometimes things are slow and you just feel like you are talking to brick walls and want to smack some sense in to the students around you! Thank God for using it to develop my patience!  Lately however, though good things have been happening in our ministry, I still found myself in a bit of a rut.  Overall, I've just been kind of down, missing home, and really missing being with close friends and family.  I have some friends up here, but not like back home, and when things are slow, it's easy to get lonely here.  That being said, I got up today not really feeling like getting out and doing anything.  I got up anyways, read my Bible and got going, had a great lunch meeting, and then met up with the skateboard guys I've been meeting with.  Today turned out to be a blessing that I was really needing.  

We started by talking about a skateboarder outreach we are doing at the Solid Rock Youth Center this weekend.  Once we were done planning and thinking through that, the guys headed outside.  I sat on the side of the street with several of the guys talking while a few of them were doing tricks.  After a few minutes two guys came and sat down that I hadn't met before.  I introduced myself to them and started talking about various subjects.  One guy, Clifford, seemed to have a rough background as he mentioned topics from buying guns to having friends who sold drugs, and his mother walking out on him and his dad when he was younger.  I don't really think he realized I wasn't just one of the guys (one of the pluses for looking the age of a high schooler I guess).  Eventually, the topic of taking the Lord's name in vain came up among the guys when one of them did it.  Clifford said he accidentally did that sometimes, but always tried to apologize to God.  That lead to him saying his grandmother was a Catholic, and he said he was thinking about becoming a Catholic.  Then he said, someone else in his family was a Methodist, but he didn't know what to believe.  I then asked him why he wanted to become a Catholic or a Methodist.  He told me it was hard for him to believe everything came from nothing, and that something had to have created it all.  I then told him I went to a protestant church, which is in the same general boat as Methodist churches.  I then had the opportunity to walk him though a discussion about being sinful because of Adam & Eve and then a discussion about Jesus Christ being the "Second Adam," and how it wasn't so much about doing right and wrong as it is about trusting Jesus to forgive our sins.  His question then was, how can a person know for sure?  I then told him when I became a Christian, though I believed, I had doubts too, but as I grew and spent time in God's Word and acted on my faith, it became real to me.  I said its kind of like learning how to swim.... the best way to learn is to jump in and learn by practice.  Overall we had an awesome discussion that some of the other skateboard guys jumped in on some too.  It was just cool to talk and address things that I know some of the other guys questioned too, and if nothing else hopefully get them thinking and seeking answers.  Though Clifford did not make a decision to receive Christ today, I think he left with a lot to think about.  I told him I would be down there once a week, so hopefully I'll see him again soon.  It was just a blessing to share God's love with Clifford.  God seems to have a funny way of lifting us up and using us even in the down times as I have certainly seen a lot lately.  Please be praying for Clifford, and for my continued interaction with the skaters!

Good Questions and New Brothers

Last week at Football Chapel, we had a small group.  Not many of the guys worked out in the weight room after school, so we only had three show up.  Brad had a lesson planned, but we were quickly taken in a different direction.  The meeting started off with us each telling 3 odd facts about ourselves.  After we each shared and just enjoyed time getting to know each other better, Brad started the lesson.  Before, he could really get going however, one of the football players asked, "What's the different between God and other gods?"  As Brad and I looked at each other and prepared to change directions with the talk, but before we opened our mouths, he asked another question.  "My mom said something about getting saved... How do you get saved?"  Again Brad and I looked at each other surprised, and Brad began explaining the Gospel using John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." We then went to John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." and then John 1:12, " But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." After talking though these things, and Jesus dying on the Cross for our sins, we discussed how to know for sure Jesus did what he said he did.  Brad then asked the student if he believed that, he said yes, and Brad asked him if he would like to invite Jesus into his life.  He said he did, and as Brad was about to lead him in a prayer, Brad asked the other guys what they thought about the things we discussed.  They said, they weren't saved either and wanted to pray to receive Christ too!  So, we prayed with them and they all accepted Christ!  We encouraged them, and asked if they would meet up with us the next day to talk further, and they agreed.  


Before I move to the next day, I want to give some context to the story.  The three guys who prayed to receive Christ had been in our chapels all year, they had heard the Gospel numerous times, but it never really clicked until that moment.  All this time, God has been using us to nudge them closer and closer to the edge, and finally that day, they chose to accept Gods gift of eternal life through Jesus!

The next day we got together to assure them of salvation through Christ.  We taught them not to act on feelings or to believe they have salvation because they had a feeling, but to trust in faith that God did what He said he would.  We then went through 1 John 5:11-13, "¹¹ And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. " For this passage Brad asked them 6 questions:

1. What kind of life is this talking about?  Eternal

2.  What is that life found in?  The Son

3.  If you have the Son, what else do you have?  Eternal Life

4.  Do you have the Son?  Yes

5.  Then, what else do you have?  Eternal Life

6.  When did that life begin for you?  Yesterday

It was awesome to see these guys finally get it!  Please be praying for them, that they won't let the worries of this world drag them back in, and pray that we can keep connecting with them and encourage them to grow into Godly young men!  

Fastbreak 2012

About a week ago, we had a Student Venture conference held in the Pocono Mountains of PA.  Our group took 16 students, the majority of which were either new believers or not yet believers.  There were about 80 total students at the retreat most of which came from Brooklyn, NYC.  It was a really great weekend!  The conference theme was "More."  Basically, the theme was meant to get the students thinking about the things they want more of in life, and if that would really fulfill their desires.  Our speaker, David spoke on his own personal story, while bringing in Biblical teaching and stories about King Solomon and others.  David grew up not knowing Jesus as his savior, so he sought satisfaction in the world.  As he grew up he experimented with women, drugs, and whatever he could find that would please him.  He ended up getting his girlfriend pregnant and leaving the child to pursue the American Dream.  He got a good education, a good job, and made plenty of money... however something was still missing in his life.  A friend of his told him about Jesus, and as he searched for answers in God's Word, he asked Jesus into his life.  He also talked a lot about King Solomon searching for satisfaction and saying everything of the world just vapor, and that our purpose in life is to Glorify God.   

This wasn't a typical church retreat.... mainly because the majority of the kids were from unchurched backgrounds, and tough lives.  Culturally it was very different for me too.  Probably almost 90% of the camp was from a minority descent, making it a really cool experience and overall different atmosphere than I am use to.  The majority of these students had no clue what it meant to have a relationship with Christ, and it was an awesome experience to see light bulbs turn on for students throughout the weekend.  We took 5 football players who came back really interested in learning more about what it means to have a relationship with Christ, 2 skaters I've been spending time with, and 3 three other guys who are active in our ministry.  Katie also had 6 girls who came on the trip and said they had a lot of questions about connecting with God.  Overall it was a great weekend!  Please keep these students in your prayers as they are back at home with distractions again and pray that God will use us and the New York staff to help these students to continue to grow closer to God.

Conference theme "More"

The main speaker David speaking at an evening meeting

Breakfast in the dining hall: Me, Scott (a volunteer from West Chester), Anthony, and Scott